Consultant to develop a Social Behavioural Change Strategy

BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT/BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Save the Children implements programmes across Lebanon in child protection, education, child rights governance, livelihoods and shelter. Under a Norwegian Government funding programmes we are looking at long term sustainable outcomes in education, child protection and child rights governance in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. An important component of this is articulating and operationalising a clear social behavioural change strategy.

Save the Children is looking for a consultant to lead the development of a social behavioural change approach focusing on child protection concerns at the community level. The consultant will be working specifically under the project “Strengthening civil society capacity to better respond to the rights of refugee children in Palestinian camps to learn in a safe and protective environment. 

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY:

The objective of this assignment is to develop a Social Behavioural Change approach that is adjusted to the specific needs of the targeted communities under the NORAD program and mainly focused on the child protection concerns identified at the community level. The learning extracted from this exercise will set the basis for the development of a broader cross-sectoral Social Behavioural Change strategy for Save the Children in Lebanon.

“Social Behavioural Change is defined as the use of communication to change behaviours by positively influencing knowledge, attitudes and social norms. Social Behavioural Change Communication is guided by behavioural models, findings from sociology and psychology and rigorous research .”

UNICEF in Lebanon conducted a social behavioural change and communication strategy called QUDWA, where they found that they needed to use a more multi-faceted model to push for behavioural change by realizing that not only knowledge affects decision making.. The Social Behavioural Change model proposes a more comprehensive view of decision making, what affects it and how we can obtain a more sustainable behavioral change.

SC understands that a comprehensive and targeted Social Behavioural Change Strategy is needed in order to change behaviours – specifically on child labour, violence against children and child marriage as the primary child protection concerns. The SBCS should enable positive influencing of knowledge, attitudes and social norms and be  guided by theories such as the socio-ecological model that form our decisions. Such a model proposes an inclusive approach to tackle violence against boys and girls, violence against women, child labor and child marriage. It is important to understand the drivers of such behaviours to be able to work on changing them using communication.

By using an SBC approach to development and focusing on changing behaviors, attitudes and beliefs, individuals can create long-lasting positive change for their communities, but we also know that Social norms change takes time and that it is paramount that communities are at the forefront of the change. This is why community consultations are one of the main focuses of this consultancy.

REPORTING LINES AND KEY RESPONSABILITIES:

Reports to:  Child Protection Technical Adviser, and dotted line of coordination to Beirut Mount Lebanon Area Manager.

Budget responsibility:  N/A

The Key deliverables of the consultancy are:

1. Desk Review
2. Training Materials
3. Community Consultation Plan
4. SBCS report
5. Workshop Report

Estimated 25 days’ work

METHODOLOGY/TASK AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES (estimated 28 days):

Desk review:

• Compilation and analysis of all relevant available literature and resources at national level on SBC (i.e. the forthcoming UNICEF SBC strategy) and at regional/targeted levels when available.
• Include compilation and analysis of sufficient data on the most relevant child protection concerns identified in the targeted communities (child labour, child marriage, VAC, gender-based violence etc.) to produce a solid understanding on what are the issues to be addressing through the SBC Strategy. 
• The consultant will have access to all (not confidential) relevant program documents provided by the SC team.

• The consultant is expected to be independent in organising meetings with external relevant actors to gather additional information (e.g.: SC implementing partners, UNICEF, MoSA and others)
• DELIVERABLE: DESK REVIEW presenting main literature findings on the relevant topics for the targeted locations (10 pages’ maximum)
• NUMBER OF DAYS: 5 working days

Foundational training on SBC:

• Design and delivery of a training on social norms and behavioural change approaches and methodology to SC staff and implementing partners (2/3 days’ workshop)

• Workshop/training to be informed by the main findings of the preliminary desk review,
• DELIVERABLE: Training materials
• NUMBER OF DAYS: 5 working days (including preparation of materials and delivery)

Design of Community Consultations Plan and Tools: 

• Design of the community consultations plan including (at least) consultation objectives, timeframe, sample and methodology,
• Development of tools (FDGs, KII, and others as relevant) *Consultant is encouraged to use any other qualitative tools as necessary.
• Incorporation of feedback from SC and Implementing partners on the tools
• Design a field work protocol including specific timeline for data collection/ sample to interview/logistics in conjunction with the Opps and PDQ departments involved in this program,
• DELIVERABLE:  One Community- Consultation Plan combining the 3 points above and including draft tools (20 pages’ maximum)
• Collecting feedback on the tools from SC and other relevant stakeholders for its finalization
• NUMBER OF DAYS: 4 working days

Data collection and analysis and reporting:

• Conduct data collection/community consultations in the targeted communities
• Analysis of the information collected in the field and drafting the SBC Strategy (DRAFT)
• Sent to SC and IP for their feedback and incorporation of comments provided
• DELIVERABLE: Submitted DRAFT of the “Social Behavioural Change Strategy” Report+ (including an annex with the analysis of the community consultations) and annexes containing methodology and tools.
• NUMBER OF DAYS: 8 working days

Capacity Building on the Social Behavioural Change Strategy: (second workshop/capacity building)

• The consultant will conduct a training for SC and IP that uses the draft of the SBC strategy (combining both primary and secondary data collected in previous phases) as a based to;

1. Finalise the strategy with the final input from SC staff and IP

2. Train the staff on how to develop similar strategies in the future

• DELIVERABLE: The final product of this workshop will be a finalised and validated Social Behavioural Change Strategy (including community consultation tools and foundational materials on social norms and behavioural change approaches)
• NUMBER OF DAYS: 5 working days

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Meeting program quality and standards

• Provide technical expertise in the design of the above-mentioned deliverables  
• Ensure all information collected for desk review is up-to-date, well-sourced and well-referenced
• Consultations with relevant stakeholders are conducted. These are men, women, boys and girls directly benefiting from the program, relative of the direct beneficiaries when possible, and other key informants at the community level. All the quantitative data disaggregated by sex and age. The consultant should at all times adhere by the ethical considerations when interviewing children.
• The target population for this program and therefore the object of this study are Palestinian and Syrian refugee children and vulnerable Lebanese host community children
• Consultant is encouraged to include children with disabilities through the design and implementation of the study.
• Ensure all information collected in the data collection process is collected in an ethical and gender-sensitive manner.

• Coordinate with other national and international actors as necessary for desk review, development of tools and methodology and analysis and reporting. This could include-but it is not limited to- MoSA, UNICEF, UNHCR, ILO, various I/NGOs focusing on Child Protection, women’s rights and GBV.
• Coordinate internally with the following departments (and others if requested) PDQ, OPPs, MAC.
• The consultant will have the means to find and collect all the necessary information by her/himself.
• Produce high-quality reports to SC standards.
• Always represent SC to the highest ethical and moral standards

Compliance with SC Child Policies

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunity and other relevant policies and procedures.

EXPERTISE REQUIRED

• Master’s Degree in Social Studies, Child rights Studies or related field, social and behavioural change
• 3 – 5 years’ field work experience in the area of social behavioural change, researching and strategy development, including with focus on child and youth programming desirable
• Fluency un spoken and written Arabic and English is essential
• Strong experience on designing and delivering training materials and capacity building on social behavioural change strategies
• Strong knowledge of gender equality principles and practices, including social norms and traditional practices
• Experience with child rights programming in areas including Child Protection, education and CRG
• Experience working in a range of Middle East contexts and countries, ideally including Lebanon
• Experience working with Syrian and Palestinian refugees, particularly children and youth
• Ability to work in a team is essential
• Capacity to independently and successfully liaise with various stakeholders including policymakers, managers, field workers, technical experts, etc.
• Excellent writing skills (in English)
• Ability to communicate non-verbally and to decipher hidden meanings in responses is important.
• Good observation techniques are advantageous.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrate strong commitment to Save the Children’s Mission, Vision and Values. Previous experience with child rights programming is an asset
• Adhere to Child Safeguarding policies & procedures
• Computer literacy including Internet, Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)