Position Title: Advisory and Technical Assistance Services on Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC)

Duty Station: IOM Philippines – Country Office (Cotabato)

Type of Appointment: Consultancy

Estimated Start Date: As soon as possible

Closing Date: 04 December 2024

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s health program in BARMM aims at strengthening the resilience and responsiveness of the region’s health system and improving access to healthcare, as part of the organization’s strategy to alleviate the driver of unwanted migration and to reduce health-related risks during displacements and migration cycle. IOM has implemented various health-related projects that contributed to better health outcomes in BARMM, including COVID-19 response.

IOM is implementing the BARMM Resilience Activity, which is funded by USAID, with its overall objective to enhance the local capacity of the BARMM including the Ministry of Health (MOH) and its provinces and cities/municipalities to pursue key and cross-cutting reforms in health systems. The Activity will focus on strengthening Health Systems (HS) to provide a more conducive setting to implement Tuberculosis (TB), Family Planning and Adolescent Reproductive Health (FP/ARH), and Global Health Security (GHS) programs. The interventions under these components will incorporate gender analysis and mainstream inclusivity as part of its cross-cutting approaches.

The SBCC initiatives will include but not limited to supporting the roll-out of SBCC materials, conduct of SBCC initiatives to partners through culturally-inclusive and gender-/age-/ability-sensitive approaches, contextualizing existing SBCC materials and campaigns focusing on health systems strengthening, TB, FP, ARH, and GHS.

Under the overall guidance of the Head of Sub-Office in Cotabato City, direct supervision of the Migration Health Programme Coordinator (Chief of Party), and in collaboration with the technical leads, successful candidate will provide direct MERLA technical direction to the BARMM Resilience Activity.

IOM Migration Health Unit in Mindanao

Responsibilities

Tasks to be performed under this contract

• Provide expert advice to IOM and Implementing Partners on standards and guidelines for SBCC to develop inclusive strategies and properly integrate methodologies that are aligned with the international and national standards, and regional and local priorities and context.
• Perform an in-depth SBCC analysis of existing data, research, and behavioural studies to identify key barriers and drivers of health behaviours in the target population; and analyze the effectiveness of current communication channels and materials. Behavioral theories and models will be used to guide the analysis and ensure that SBCC strategies and plan are grounded in proven frameworks.
• Develop SBCC strategies, tools, and plan that is integrated into the overall health program, addressing key behavioural determinants of health.
• Provide expert guidance in the SBCC design and implementations, and the development and selection of appropriate key messages, communication channels/materials, including mass media, community-based platforms, and digital media, to reach audiences effectively.
• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation framework for SBCC activities, including the identification of key indicators, data collection methods, and evaluation tools in close coordination with Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA) team.
• Develop training materials and provide technical guidance in the conduct of training and capacity building sessions for project staff and partners on SBCC principles, approaches, and best practices.
• Offer technical guidance through providing recommendations for adapting project strategies based on SBCC findings, including advocating for the integration of SBCC approaches into broader health policies and programs at all levels.
• Engage closely with DOH, MOH and other BARMM key stakeholders to provide technical assistance in ensuring appropriate SBCC approaches across the key components of the project.

Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

• Percentage of task completion specified in the ToR based on supervisors’ performance evaluation. Tasks are divided into technical assistance (60%), coordination, liaison, and networking to National, Regional, and Local stakeholders and partners (10%), documentation and reporting (30%).
• Relevance of planning, organization and timeliness for managing and delivering progress reports and outputs.
• Quality revised and enhanced comprehensive:
• SBCC analysis report
• SBCC strategy document
• SBCC implementation plan
• SBCC monitoring and evaluation reports
• Number and quality of training materials, tools, or policy/ guidelines evaluation reports of the reviewed strategies and processes/guidelines.
• Number and quality of community engagement efforts, knowledge products, mentoring sessions and interactions with key stakeholders at the National, Regional, and Provincial levels.
• Feedback from stakeholders on the quality of work and reports.
• Contribution to achieving project goals and objectives in BARMM, such as improved working groups and guidelines or policies, BARMM application of new knowledge, and effective service delivery.

Qualifications

Education

• Master’s or Higher degree in SBCC studies, Public Health, Medicine, Health or Social Sciences, Mass Communications, Psychology, Anthropology, or any related field from an accredited academic institution with ten years of relevant professional experience.
• Diploma, Accreditation, or Training Certification related to SBCC, communications and health information, communications for development (C4D), RCCE, social marketing, media campaigns are encouraged.

Experience

• Prior working experience with the International Organization, UN, Development Organization, National and BARMM government is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with the issues, policies, structure, and context of the Global and Philippines on public health is a must.

IOM’s official languages are English, French and Spanish. Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Travel required

• The candidate will undertake duty travels in support of the programme, as may be required.

Required Competencies

IOM’s competency framework can be found at this link. Competencies will be assessed during the selection process.

Values – all IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these five values:

• Inclusion and respect for diversity: Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.
• Integrity and transparency: Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
• Courage: Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.
• Empathy: Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators

• Teamwork: Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
• Delivering results: Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
• Managing and sharing knowledge: Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Accountability: Takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.
• Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.

Notes

• Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, verification of residency, visa, and authorizations by the concerned Government, where applicable. Vaccination against COVID-19 will be required for IOM personnel who are hired or otherwise engaged by IOM. As part of the mandatory medical entry on duty clearance, candidates may be requested to provide evidence of full vaccination. Consultants engaged to work on a home-based consultancy who do not need to travel do not need to provide vaccination records, regardless of the length of the consultancy contract.
• IOM covers Consultants against occupational accidents and illnesses under the Compensation Plan (CP), free of charge, for the duration of the consultancy. IOM does not provide evacuation or medical insurance for reasons related to non-occupational accidents and illnesses. Consultants are responsible for their own medical insurance for non-occupational accident or illness and will be required to provide written proof of such coverage before commencing work.
• IOM does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training or other fee). IOM does not request any information related to bank accounts.
• IOM only accepts duly completed applications submitted through the IOM online recruitment system. The online tool also allows candidates to track the status of their application.

Interested applicants should attach the following to their application by sending the resume, cover letter and a duly completed IOM Personal History Form.