National Consultant: Nutrition and Food Systems Youth-led Campaign, Pretoria, South Africa, 13 months (Home-based) at UNICEF

The campaign will include the following phases and activities:

Phase I: Design and Planning

• Leveraging on approaches from phase II of the campaign, collaborate with young people and key partners to design a comprehensive campaign strategy and workplan, including SMART objectives, activities, milestones, defined roles and responsibilities, slogan campaign, a defined digital advertising strategy, monitoring and evaluation and other relevant matters. 
• Establish and maintain a consultation group including relevant stakeholders (CSO representatives, youth, communications and advocacy specialists, government officials, etc.) to consult on, drive and share key milestones of the campaign. 
• Present the campaign strategy and workplan to UNICEF and obtain feedback to fully finalize it.

Phase II: Implementation

• Facilitate and coordinate the implementation of all activities stipulated in the campaign plan over the course of the consultancy. 
• Facilitate regular and ad hoc meetings with a consultation group to test specific approaches, messages and initiatives.
• Manage individual relationships with youth advocates, assess their learning, identifying potential challenges and spot talent and key interests.
• Manage the relations with partners relevant to achieving the objectives of the campaign. 
• Support youth advocates in the planning, implementation and evaluation of events and offline/online engagements to promote the campaign, including meetings with key decision makers and other engagements relevant to the policy landscape.
• With feedback from UNICEF and in close collaboration with young people and partners, facilitate the development of a package of information materials in various formats (social media tiles, blog posts, scripts for radio and video, surveys or quizzes, press releases etc.).
• Facilitate the dissemination and targeted boosting of relevant messages on multiple platforms regularly throughout the campaign duration to reach at least 1 500 000 young people. Outreach platforms include but are not limited to existing government platforms (e.g., B-Wise) UNICEF website, UNICEF volunteer campus clubs and other youth structures, UNICEF social media platforms
• (Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter), U-Report, Internet of Good Things, school platforms, community radio and print media. 
• Leveraging on UNICEF’s existing relations, identify potential media opportunities and coordinate relationships with journalists and other media sources.
• Coordinate UNICEF’s contributions to government initiatives related to yearly health days including National Nutrition Week, World Obesity Day and Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Day. 
• Liaise with relevant UNICEF staff to keep the campaign website up to date with new materials developed. 
• Conduct training, mentorship and capacity-building activities for local youth structures and advocacy partners on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of youth-led campaigning activities for food system transformation. 
• In collaboration with culinary experts, facilitate the development and dissemination of healthy and affordable recipes for young people.
• Coordinate the dissemination of a UNICEF Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on youth advocacy for nutrition and mental health.
• In collaboration with relevant UNICEF teams and based on latest available evidence, design, implement and evaluate the use of nudges and choice architecture interventions to improve healthy food choices across selected university food vendors. These may include calorie/nutritional labels on pre-packaged food items, increasing the availability, visibility and accessibility of healthy foods and reducing the convenience and accessibility of unhealthy foods.

Phase III: Monitoring and evaluation

• Within the campaign plan, develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan including quantitative and qualitative research tools for collection of baseline and endline data to assess the reach and effectiveness of the messages communicated and the activities conducted.
• Facilitate regular and ad hoc project management meetings with consultative group to monitor implementation and elicit feedback to course correct, as required.
• Conduct evaluations of key activities based on the campaign objectives.
• Prepare a comprehensive written report of the process, achievements, reach and lessons learned and present final evaluation and results to UNICEF.
• Each phase of the consultancy will require feedback and inputs from UNICEF before these are considered complete. The consultant is expected to present results and progress to UNICEF on a regular basis.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in  Behavioral Health Sciences, Psychology, sociology, Health Education and Promotion, Social Sciences, Public Health or another related field
• Expertise on social and behavior change communications campaigns and strategies and knowledge on nutrition, food systems, health promotion, NCD prevention or similar.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in social and behavior change, risk communication and community engagement.
• Previous experience with nutrition and food systems or health promotion.
• Solid experience in Results-Based Measurement and in social and behavior change monitoring and evaluation. 
• Solid experience in multi-partner coordination.
• Experience engaging and working with young people is desirable.
• Expertise in the development and design of knowledge products for various audiences.
• Proven record of securing placements with traditional and digital media.
• Thorough knowledge of social media tools, including Twitter and Facebook.
• A good track record in working with the government and implementation of social and behavior change strategies.
• Relevant experience working in the UN or other international development organization is an asset. 
• Ability to  work flexibly and independently with limited supervision in a multicultural team environment and deliver quality results against tight deadlines; and  handle multiple tasks and deliver quality outputs even under pressure, is required.
• Strong computer skills (word, excel, power point, outlook) are required. Skills with other software such as Canva, Photoshop and similar are desirable. Strong communication skills (both writing and speaking), especially the ability to draft analytical
• reports/documents is required.
• Proactive coordination and networking skills required.
• Familiarity with government regulations and UNICEF youth advocacy initiatives is desirable.
• Fluency in written and oral English is required.
• Knowledge of a local language is an asset.