Communication Specialist

WFP is looking for a Communication Specialist consultant/company to develop a Health & Nutrition Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Plan for Manica Province, which should be guided by a comprehensive, socio-ecological model for change. This position is based in Maputo, with frequent travels to Manica.

The SBCC plan should include a budget, and a respective M&E system and tools. Preparatory work for the SBCC plan should include an inventory of SBCC strategies and materials, that can be specifically disseminated using community involvement: community health workers (CHWs) platform, care groups, multimedia mobile units and through a platform of provincial and community radios.

Background

Chronic undernutrition (or stunting) affects 43 percent of children under five in Mozambique and Manica Province is one of the 6 provinces with the highest stunting rates (i.e. above 40%). As a result of such high rates of stunting in Mozambique and its consequences, the Mozambican Government approved a Multisectorial Plan of Action for Reduction of Chronic undernutrition (PAMRDC). To be able to reduce stunting levels in Mozambique it is important to tackle the immediate causes of stunting which are inadequate nutrient intake (and food insecurity), early pregnancies, and frequent infections (especially malaria, parasitic infections, diarrhea and environmental enteropathy). These in turn are determined by underlying causes which in the case of Manica are: inadequate IYCF practices, inadequate adolescent and maternal (during pregnancy and lactation) nutrition, poor knowledge of and access to nutritious foods and essential nutrients, poor access to adequate health services, poor access to adequate water and sanitation services, and inadequate hygiene practices. Interventions that promote adequate IYCF practices, adequate adolescent and maternal nutrition, household food security, adequate hygiene practices, adequate disease prevention practices, the use of adequate family planning services and prevention/reduction of early pregnancies, can have a positive impact in reducing chronic malnutrition and improving child’s health and development.

Social Behavior Change Communication applies interactive, theory-based, and research-driven communication processes and strategies to promote change at the individual, community, and social levels. It has grown increasingly sophisticated, building on principles, theories, and methods from behavioral science, anthropology, psychology, behavioral economics, and marketing. SBCC operates through three key strategies:

• Advocacy to increase resources and political/social commitment for change goals
• Social Mobilization for wider participation, collective action, and ownership, including community mobilization
• Behavior Change Communication for changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of specific audiences

Through the EU funded MDG-1 project WFP supports Manica Provincial Health Directorate (DPS) to develop an SBCC plan for the reduction of chronic malnutrition and the implementation of this plan in Manica Province. The main objective of this SBCC plan is to:

1) Describe in detail the use of social and community mobilization through community health workers platforms (i.e. Comites de saude and Grupos de Apoio) and (community) radios to sensibilise on chronic malnutrition and advocate its prevention and to promote sound health and nutrition practices, specifically on the following topics:

• Infant and Young Child feeding (IYCF) practices
• Nutrition during pregnancy and lactation
• Food security
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices
• Malaria prevention practices

2) Harmonize the efforts of organizations (WFP, UNICEF, FAO, Concern and Save the Children) in SBCC on the same topics or in Manica province; and:
3) Take stock and replicate programs, approaches, methodologies and strategies, as well as the use of materials, developed and been implemented successfully in Mozambique and internationally. A separate chapter of this SBCC plan should describe advocacy activities for chronic malnutrition for Manica Province as per the National Advocacy Strategy.

Methodology

The communication specialist consultant (CSC) will work under the direct supervision of the National Nutrition program officer and overall supervision of the head of the nutrition unit at WFP, and will coordinate with all the other UN agencies, organizations and taskforces that will also contribute to this SBCC plan. It is expected that some work associated with this consultancy will be undertaken in the field (i.e. Manica Province).

Responsibilities

For the advocacy component of the plan:

• Review the National Advocacy Strategy for PAMRDC, and extract the relevant information to develop a specific media advocacy plan, that can be adapted to the context of Manica Province, and disseminated using the radio platform. Specifically: (i) Define the advocacy objectives; (ii) Define target groups and the most appropriate strategies/tactics to involve them; (iii) Define and develop the messages; (iv) Identify capacity building needs for provincial and district radios to implement the advocacy strategy in the province;
• Desk review of, and analysis of the advantages, strengths and limitations of communication programs, methodologies and approaches used in: (i) Existing National Communication Strategies (on the topics to be covered by the SBCC program); (ii) Program/Project reports in Mozambique; (iii) Scientific literature review of SBCC projects and impact;

For the community mobilization and nutrition promotion component of the plan:

• Desk review of relevant research conducted in Mozambique to gain behavior insights, especially barriers and facilitators to the desired behavior on the topics mentioned above, and conduct formative research, if needed;
• Meetings with MoH, nutrition SBCC Taskforce, NGOs, donors and UN agencies to: (i) Look and explore for potential partnerships, synergies, and complementarities in the activities; (ii) Gather information on what communication programs are currently ongoing, what are the lessons learned, successes, and challenges; (iii) Gather materials and manuals and modules related to the topics mentioned above; (iv) Define behaviours to be promoted (v) Gather opinions and recommendations;
• Conduct an inventory, if needed, of materials used for communication programs on the topics covered by the SBCC program. The consultant should not duplicate the work already carried out by other consultants, such as the inventory conducted by the SBCC nutrition taskforce and the training materials for the comites de saude revised by a consulted hired by the MoH. The inventory work and analysis already conducted by the SBCC nutrition taskforce should be used for the development of the SBCC plan for Manica province;
• Develop the M&E log frame and tools for the SBCC program and an estimated budget related to the costs of implementing the SBCC Plan;
• Present the SBCC plan to DePROS, SBCC Nutrition Taskforce, Partners, Manica DPS, REACH, Central and Manica SETSAN, and Manica Multisectorial technical group and incorporate the comments into the plan;
• Conduct the training of trainers and initial supervision of trainings related to the establishment of the community health workers platforms;

The communication strategy outline should include (but is not limited to): 1) Problem Statement; 2) Research needs; 3) Changes the Problem Calls For; 4) Final Audience Segmentation; 5) Desired changes; 6)Theories, approaches and methodologies (including evidence-based creative approaches) to be used for each target group, topic and channel of communication; 7) Barriers; 8) Communication objectives; 9) Messages; 10) Category of the channel; 11) Activity; 12) Setting up process and running of the community health workers platform; 13) Opportunities in which the community health workers will implement the promotion activities;

Deliverables

• Workplan
• AWPs 2013-2015 - for Manica communication program (including the community support groups and radio programs and disseminations)
• SBCC implementation Plan for Manica
• Advocacy implementation Plan for Manica
• Budget for SBCC and advocacy implementation plans
• Materials and programs for disseminations
• Training materials for trainers
• M&E framework and tools

Requisites

The Communication specialist consultant or company should demonstrate that they can meet the following requirements:

• Academic background: At least a Masters degree in social sciences: sociology, communication, anthropology, psychology
• At least 5 years experience/portfolio of designing and managing community communication programs
• Experience of developing at least 1 Health Communication strategy/Plan
• At least 3 years experience in developing communication materials and programs
• Extensive knowledge on theory of communication/ strategic health communication
• Experience in developing at least 1 monitoring & evaluation framework and tools for a communication strategy/plan or program
• Experience in conduction evaluations of communication programs
• Experience in mass media communication (especially radio)

Notes

• Please create a free account on emprego.co.mz, and upload your CV, Financial Proposal and a description of previous relevant work