Social and Behavior Change Communication Intern

Are you ready for SAVING LIVES CHANGING LIVES of the world's most vulnerable people?

If yes, this opportunity is for you!

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

Job Title:                             Social and Behavior Change Communication Intern         

Vacancy Number:            151283

Contract type:                   Intern

Duration:                           4 months

Duty Station:                     Bangkok, Thailand (Working remotely)

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is a leading organization delivering food assistance and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. We also support governments of developing countries in their efforts to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by addressing the underlying causes and disparities in access to food and good nutrition to ensure that no one is left behind in line with the Agenda 2030, Sustaining Peace and Agenda for Humanity. WFP is particularly focused on Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and Goal 17 (Partnerships).

The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to WFP is recognition that ending hunger is a critical first step towards global peace. WFP recognizes that one of the greatest contributions it can make to humanity is to provide a voice to the 690 million hungry people in the world. The Nobel Peace Prize gives us a platform to make their needs heard and to mobilize support for the assistance they need. 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Assisting 80 million people in around 80 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide, providing food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. As per WFP’s Nutrition Policy 2017-2021, WFP focuses on adequate nutrient intake as a prerequisite to good nutrition and health. Ending malnutrition in all its forms entails increasing the availability, access, consumption and demand for safe and nutritious diets that meet, but do not exceed, the nutritional requirements of vulnerable groups.

Asia hosts the largest burden of malnutrition globally, despite the overall economic growth. It has about 55 percent of the world’s 150.5 million stunted children, 69 percent of the world’s 50.5 million wasted children and 46 percent of the world’s 38.3 million overweight under-five children. Rates of overweight and obesity are rising rapidly while micronutrient deficiency is also quite prevalent with about 400 million women of childbearing age in the Asia and Pacific countries being anaemic (SOFI 2018). Addressing this nutrition challenge calls for multi-sectoral approaches with robust community component that fosters positive behaviors and practices. It’s also notable that existence of disparities (due to gender, geographic location, etc) and social norms and taboos, hinder access to services and dietary intake, further undermining people’s nutrition wellbeing; hence need for multi stakeholder contribution.

WFP in Asia & Pacific region focuses on supporting countries1 in scaling up policies and programs that prevent all forms of malnutrition. Specific focus areas of work include i) Leveraging national social protection programs and safety nets to enhance access for vulnerable groups to nutritious diets and knowledge; ii) Working with public and private sector to produce affordable nutritious foods for young children, adolescents and women and promote demand for and consumption of nutritious diet, and iii) Addressing nutritional needs in crises response and emergency preparedness. WFP also supports scale up of post-harvest fortification, especially of rice; evidence generation around nutrient gaps for vulnerable groups; and creation of scalable program models for the prevention of malnutrition and treatment of acute malnutrition. All these programmes apply elements of Social and Behavior Change communication (SBCC) approaches to build evidence, design relevant strategies, scale up response and boost sustainability of the programme and its impact.

Currently, WFP Country Offices (COs) in the Asia and Pacific region integrate SBCC approaches to promote key behaviours primarily on nutrition such as : infant and young child feeding; maternal dietary diversity; healthy eating habits; improving micronutrient intake, WASH, food safety and hygiene. Some countries are also looking beyond nutrition such as promoting education to improve girls’ school attendance. WFP platforms are linked to specific sectors and /or national programmes such as School Feeding Programme or Cash or food- based Social Protection programmes, which not only reach the specific individuals but their families and communities through different community engagement approaches and media.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This intern focuses on providing support to create greater visibility and engagement with Country Offices to advance the work initiated with the integration of evidence-based SBCC. The intern will support the areas such as:

1. Document the progress of SBCC, capacity assessment, knowledge management and research
2. Support to the SBCC research agenda which will contribute to the RBB Nutrition portfolio on healthy diets.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Documenting Regional SBCC overview 
  • Support the mapping of SBCC related activities as per CSPs by country offices 
  • Support the development of draft Country briefs for select countries on SBCC progress 
  • Support the design of a visual dashboard of the SBCC activities
• Assess capacity to carry out SBCC activities at country level and strategic partnership available at the regional level
  • Create draft tools for consultation to assess the SBCC capacities with WFP country offices.
  • Draft report and presentation on the country consultations with key highlights on SBCC capacity (WFP internal and external stakeholders)
  • Help research and map the stakeholders landscape to help identify opportunities for SBCC partnerships at regional level that can benefit countries
• Knowledge Management 
  • Develop draft formative research briefs for formative research conducted in the region. 
  • Create a repository to catalogue all the available research and SBCC strategy 
  • Support the design and coordination of SBCC webinar with COs on planned topics 
  • Identify resources for the SBCC Asia Pacific team space and promote ideas for engagement on the platform 
  • Support any research agenda on SBCC; update SBCC brief; identify trending topics; CO request for SBCC training among others
• Supporting SBCC for nutrition research agenda: Specific support for the smooth implementation of the investment case study titled: To understand the key drivers of food and dietary choices (healthy and unhealthy) including snacking behaviours, amongst school -age children within the internal and external food environment in the South East Asia region: Featuring case studies from Laos and Philippines.
  • Support communication and coordination with the NGO , RBB Nut team and CO on sharing of documents and information as required. 
  • Organize fortnightly/monthly meetings/as required to track progress and seek updates. 
  • Support documentation of minutes, reports, update SharePoint folder with all key information 
  • Support the coordination of review of tools, documents and consolidate comments for sharing 
  • Support preparation of PowerPoint presentations for highlighting progress internally, changes and early assessment results from the study. 
  • Support any administrative aspects of the research.

The intern will work in close collaboration with the Regional Bureau’s nutrition team and country office’s nutritionists. One or two travels to a country may be required.

DELIVERABLES

• A dashboard/visualization of SBCC activities (to be) carried out by WFP in the region, organized by agreed categories
• At least 2 webinars supported 
• At least two draft research briefs finalized and research activities supported 
• Report and presentation of the SBCC regional capacity assessment finalized 
• New resources identified and updated in the SBCC team space

QUALIFICATIONS

• Exposure to SBCC intervention or academic understanding on the topic would be an asset. 
• Knowledge of research methods (quantitative and qualitative) with familiarity in developing forms and tools
• Knowledge of nutrition or public health concepts would be an asset

EDUCATION

• Be currently enrolled in an undergraduate programme (for example, Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology is preferable) and have completed at least two years of programme. Candidates should have attended classes in the past 12 months 
• Be currently enrolled in a graduate programme in Social Sciences (for example, Master degree) and have attended classes in the past 12 months 
• Be a recent graduate from an undergraduate or graduate programme with core subjects in Social Sciences (within six months prior to the application to the internship programme) and have attended classes in the last 12 months of enrolment in the university.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Excellent interpersonal skills required, including strong communication ability
• Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse team
• Independent, self- starter, with innovative ideas and drive to develop new initiative 
• Tact and diplomacy 
• Advanced computer skills with proficiency in Windows, Microsoft office, Visual and design software
• Experience working on visualization software such as Tableau and other; Experience using publisher, InDesign, illustrator 

Knowledge of the UN system and WFP’s work would be an asset

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Sunday 7 November 2021  23:59 hrs Bangkok Time

'Students from Asia Pacific region are encouraged to apply’ 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply through the WFP careers website (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings ).

Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status. No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.