BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AND COMMUNICATION OFFICER
Mwanza,
Tanzania
With a mission to restore health
and healing to those most in need, IMA World Health is a non-profit,
faith-based organization that offers extensive expertise in health systems strengthening
as well as neglected tropical diseases, malaria, HIV, non-communicable
diseases, and sexual and gender based violence programs in some of the most
challenging and post-conflict settings throughout Africa, Asia, and the
Caribbean.
IMA
world Health in partnership with Nutrition in Tanzania (PANITA) and Development
Media International (DMI) will be implementing a five year program (from 2015
to 2019/2020) for Addressing Stunting in Tanzania Early (ASTUTE), to improve
early childhood development and reduce the prevalence of stunting (low height
for age) among Tanzanian children under 5 years old with focus on the first
1000 days of life from conception.
The
anticipated DFID-funded project in Tanzania will be implemented in 5 regions of
Kagera, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Geita and Kigoma in collaboration with Local
Government Authorities and other multi sectoral stakeholders to support the
National nutrition Strategy and will look, specifically to 1) support
interventions to build knowledge, change attitudes, strengthen practice and
expand services 2) retrain health facility and community level resource persons
to ensure community engagement 3) deliver overall nutrition components and
build the capacity of DNuOs and District trainers 4) build capacity for planning,
programming, budgeting and financial management to sustainably address
stunting.
The
Behavior Change and Communication Officer (BCC Officer) will be based in one of
the 4 regions of Geita, Shinyanga, Kagera and Kigoma.
The
officer will apply his/her technical expertise in BCC strategies to change the
behaviors, beliefs and social norms of communities towards child feeding and
other factors that contribute to child stunting such as hygiene and sanitation,
child care practices, maternal nutrition, household food security, birth
spacing, social cultural practices and women and empowerment, with special
focus to district and community leaders, health service providers, community
health workers, mothers and care givers of children aged 6 months to 2 years.
The
officer will be working closely with Development Media International (DMI) and PANITA’S
CSO partners, local media, project nutritionists, and Government Regional
Nutrition Officers and District Nutrition Officers and must
be able to work with multi-sectoral stakeholders in the districts implementing BCC
activities. The officer will also support conceptualization of formative
research, KAP study and guide preparations of behavior
change communication messages, campaigns, tools and materials.
Responsibilities:
·
Understand
ASTUTE’s main areas of focus in addressing child stunting and identify areas
that need behavior change interventions.
·
Participate
in introducing ASTUTE to the target regions and districts.
·
Participate
in developing tools and implementing formative research in the districts to
guide formulation of unified BCC messages for local radios, sensitization
trainings, campaigns and educational materials.
·
Build the capacity of CSO’s,
nutritionists, and district trainers, on BCC strategies applicable in all
factors that contribute to child stunting for further training to community
leaders, health service providers, community health workers, mothers and care
givers of children from ages 6 months to 2 years.
·
Participate
in guiding behavior change of mothers and care givers towards infant and young
child feeding practices and other factors that contribute to child stunting
through supportive supervision and capacity building to health service
providers, community health workers and CSO members.
·
Create
demand for antenatal care services (dietary diversity, iron, folic acid
supplements) by women of reproductive age through the development of innovative
BCC strategies and interpersonal communications.
·
In
coordination with the M&E Officer and Nutrition Officers, participate in
monitoring surveys for BCC indicators by collecting relevant BCC data aimed at
assessing achievements of project targets.
·
Conduct
regular supportive supervision to CSO’s and provide technical support as needed.
·
Report
to the BCC Specialist about any challenges in implementation of BCC activities
and suggest ways to overcome them.
·
Prepare weekly, monthly and
quarterly reports.
·
Perform any other activities
as requested by nutrition advisor.
·
Identify successes achieved
through project implementation and write success stories for
dissemination.
Specific Skills Required
·
Understands BCC concepts.
·
Adequate communication
skills.
·
Experienced in designing and
producing BCC tools, messages, materials and implementing BCC activities.
·
Experienced in developing
and implementing informative research.
·
Understands the use of mass
media in BCC strategies.
·
Must be a team player.
·
Must be a creative and
innovative thinker.
·
Must be able to implement
new and innovative BCC campaigns that bring about change.
·
Basic knowledge in public
health and nutrition activities.
·
Must possess training and documentation
skills.
Academic Qualifications and
Experience
·
The candidate must have a
bachelor’s degree in communication, education, nutrition, public health or
relevant disciplines with more than two years of experience in implementing
community based BCC / social marketing activities/campaigns.
·
A master’s degree in the
above fields and experience will be added advantages.
FT position with excellent
benefits. EOE. Please apply online through the IMA Careers Page of our
website: www.imaworldhealth.org
by 24 March 2016.