SBCC Gender & Equity Officer At Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the comprehensive prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable and under privileged populations. We increasingly find our work on malaria can be effectively integrated with other similar public health interventions for greater impact and therefore expanded our remit to include child health and neglected tropical disease interventions

SBCC Gender & Equity Officer

Locations: Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Yobe 
Grade: 7 
Role type: National 
Department: Technical 
Length of contract: 5-years 
Travel involved: In-country travel (20%) 
Reporting to: State Malaria Service Delivery Expert 
Dotted line: SBCC Specialist

Country and Project Background 

Malaria is highly endemic in Nigeria and it remains one of the leading causes of childhood and maternal morbidity and mortality in the country. Nigeria is deeply committed to making progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and it recognizes the fact that, without firm efforts to control malaria, achievement of the targets related to child mortality, maternal mortality, and reducing the burden of communicable disease will not be possible. Malaria therefore constitutes a significant development challenge for Nigeria. Interventions for reducing malaria burden in the country are documented in the national malaria strategic plan with Government taking the lead in its implementation with the support of all the RBM partners. The DFID funded and Malaria Consortium led malaria programme, SuNMaP, provided technical assistance and other support to the Nigeria National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) covering the period 2008 to 2016.  
 
The anticipated follow on project, SuNMaP2 has been designed to strengthen the management and technical capacity of NMEP, State Malaria Elimination Programme (SMEP) and their stakeholders to drive the implementation of the National Malaria Strategic Plan, 2014 to 2020 and achieve its ambitious targets. This will include short term technical assistance and technical assistance embedded in NMEP in key areas of programme management, evidence generation and use, and capacity building across all project outputs and ultimately reducing Nigeria’s malaria burden and strengthening the Government of Nigeria’s health systems capacity to ensure long term programme and impact sustainability.  
 
Job Purpose

• To provide health communications, promotion, gender mainstreaming, and implementation support to all SuNMaP 2 project activities in the state.

Scope of Work:

• This role involves implementation of communications activities which include social mobilisation and social behaviour change communication (SBCC), advocacy. It also involves mainstreaming of gender and equity related issues in programme planning, implementation and evaluation for the state. Other areas within the scope are documentation and dissemination of learnings and external communications/ public relations. 
• S/he will implement these activities according to the communications strategies of the country office, the projects’ activity planning and under the guidance of the SBCC Specialist.
• S/he will also ensure an appropriate level of relevant visibility for the project among stakeholders through engagement with the media, regional events and other relevant forums.

Key Working Relationships:

• The Officer directly reports to the State Malaria Service Delivery Expert and indirectly to the SBCC specialist. It also involves working closely with the project’s partners, including the media, state health teams, health workers and VHTs.

Key Accountabilities  
Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) - 40%:

• Provide input to all aspects of SBCC strategy development, implementation and evaluation including communication initiatives, training and capacity building, mass media, community/social mobilization, interpersonal communication, and media/materials development. 
• Provide technical assistance to support planning, development, coordination, and implementation of BCC materials in print and electronic formats.
• Liaise with programme and other technical staff for the development and coordination of SBCC activities especially at planning and at implementation in selected communities.
• Review research, programme, and media reports; and share/apply relevant findings to inform programmatic reviews and decisions. 
• Seek, identify and share innovative program approaches in response to changing priority areas and other condition.
• Provide accurate budget and activity reports in adherence to the agreed timeline or schedule
• Contribute to the design effective monitoring mechanisms for SBCC activities and arrange for technical assistance as appropriate.
• Collaborate and liaise with the partners and key stakeholders to exchange best BCC practices 
• Work closely with the MEAL Officer in the monitoring and evaluation of project activities
• Support the conduct of surveys and other relevant data gathering approaches, as required

Equity and Gender Mainstreaming (EGeM) - 30%:

• Support the planning and implementation and monitoring of the EGeM component of the malaria programme in the focal state
• Support the collection, analysis, sharing and application of relevant and current data on EGeM; in close coordination with M&E officer.
• Ensure gender, poverty and social development issues are incorporated and implemented in all the malaria components, including training, capacity building, and development programs both at institution and community levels.
• Ensure implementation and monitoring of the Gender and social inclusion action plan.
• Provide inputs regarding EGeM for all training programs, both at institution and community levels.
• Maintain regular communication on EGeM in relation to malaria with relevant partners and stakeholders within and outside the programme, document and share the information.
• Develop mechanism to ensure effective participation of, women’s organisations, ministries and agencies in malaria programme planning, and implementation especially community level.

Documentation - 10%:

• Support implementation of documentation exercises including success/significant change story collection supported with relevant pictures
• Support to the State Manager and MEAL officer in story writing and data analysis as required
• Support the MEAL Officer to ensure that all relevant project documentation is disseminated to the State health teams

Networking (5%):

• Provide support to the projects’ staff to maintain effective relationships with local governments and development partners when required
• Act as the main liaison agent between cultural and religious institutions in their region of intervention
• Develop effective and collaborative relationships with all project partners, including the state health teams, implementing partners and a network of CSOs
• Participate in relevant meetings, presenting project results and experiences as required

External Communications - 10%:

• Facilitate the relationship between state media representatives, partners and stakeholders’  based in the  state  of intervention, in accordance with project guidelines regarding media/ community  engagement
• Ensure the quality data, testimonies and pictures are collected in the field and appropriately labelled.

Other - 5%:

• Actively participate as a member of the project Technical Team
• Adhere to all project policies and procedures

Person Specification 
Qualifications and experience: 

Essential:

• Minimum of 3-5 years of professional experience in health communication/ promotion behavior change communications, community mobilization, activations, gender development, and projects documentation.
• Master’s degree in Communications, Social Sciences, Health Promotion, Marketing or related field, with a public health bias
• Experience in story collection and story writing to document projects’ achievements and successes.
• Basic understanding of gender and equity related issues in malaria and public health programmes
• Adequate knowledge of the state, local government and community structures and institutions relevant to public health programmes.
• Basic understanding of malaria and other public health issues in Nigeria; and the associated behavior change processes. associated to them
• Experience in working with media organisations to achieve public health programme objectives

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the Nigerian Public health sector
• Experience in health sector advocacy work
• Foundational knowledge of public health approaches  

Work-based Skills and Competencies:
Essential:

• Good oral and written communications skills and ability to convey messages to diverse audiences
• Strong interest in and desire to promote improved health policy and practice
• Proven skills in writing, copy editing, proof reading and documentation, excellent attention to detail
• Excellent computer skills (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher or other design software)
• Excellent organization, planning, communication and follow-up skills
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple assignments

Desirable:

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to interact effectively with all levels of associates, including management
• Skills in the use of different media outlets (photography, film, TV, radio, newspapers etc.) for communications purposes
• Experience in public health communications campaigns
• Experience and skills in training and transfer of knowledge

Core Competencies
Delivering results: 
LEVEL C - Supports others to achieve results:

• Displays a positive and enthusiastic approach and is not deterred by setbacks, finding alternative ways to reach goals or targets.
• Supports others to plan and deliver results
• Supports others to manage and cope with setbacks

Analysis and use of information: 
LEVEL B -  Uses evidence to support work:

• Identifies and uses various sources of evidence and feedback to support outputs
• Uses evidence to evaluate policies, projects and programmes
• Identifies links between events and information identifying trends, issues and risks
• Ensures systems are in place to address organisation needs

Interpersonal and communications: 
LEVEL C -   Adapts communications effectively:

• Tailors communication (content, style and medium) to diverse audiences
• Communicates equally effectively at all organisational levels
• Understands others’ underlying needs, concerns and motivations and communicates effectively in sensitive situations
• Resolves intra-team and inter-team conflicts effectively

Collaboration and partnering: 
LEVEL C - Builds strong networks internally and participates actively in external networks and think tanks:

• Builds strong networks internally 
• Participates actively in external networks and/or think tanks.
• Engages with relevant experts to gather and evaluate evidence
• Shares and implements good practice with internal and external peers

Leading and motivating people: 
LEVEL B -  Manages own development and seeks opportunities:

• Actively manages own development and performance positively
• Learns lessons from successes and failures
• Seeks and explores opportunities within Malaria Consortium which develop skills and expertise

Flexibility/ adaptability:
LEVEL B -  Remains professional under external pressure:

• Able to adapt to changing situations effortlessly
• Remains constructive and positive under stress and able to tolerate difficult situations and environments
• Plans, prioritises and performs tasks well under pressure
• Learns from own successes / mistakes

Living the values:
LEVEL B -  Promotes Malaria Consortium values amongst peers:

• Shows a readiness to promote Malaria Consortium’s values amongst peers
• Promotes ethical and professional behaviour in line with Malaria Consortium’s values

Strategic planning and thinking and sector awareness: 
LEVEL B -  Is aware of others’ activities and vice versa in planning activities:

• Takes account of team members and others workload when planning
• Maintains awareness of impact on other parts of the organisation, keeping  abreast of other’s activities, objectives, commitments and needs
• Has a good understanding of the sector in which Malaria Consortium works

Salary
Competitive.

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