Consultant – Adolescent Behaviour/RCCE (Risk Communication and Community Engagement) Specialist

Consultancy Terms of Reference

Position: Consultant – Adolescent Behaviour/RCCE (Risk Communication and Community Engagement) Specialist – Development of a RCCE strategy targeting adolescents and young people in relation to COVID-19
Recruiting Organization: Restless Development Zambia
Location: Home Based
Duration for Consultancy: Negotiable – starting as soon as possible

PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY:
Around the world, we see that Governments struggle to adequately communicate with young people the urgency and importance of understanding and employing COVID-19 prevention measures. It is widely understood that “scare tactics” and the use of fear as a motivator can be counter-productive to having young people take up COVID-safe behaviors. Young people have the same risks as everyone of catching and transmitting the COVID-19 virus, but are less likely to develop symptoms. Therefore they are at risk of transmitting the virus without knowing that they are putting others at risk. Adolescents and young people can also be less risk-averse. Giving them more knowledge and information on the COVID risks they face and their role in preventing transmission will only go so far and the real focus should be on understanding what drives their decision-making and ultimately their changes in behaviour.

Some of the key questions to answer include:
● How to engage and communicate with young people on the risks of Covid-19?
● What approaches/tactics should duty-bearers adopt when communicating with adolescents and young people?
● What can be said and how so that adolescents and young people decide to adopt Covid-safe behaviours?
● What community engagement and risk communication approaches should be employed to encourage and facilitate COVID-safe behaviour?

We know from experience, evidence and research that if we want adolescents and young people to understand and make positive decisions about their health and behaviour, they need to be specifically engaged with in a way that “speaks” to them, that addresses their concerns and questions, reinforces their growing responsibility as young adults and takes into consideration their circumstances. To this end, Restless Development Zambia is looking for a consultant who can help develop a strategy/approach/tactics to guide our youth engagement efforts in relation to young people adopting Covid-safe behaviours.

METHOD OF WORK:
The consultant will be home based, reporting directly to the Hub Director of Restless Development Zambia.
The work has a theoretical aspect to it where the consultant will be expected to synthesize the latest scientific evidence on brain development of adolescents and young people, their socialization realities and decision-making process as the basis for the strategy needed to influence their behaviours.

In addition to the above, the consultant will be expected to review examples of past successful strategies used for adolescent and young people behavioural change and RCCE. What has been tried and has worked should be presented.

Involvement of young people will be required, to work out with them the best strategy that speaks to them. The final product should be the coming together of the consultant’s theoretical knowledge and the lived realities of various adolescents and young people. To this end, FGDs with various groups of young people will have to be organized to engage in a two-way conversation with them to better understand what angle would work best with them.

Building from all of this, the consultant should propose several practical ways to trigger behavioural change in adolescents and young people when it comes to desirable behaviours for Covid prevention. As the final output of this consultancy, a few recommended tactics for how to engage with adolescents and young people to support Covid-safe behaviours are expected.

[Actual message development is not the object of this consultancy. The objective of the consultancy is to guide teams that are responsible for message development targeting various groups of young people and implement behavioural change specifically targeting Covid-related behaviours.]

DURATION OF THE CONSULTANCY
The duration of the consultancy is negotiable and depends on daily rates and overall consultancy costs. Funds have already been secured so the consultancy should start as soon as possible.

DELIVERABLES
The consultant will be expected to deliver a report including:

• Summary of the scientific evidence regarding adolescent and young people decision-making processes on behaviours adoption (neuroscience and social sciences)
• Review of successful approaches to adolescent and young people adopting healthy behaviours (focusing on approach/tactic/angle used)
• Recommended approaches/tactics to guide engagement with adolescent and young people on Covid-safe behaviours

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
The consultant should meet the following requirements for this assignment.
● Postgraduate level qualification in sociology, public health, anthropology or a relevant field.
● Strong expertise in community engagement, risk and behavioural change communication with adolescents and young people
● Experience developing engagement strategies with adolescents and young people
● An excellent understanding of how to meaningfully work with young people
● 3 – 5 years experience of working in the development sector
● Experience in working with teams to dialogue with staff, understand in depth the expected results and develop what is expected.
● Superior written communication and presentation skills.
● Highly organized and detail orientated
● Strong people skills and approachable
● Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability to change
● Ability to work under pressure and extra hours when necessary, and to meet deadlines.
● Must be a self-starter and be able to work independently
● Commitment to deliver high quality outputs

Applications must be sent with the following information;

-A technical proposal that includes details on the following:

• Motivation/interest
• Relevant experience/why you would be the best candidate
• Proposed technical approach to deliver what is expected
• Availability, daily rate and proposed duration/timing

-Detailed CVs

-List of publication or research undertaking on similar topics

-3 references including their contact details