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Contract Duration:  3 months, 22 days

Working arrangement: Homebased

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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to Healthcare

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF Afghanistan is implementing Continuity Counts, a Behavioral Insights initiative aimed at strengthening routine immunization continuity and reducing zero-dose and under-immunized children in high-risk areas of southern Afghanistan.

Existing evidence suggests that many families begin the immunization journey but face behavioral, social and service-related challenges in completing the full schedule. These may include competing priorities, household decision-making, reminders and follow-up, service experience, mobility and other practical barriers.

The initiative follows the DEPTHS pathway – Define, Explore & Diagnose, Prototype & Design, Test Hypotheses, and Scale & Replicate.

The Define and Explore & Diagnose stages, including evidence review and Behavioral Discovery, are being led by UNICEF and partners.

The consultant will primarily support the Prototype & Design stage and provide targeted technical support during prototype testing and refinement.

Core Purpose:

To provide specialized Behavioral Science and Behavioral Insights expertise to translate Behavioral Discovery findings into practical, contextually appropriate and testable interventions that help caregivers complete their children’s routine immunization journey.

Scope of Work:

• Behavioral intervention development: Review the Behavioral Discovery findings and priority barriers/enablers; define and prioritize intervention ideas; consult relevant stakeholders; assess feasibility, ethics and inclusion; and formulate clear behavioral intervention hypotheses.

• Prototype development: Translate selected intervention ideas into prototypes, behavioral design briefs and testing questions. Each prototype should specify the target behavior, audience, behavioral mechanism and relevant point in the immunization journey.

• Technical guidance to the design firm: Brief and guide the contracted design firm, review concepts and drafts, and ensure final products preserve the intended behavioral mechanisms. Professional graphic/creative production will remain the responsibility of the design firm.

• Support to prototype testing: Provide intermittent technical support during the testing period, including advice on testing methodology, review of emerging field feedback, interpretation of caregiver/frontline-worker responses and recommendations for adaptation. Field implementation will be led by UNICEF, Field Offices, extenders/social mobilizers and implementing partners.

• Prototype refinement and Theory of Change: Integrate testing feedback into revised prototypes; document key learning; refine behavioral assumptions and mechanisms; and develop, review and validate a Theory of Change linking barriers, interventions, mechanisms and expected routine immunization outcomes.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  Terms of Reference TMC0006455.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

Minimum requirements:

Education:

Behavioral Science, Behavioral Economics, Social and Behavior Change, Human-Centered Design or a related discipline.

Work Experience:

At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in Behavioral Science, Behavioral Insights, SBC or related fields.

Language Requirements:

English Dari or Pashto

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:

Demonstrated experience translating behavioral evidence into intervention design, including co-creation, prototyping and user testing.

Strong analytical, facilitation and communication skills.

Desirables:

Experience in public health, immunization or maternal and child health programming is highly desirable; experience in fragile or humanitarian settings is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal TMC0006455.docx
• A detailed technical proposal

The technical proposal should highlight understanding of the assignment and proof of capacities to deliver it. It should also include methodology and approach proposed, work plan and timelines, a risk mitigation strategy.