National Consultant Social and behavior Change

Post Title: National Consultant Social and behavior Change

Communication (SBCC) in Nutrition

 Location: Yaoundé

Duration : 6 months

Contract Type : National Consultant SSA 8

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

JOB PURPOSE: To provide effective specialized support for the development of an SBCC strategy for the promotion of appropriate food and nutrition practices across WFP Cameroon’s portfolio as prescribed by the country strategic plan (CSP 2018-2020) and CSP 2022-2026 under development.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. Social behavior changes communication (SBCC) as key determinant of good nutrition is emphasized as integral parts of all efforts to reduce malnutrition in the WFP Cameroon country strategic plan (CSP) for 2018-2020 and beyond. However, the unavailability of an SBCC strategy to inform on intended changes in behavior remains a big bottleneck in the achievement of CSP outcomes particularly that referring to reduction in malnutrition rates in children and other nutritionally vulnerable groups.

To contribute to fighting malnutrition, WFP in Cameroon is implementing a nutrition programme in collaboration with its partners with special focus on the East, the northern, the North West and Southwest regions of Cameroon. The programme also focused on the provision of imported specialized nutritious foods to prevent and treat malnutrition. In the next CSP starting in 2022, WFP aims to prioritize home-grown solutions such as: strengthening sustainable access to and demand for local nutritious food, and to strengthen the capacity of, partners, health staff and volunteers on SBCC. 

Improving nutrition nearly always requires some level of behavior change. Social & Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) is one approach that may help with the adaptation of current behaviors, such as encouraging a person to make more nutritious food choices at the market. SBCC may also promote the adoption of entirely new behaviors, for instance, supporting a household to consume special nutritious foods optimally and make the appropriate choices when producing or buying food. SBCC is a cost-effective intervention for improving the nutrition outcomes of WFP programmes in Cameroon.

SBCC also forms an important component of the national nutrition agenda and the government and other stakeholders, notably UNICEF have produced a number of tools and materials largely in the area of infant and young child feeding. The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a SBCC strategy for WFP that will complement its nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions and that is aligned to the national nutrition communication strategy and the WFP corporate strategy on SBCC, to contribute to improving nutrition outcomes in the current CSP 2018-2021 and second-generation of Country Strategic Plan (CSP 2022-2026).

The National consultant will work closely with partners such as UNICEF and Ministry of public health to avoid duplication and in a spirit of cooperation and partnership and will ensure that the comparative advantages of WFP is maximized.

The national consultant role will be mainly focused on social and behavioral changes that can increase the nutritional impact of existing WFP interventions such as Nutrition, General Food Assistance (CBT and in-kind), resilience, school meals, emergency preparedness, etc.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

Under the direct supervision of the Country Office Nutrition Officer, and in collaboration with other WFP Cameroon units such as the programme and the communication units, the consultant will be responsible for:

1. WFP Cameroon SBCC strategy and implementation plan development:
   • Develop a theory of change that review existing and new entry points for SBCC activities in the CSP, and map and categorize them in relation to focus audience / beneficiary group and program activity, or other relevant categories.
   • Conduct formative research, to develop an overall understanding of the sociocultural, behavioral and community contexts that influence the appropriate behaviors (barriers and enabling factors) for achieving the desired WFP nutrition program outcomes. This should include the conduct of a desk review of relevant work and programmes and a data collection to address gaps identified in the desk review. 
   • Develop an SBCC strategy that outlines formative findings, describes target audiences, articulates the channels to reach target audiences, as well as suggests SBCC timeline, location of activities, potential partners and budget estimates. The strategy should also identify technical and strategic partnership and monitoring and evaluation considerations, driven by the SMART behavioral change objectives.

2. Support to technical secretariat of inter-ministerial committee for fight against malnutrition in Cameroon(CILM) to develop the National Nutrition communication strategy
   • Collaborate with the communication team of the CILM Secretariat to develop the national Nutrition communication strategy
   • Ensure alignment of WFP's strategy with the national communication strategy 

Deliverables at the end of the contract:

• • Provision of a detailed workplan by end of first week of consultancy
  • A map of SBCC activities to be carried out by WFP, organized by agreed categories and a map / overview of international/regional and national stakeholders (including academic institutions) with expertise in SBCC (for nutrition) developed by end of Month 5 of the consultancy
  • The report of the formative research highlighting the key behaviors to change, audience segment profiles, preferred channels, salient words/phrases, and other considerations by end of month 3 of the consultancy
  • A comprehensive, culturally appropriate and context specific SBCC strategy tailored to the needs, and aligned with the Government’s pre-existing multi-sectoral, multistakeholder effort to prevent stunting by end of month 6. The SBCC strategy document includes an implementation plan and costing 
  • A list of tailored messages based on the results of the formative research for promotion as part of WFP nutrition activities by end of month 6.

Qualifications & experience required:

Education:                   

Master’s degree in social and behavioral sciences, as well as training in public health nutrition, communications, anthropology or a related field.

Experience: 

• • At least five years of professional experience implementing or advising social and behavioral change interventions related to health and nutrition.
  • Experience implementing large-scale SBCC programs in public health nutrition
  • Experience designing and conducting formative research and monitoring and evaluation related to social and behavior change
  • Work experience with the UN or WFP would be an asset

Knowledge & Skills:

• • Excellent interpersonal skills required, including strong professionally communication ability;
  • Excellent analysis and drafting skills are required;
  • Advocacy and networking skills with a broad range of stakeholders including government, private sector, civil society, academia, NGO and international cooperation
  • Knowledge of formative research methods with familiarity in qualitative methods;
  • Advanced computer skills with proficiency in Windows, Microsoft office;
  • Knowledge of UN system would be an asset
  • Knowledge of WFP programmes is an advantage
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse team of nutrition and food security experts 
  • Maturity, initiative, courtesy, tact and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people of different cultural backgrounds;

Languages: Fluent in English and French (written and oral) is required

Female applicants are especially encouraged to apply.

                                                                  Deadline for application: July 19th, 2020

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.