Senior Demand Promotion for Immunization Consultant 9 Months Office base (Open for Nationals of Only) Req, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

## Senior Demand Promotion for Immunization Consultant 9 Months Office base (Open for Nationals of Only) Req, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Organization:UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund - Office:UNICEF Addis Ababa Senior Demand Promotion for Immunization Consultant, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9 Months, Office base (Open for Nationals of Ethiopia Only) Req#595168 Position type:Consultant Division/Equivalent:Nairobi Regn'l(ESARO) Department/Office:Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Contract Duration:9 Months Working arrangement:Office Based UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job - it is a calling. UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package. Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF. Ethiopia continues to face persistent gaps in immunization demand and uptake, particularly among zero-dose and under-immunized populations, despite significant progress in expanding service availability. Structural barriers such as geographic inaccessibility, population mobility, and inequities in service delivery are compounded by behavioral and social factors including limited caregiver awareness on immunization schedule, low risk perception of vaccine-preventable diseases, gender-related constraints in decision-making, and varying levels of trust in health services. In addition, emerging challenges such as misinformation, rumors, and concerns related to vaccine safety and adverse events have affected public confidence, especially during new vaccine introductions and outbreak response campaigns (e.g., COVID-19, HPV). Frontline health workers also face constraints in interpersonal communication skills and community engagement capacity, affecting their ability to effectively address hesitancy and promote positive health behaviors. These challenges highlight the critical need for a coordinated, evidence-based social and behavior change (SBC) approach that strengthens community engagement, enhances social listening systems, and leverages behavioral insights to sustainably increase demand, acceptance, and equitable uptake of routine and new vaccines across Ethiopia. To provide comprehensive technical support for demand promotion across routine immunization, new vaccine introductions, and vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) outbreak response campaigns, while ensuring systematic monitoring, documentation, and reporting of evidence-based demand generation interventions, and serving as a key liaison and coordination focal point with the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant partners. The overall objective of this consultancy is to promote public acceptance, uptake and demand of routine immunization and newly introduced vaccines in Ethiopia at the national level. The consultant is expected to understand key drivers of immunization demand among caregivers, barriers and enablers among zero-dose and under-immunized communities, and among frontline health workers to successfully promote and sustain the desired behaviour based on evidence. With technical support and guidance of the SBC Specialist (immunization & PHE), Health Section of UNICEF Ethiopia, the consultant will be responsible for the coordination of national communication technical working group to accelerate demand generation approaches and strategies to promote evidence-based social and behavior change interventions including advocacy, community engagement, community empowerment, social listening, monitoring and evaluation for the routine immunization, new vaccine introduction and VPD outbreak response vaccination campaigns in Ethiopia. The consultant is expected to provide technical support to following activities: - Provide technical support to the Immunization Service Desk (ISD) of MOH and the Communication Technical Working Group (C-TWG) to design, coordinate, and implement demand promotion strategies aligned with Gavi 6.0, focusing on zero-dose and under-immunized children, routine immunization, new vaccine introductions, and SIAs. - Coordinate and liaise with ISD/MOH, UNICEF, and partner agencies to organize and facilitate C-TWG meetings (monthly and ad hoc), including preparation of agendas, documentation of minutes, and follow-up on agreed actions. - Support the development, operationalization, and monitoring of national immunization demand promotion strategies, integrating evidence-based approaches such as behavioral insights and human-centered design (HCD) approaches. - Ensure C-TWG supports the planning and implementation of activities that promote vaccine acceptance and uptake under Gavi 6.0 strategic period, including for newly introduced vaccines. - Provide technical support to ISD/MOH and C-TWG on the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of demand promotion and risk communication interventions, including reaching zero-dose and under-immunized communities. - Facilitate the development, review, pre-testing, and endorsement of multi-channel communication materials at the federal level and support subnational teams in contextualization and translation into local languages. - Coordinate with government and media partners to strengthen social listening and public opinion monitoring systems, including tracking rumors, misinformation, AEFI-related concerns, and vaccine-related media coverage (e.g., COVID-19, HPV, polio, routine vaccines), in collaboration with EPHI, EFDA, and other stakeholders. - Support the scale-up of innovative and evidence-based demand strategies, including digital engagement, HCD interventions, and social listening approaches, ensuring alignment and synergy among partners through the C-TWG. - Strengthen community engagement systems by working with HEWs, VHLs, community leaders, CSOs, and other local community structures to improve vaccine confidence, uptake, and equitable reach. - Provide capacity-building support for frontline health workers, social mobilizers, media professionals, and hotline operators on interpersonal communication, demand generation, and risk/crisis communication. - Facilitate and participate in monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, including behavioral and social drivers (BeSD) studies, rapid assessments, social investigations, and field visits in collaboration with MOH/RHB and UNICEF. - Ensure that all SBC approaches are inclusive, participatory, and gender-transformative, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. - Document and disseminate best practices and human-interest stories highlighting community experiences and voices related to immunization in close coordination with UNICEF teams. - Prepare and submit required technical reports and deliverables to UNICEF and MOH in line with agreed work plans. Note:At the beginning of the assignment, the consultant is expected to discuss and agree with UNICEF and ISD team of MOH on work plan schedules for the assignment period. If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:Terms of Reference TMC0005130.pdf Minimum requirements: Advance university degree in social science, public health, sociology, anthropology, psychology, communication for development/Social and behavioural change communication. - Minimum of seven years of relevant SBC/demand promotion experiences in immunization or health sectors at national/federal level. - In-depth understanding of Ethiopian communities and SBC/demand promotion for immunization key stakeho