United States of America: Documentation of C4D experience in the Ebola Outbreak

Background

The Ebola outbreak of 2014-15 is the most severe in history, affecting some of the world’s most vulnerable communities in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. In the past, Ebola outbreaks were small and largely confined to rural areas, however this outbreak moved quickly to densely populated cities with severe impact. In all three of the most affected countries, Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone, lack of familiarity with Ebola, key cultural practices, population mobility and stigma has made control of the outbreak very difficult.

The complexity of the crisis, the shifting nature of the epidemic and the differences in local contexts mean that not only urgency, but also flexibility are of utmost importance in the response. As the response built up and evolved, the focus shifted from containment to hunting down the virus. Managing the interdependence of the supply side and the demand side, within the context of the overall socio-political environment, also became central to success. With these realizations and evolution of the response came a sharper focus on the importance of community engagement in influencing the key factors influencing the spread, and containment, of the virus.

UNICEF played a major role in the response in the affected countries. Given the unique nature of this outbreak, gathering of lessons learned and documentation of experience are particularly important, especially in terms of the contribution of the non-clinical aspects of the response.

In a Special Issue on evidence and impact of community engagement and communication strategies for stopping Ebola in West Africa,the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives and UNICEF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) propose tocapture the lessons learned and document experiences in Communication for Development and the related strategies which have been central to Community Engagement and Social Mobilization efforts during the Ebola outbreak.

Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is twofold:

(i) To prepare a synthesis of lessons learned onbehaviour change communication, community engagement and social mobilization from the Ebola Outbreak into a short accessible resource for UNICEF staff and partner agencies

(ii) To manage the preparation of the Special Issueon evidence and impact of community engagement and communication strategies for stopping Ebola in West Africa, for publication bythe Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, in collaboration with USAID

(i) The synthesis of lessons learned

The synthesis will focus on lessons learned on behavior change communication, community engagement and social mobilization from the Ebola Outbreak of 2014-15 in West Africa. The resulting resource should be brief and accessible, and relevant to UNICEF staff and partner agencies. The resource should be finalized by 31 January 2016.

The consultant will be required to set up a consultation process for the purpose of distilling key learning from the behavior change communication, community engagement and social mobilization in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The process should include a selection of UNICEF staff from headquarters, regional and country level. The views of other implementing partners as well as government colleagues, donors and relevant local civil society organizations and networks should also be sought as part of the process.

(ii) The Special Issue on evidence and impact of community engagement and communication strategies for stopping Ebola in West Africa,

The Special Issue will be published by the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, in collaboration with USAID. UNICEF and collaborators, seek original contributions on research and assessments addressing behavior change communication, community engagement and social mobilization for Ebola prevention and control. For this special issue, the Journal welcomes high-quality research and analyses from diverse theoretical and methodological approaches from all fields of communication, media, community participation and engagement and health promotion.

The Journal is particularly seeking new and innovative communication and community engagement approaches used during on-going Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. A broad definition of communication will be used to assess original contributions of the discipline used alongside healthcare services and infection prevention and control strategies to stop the spread of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal during 2014 and 2015, as well as use of communication for preparedness for Ebola in other countries in Western, Central and Eastern and Southern Africa.

This special issue is particularly geared toward documentation of research, monitoring and impact assessment studies that increases the evidence base of using a range of communication strategies in public health emergencies such as Ebola, have the potential to generate future applied interventions and related studies to advance the field, and provide insights into the development of inclusive communication strategies in emergency and humanitarian response.

The Journal invites original empirical (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) research, assessments, and evaluations, comparative case studies based on existing literature or available data as well as theoretical or methodological contributions on the following topics related to Ebola communication:

· Community engagement and participation alongside other Ebola control strategies (such as contact tracing, quarantine, care and treatment seeking, infection prevention and control and safe and dignified burials).

· Social mobilization of local networks such as religious leaders, traditional healers, children, adolescent and youth groups, women’s groups, other traditional/cultural and development forums

· Behavior change communication using interpersonal outreach, mass media and mid-media approaches

· Risk communication from media advocacy to community participation

· Health promotion, education and communication through outreach workers and media platforms

· Innovative as well as existing communication for health and development platforms used to disseminate information and engage in community dialogue

· The role of Information, Communication, and Technology in public health emergencies

· Strengthening of health care and social services with a focus on increased capacity in behavior change communication, social mobilization and community engagement.

This Special Issue on Ebola Communication Research and Evidence will be co-edited by UNICEF, USAID and JHU/CCP with editorial oversight by the Journal of Health Communication. The consultant will be required to follow up on the decisions of the editors, including setting up and managing follow up of the peer review process, through to compiling the final package for the Special Issue at publication standard. The consultant will be required to observe and uphold all the required guidelines of the Journal publication, with great attention to detail.

Under the guidance of the Chief C4D, the consultant will be required to deliver against set timeframes and deadlines, in order to reach the key milestones of 30 September 2015 for the original contributions and 15 January for the submission of the final Special Issue to the Journal for publication by 31^st March.

Duration

This is a part-time consultancy for a maximum of 54 days over the period 15^thOctober2015 to 31^st January 2016.

Start date:15^thOctober2015**End date:**31^st January 2015

Duty Station

UNICEF New York Headquarters (flexible office and home-based).

Deliverables

The products of this consultancy will provide guidance to colleagues and partners on replication of successful models and avoidance of pitfalls in future epidemics.

Expected results and timeframe: (measurable results)

DeliverablesTimeframe 2015**Lessons learned resource submitted to UNICEF**15 December 2015**Special Issue submitted to Journal**15 January 2016**Follow up with Journal completed**31 January 2016

Key competences, technical background, and experience required:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief, C4D, the consultant needs to have relevant experience and competencies to perform the following:

a) Academic qualifications and required level of education: experience in journalism or related field; or behaviour change communication, community engagement and social mobilization; or international development. Master’s degree is essential.

b) Specialized training needed: journalism, professional writing, editing, publications

c) Experience managing consultations and/or written projects in different countries and regions

d) Length of relevant work experience - minimum 5 years of Mid-level work experience

e) Languages needed: fluent in English; other UN languages are an advantage

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants are requested to send their submissions to < pdconsultants@unicef.org>with subject line: “Documentation of C4D experience in the Ebola Outbreak” by 28 September 2015, 5:00pm EST.

Applications must include:

· Cover letter,

· CV, and

· P-11 form (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)

· 2 relevant Writing Samples

· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit