Polio Outbreak Social and Behaviour Change

Project Context & Objectives

Polio Outbreak Response: Following the confirmation of six environmental samples (ES) collected in Deir Al-Balah and Khan Yunis, Gaza, State of Palestine (SOP), the Gaza health authority declared a cVDPV2 outbreak in Gaza on 29 July 2024. To break the polio transmission, we and our partner are supporting the health authority in Gaza in the implementation of two rounds of polio outbreak response campaigns using nOPV2. The first round was in September 2024, and the second round was in October 2024. The campaign, which was conducted in phases, covered Phase 1 in the Middle area of Deir Al-Balah, Phase 2 in Khan Yunis environs, and Phase 3 in North Gaza/Gaza City. The campaign was largely successful, with over 90% coverage of the target population. However, the recent results of the environmental sample have shown evidence of breakthrough transmission, i.e., the presence of the poliovirus in the environment 21 days after the SIA, which will require another round of outbreak response.

The Polio Outbreak SBC Extender will support the coordination and implementation of the polio community engagement and risk communication support provided to the country during the response to a poliovirus outbreak. The Extender will work under the supervision of the SBC Specialist at the Gaza field office and in collaboration with the SBC and health teams, as well as local partners. The Polio Outbreak SBC Extender's support to the team at the field office will ensure that the outbreak response is:

• Aligned with the local health authority plans and strategies.

• Aligned with the latest GPEI polio outbreak response guidelines.

Duties: Under the supervision of the SBC Specialist, the extender will be responsible for completing the following tasks/deliverables:

• Support the Ministry of Health and other partners in the polio outbreak response and routine immunization services.

• Assess community engagement and risk communication needs and existing capacity at the local level and support information dissemination strategies to promote polio and routine immunization.

• Contribute to developing community engagement, social mobilization, and risk communication plans to underpin the technical response in collaboration with our offices and partners.

• Provide inputs to the overall response implementation strategy, including operational work plans and providing authoritative advice and support to operational units.

• Strengthen the existing teams by emphasizing team building and collaboration as a daily routine with national and international partners.

• Ensure the implementation of the required social investigation as part of evidence-based SBC for the early outbreak response.

• Contribute to the development of the community engagement and risk communication component of the six-month outbreak response plan, including details for subnational implementation, the means for monitoring field activities, and a budget to cover those activities.

• Support the development and tailoring of health information products for various target populations/audiences based on carefully assessing community knowledge, practices, and behaviors.

• Help ensure that polio micro plans (at least in priority areas) include social data and information on social mobilizers and leaders by the time of the first response.

• Provide support for training health workers and other stakeholders on SBC for polio and routine EPI demand.

• Help implement the crisis communication plans, as appropriate.

• Undertake in-depth reviews of potential immunization barriers to be addressed.

• Support regular analyses of independent monitoring data and other available resources to identify priority areas.

• Facilitate documentation and dissemination of lessons learned/good practices from the planning, implementation, and monitoring of Polio Outbreak Response SBC activities.

• Support the implementation of the community engagement component of the routine immunization expansion plans.

Key Competencies:

• Strong self-awareness and ability to self-manage and operate safely and securely in rapidly changing emergency contexts.

• Drive to achieve impactful results, strong communication and coordination skills.

• Ability to work effectively in a diverse and multi-cultural team to achieve goals.

• Ability to develop new and nurture existing internal and external networks, partnerships, and relationships that deliver results.

• Ability to analyze information, solve problems, and make decisions in complex, challenging, and rapidly evolving environments.

• Experienced in delivering training to various audiences.

• Demonstrates ability to organize and supervise activity implementation in complex situations.

• Maintains good relationships with project stakeholders.

• Focuses on impact and result and responds positively to feedback.

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.

• Remains calm, in control, and good-humored even under pressure.

• Innovation and marketing of new approaches.

• Job knowledge/technical expertise.

• A willingness and commitment to serve children and their communities affected by disasters in the face of potential hardship and personal sacrifice.

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Qualifications:

• A bachelor's university degree in one of the following fields is required: social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations, or another relevant technical field, including public health or other health-related degrees.

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: social development program planning, behavior change, health communication, community engagement, public advocacy, or another related area.

• Experience in immunization programs is an advantage.

• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.

• Fluency in Arabic and English is required.

Application Instructions: 

Interested candidates are requested to send the followings: 

• CV.
• Two professional references for the last two employers with their contacts’ information.

• The post title should be added to the email subject. 

All the above documents should be sent not later than 12:00 p.m. on 05.02.2025 to the following e-mail address:

[email protected]

Emails without the Post Title will be neglected. Only candidates possessing relevant experiences will be shortlisted.

• We celebrate and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender or disability.
• CTG has a zero tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) which is outlined in its Code of Conduct. Protection from SEA is everyone’s responsibility and all staff are required to adhere to CTG’s Code of Conduct at all times.