Social & Behaviour Change (SBC) Officer
United Nations Development Programme – United Nations
- Christ Church / Bridgetown
- See description
- Fixed term contract
- Updated 12/06/2025
- Human Resources
Under the supervision of the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Specialist, the primary tasks of the Social and Behaviour Officer UN volunteer will be to support UNICEF in implementing culturally relevant SBC interventions to increase uptake of the two vaccines.
The UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area works across 12 countries and territories: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands. The Office is based in Bridgetown (Barbados) with out-posted personnel in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) and Castries (St Lucia). UNICEF works with governments and other partners to ensure that countries fulfill their commitments made in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that every child can grow and develop to reach their full potential.
Context
Under the UNCRC, two fundamental rights of children are the right to good health and to be protected from harm and violence. UNICEF recognizes that good health is the foundation under which all other rights of children can be achieved and it supports strategies to ensure this right is fulfilled. Every year hundreds of children miss school, and some become hospitalized due to preventable illnesses such as gastroenteritis. Further, much productive time is lost as parents and caregivers must stay home from work to care for sick children. In addition, in the Eastern Caribbean 1 out of 3 children are victims of violence and abuse and UNICEF supports behavior and social change strategies that address violence against children in schools, home and in the communities. The region is also prone to natural hazards and another emerging challenge facing children in the Eastern Caribbean in adaptation to climate change. UNICEF supports Social & Behaviour Change (SBC) strategies that help with climate adaptation and preparedness and response to natural hazards. UNICEF has received funding from GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance) to support one-off costs for the introduction of the Rotavirus and the pneumococcal vaccines in Grenada and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These funds are to support the implementation of activities approved in the proposals submitted by the Ministries of Health in both countries in alignment with GAVI's terms and conditions. If children are immunized with these vaccines, it builds their resilience to gastrointestinal diseases and to pneumococcal disease which can lead to pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis. For the period 2025-2026 UNICEF ECA is also focusing on the following programmatic priorities: prevention of violence against children, adolescent well-being; climate change and resilience. Under the supervision of the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Specialist, the primary tasks of the Social and Behaviour Officer UN volunteer will be to support UNICEF in implementing culturally relevant SBC interventions to increase uptake of the two vaccines within the context also of overall child and adolescent health and well-being. As a part of the support, the UN volunteer will be working in partnership with the governments of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, namely the Ministries of Health. The UNV volunteer will also provide SBC support to other areas of UNICEF ECA programmatic priorities, namely, violence against children, climate change and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Social & Behavioural Change Specialist or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV SBC Expert will:
Support the implementation of the UNICEF-supported activities in the workplan approved by GAVI for one-off costs for the introduction of rotavirus and the pneumococcal vaccines in Grenada and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The tasks may include the following:
• Support the collection of social data (including Social and Community Listening - SCL) to design media campaigns, community engagement with key influential groups e.g faith leaders, and capacity building for key stakeholders such as health care workers; parents, caregivers; Early Childhood Development (ECD) providers to ensure uptake of the 2 vaccines [St. Vincent only]
• Support the Ministries of Health with the development and dissemination strategy for culturally relevant communication materials for parents with children in 0–1 year age group to encourage them to have their children immunised. [St. Vincent and Grenada]
• Support the Ministries of Health with the establishment of a complaints and feedback mechanism to support accountability to its stakeholders [St. Vincent and Grenada]
• Support the implementation of the community engagement activities being implemented by the Ministries of Health to gain uptake for the vaccines [St. Vincent and Grenada]
• Support the preparation of the report to GAVI in collaboration with PAHO
• Any other related tasks may be required or assigned by the supervisor.
Note all tasks for Grenada must be completed on or before end of November 2025.
Support the implementation of SBC activities for climate adaptation, including WASH.
The tasks may include the following:
• Support the collection of social data to influence the design of interventions [including policies and advocacy briefs, SBC strategies] for key stakeholders in the education sector to ensure adaptability to climate change and climate events
• Support the development and dissemination of emergency preparedness and response materials in collaboration with CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency)
• Any other related tasks may be required or assigned by the supervisor.
Support with the implementation of the End Violence Against Children (EVAC) strategy for Barbados based on the request from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The tasks may include the following:
• Facilitating a community of practice between the public sector, civil society actors, youth-led organizations, academia and faith-based organizations to promote and systematized cases, lessons learned and enhancing capacity around EVAC.
• Support the development of the SBC strategy to support the office EVAC strategy to prevent and respond to violence against children including online settings.
• Support the development of positive parenting interventions including community engagement and engagement of males around negative masculinities in an effort to promote new norms to reduce violence against children.
• Support the development of communication messages to sensitize the public and other key stakeholders of new child protection legislation, protocols including dispelling myths about the same to create demand and support for the legislation and protocols
• Any other related tasks may be required or assigned by the supervisor such as capacity development in SBC for partners.
Results/expected outputs:
• As an active UNICEF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions including:
o The development, implementation and support of a SBC Strategy targeting parents with children in 0-1 age group
o The development and support of at least 2 Child Functioning Modules (CFM)
o At least 1 community engagement activity in each country supported o Data collection support provided in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and shared with Ministry of Health to support its immunization programming
o Support provided for capacity building in community engagement and in SBC in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as part of health system strengthening
Other programmatic priorities
• Technical support provided to CDEMA, CEED (Climate, Environment, Energy & Disaster Risk Reduction) and WASH programs
• Technical support provided to the Child protection section and to Prime Minister’s Office to address violence against children
• Technical support provided to the Climate and Education Section for climate adaptation by education stakeholder
• Children, adolescents and communities are meaningfully engaged on key issues, policies, and are co-creators in the SBC interventions
Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment
