Community Engagement Delegate, Sierra Leone i Stockholm

Place of assignment: Freetown, Sierra Leone (with extensive field travel) and home-based
Type of posting: International delegate (subject to applicable labor and tax law)
Time frame: The project is expected to require 21 weeks of full-time work, divided into two missions to Sierra Leone; one for 10 weeks (March-May 2018) and one for six weeks (October-November 2018) plus one week of preparation prior to each mission, one week of report writing after each mission home-based and one week of debriefing and presentation in Stockholm. The contract period will not extend beyond December 31st 2018
Costs during periods prior and after mission: Please note that of the five weeks of preparation and reporting of missions (to be done home-based or at SRC headquarters), SRC will only cover costs, when necessary, (hotel, public transport and per diems) during the week of debriefing and presentation in Stockholm.

Desired starting date: 5th of March 2018

The most widespread Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in history broke out in Western Africa at the end of 2013. The hardest hit countries were Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where over 11 300 people perished. Swedish Red Cross (SRC) supported the Ebola emergency response operations in the three countries financially with over 20 million SEK. Additionally, SRC supported the operation in Sierra Leone with delegate expertise both at clinic and management level, through thirteen separate missions.

SRC has been supporting the Ebola recovery process in Sierra Leone with a focus on psychosocial support to survivors and volunteers and disaster preparedness and response. SRC is also implementing a three year programme that aims at preventing and contracting the creation of myths connected to Ebola and in this way re-building community trust. This project started in 2016, when an environmental impact assessment and community consultations took place. The assessments revealed an absence of required information, knowledge and community engagement. This lack of information has in part contributed to persistent rumours in affected communities, especially in remote and hard to reach communities bordering Guinea and Liberia. Consultations were made at national, district and community level. As no other actors had developed any new Ebola recovery messaging since the end of the Ebola outbreak, this project developed messages addressing the concerns and rumours identified in the assessments in 2016. In 2017, the messages were piloted in Kailahun district. Seventy community-based volunteers were recruited from isolated and severely affected communities and trained in Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) and forum theatre techniques. The CEA volunteers carried out activities using the messages developed. According to the endline results of the Knowledge, Attitude, Practice (KAP) study, the set of behaviour change strategies employed in this pilot project were effective in increasing knowledge and eliminating rumours. Social norms shifted from belief that Ebola is a ‘man-made’ disease, to understanding that Ebola is a dangerous ‘natural’ disease or communicable disease requiring heightened vigilance and treatment with modern medicine. Respondents even recognized they previously held false beliefs. Therefore, the plan is to scale up this project to an additional four districts in Sierra Leone in 2018.

This position will mainly be based in Freetown with frequent field visits across the country, to manage the implementation of a community engagement program with the aim to increase knowledge on Ebola in targeted communities, and in this way contribute to re-establishing community trust through myth prevention on the spread of Ebola. The position also includes five weeks of preparation and report writing; either home based or at SRC headquarters in Stockholm.

You will manage the planning, preparation and setting up of the community engagement project as well as ensuring that results of the project are well captured and reported. You will provide technical support to the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) project team in the development of job descriptions, training materials (manual, messages), orientation package/training on CEA and Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER,) baseline and end line data collection, training of staff and volunteers, reporting, dissemination of findings. You will lead the project team consisting of two full-time SLRCS staff at HQ and five full time national society staff in the districts. You will be coordinating with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC), other Red Cross Societies and other relevant stakeholders.

Specific tasks include but are not limited to:                                           

• Support the development of training materials for training of volunteers
• Support the development of orientation/training packages on Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER) and Gender and Diversity (G&D) for national society staff
• Lead the pre-testing of messages
• Lead the fact checking/modifying of final messages to ensure appropriate information is being delivered
• Oversee the translation of the messages into local languages as deemed appropriate
• Oversee the selection of target communities for the project
• Oversee the training of volunteers in message delivery (forum theater, radio broadcasting and house-to-house sensitization)
• Responsible for monitoring and evaluation, including the design and implementation of a baseline and an end line study
• Organize and lead a lessons learned/dissemination workshop for SLRCS staff, other movement partners, government agencies and other actors
• Work to ensure close collaboration with other projects and departments within the SLRCS
• Liaise and coordinate with Sierra Leonean government agencies and other actors, including making messages developed available for other organizations
• Document the project in writing
• Train, mentor and coach SLRCS staff connected to the project
• Ensure integration of best practices and lessons learned from project into SLRCS procedures and tools
• Be an ambassador of the Swedish Red Cross in the field

Security and HR management will be under the responsibility of the SRC Head of Unit for West and Central Africa, based in Stockholm.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years working experience with community engagement and behavior change communication programming, such as health promotion programs or similar
• Relevant higher education in anthropology, sociology or similar
• Strong experience and knowledge in, planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting
• Experience from developing and analyzing baseline/end line surveys
• Field experience from resource scarce settings, preferably from West Africa
• Experience of coaching, mentoring and capacity building initiatives
• Experience of leading small teams and remote management
• Proficient knowledge of written and spoken English
• Experience in public health programming is an asset

Personal competencies

• Good interpersonal skills and team oriented
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Constructive, flexible and solution oriented
• Ability to positively interact with all levels of society
• Awareness and understanding of cultural and gender differences
• Must be able to handle high workloads and stressful circumstances
• Must be able to live and work under demanding physical and mental conditions in remote locations
• Must be able to work constructively in cultural diverse environments

As a Swedish Red Cross employee we expect you to share the Red Cross/Red Crescent humanitarian values. The RC/RC values diversity and actively works against all forms of discrimination.

In selecting candidates Swedish Red Cross uses a competency based model and all candidates will be assessed on the above requirements.

Closing date is February 13th, 2018.

Please note that only applications made through our website will be considered.

The position is dependent on external funding yet to be confirmed

For more information about the position, please contact:

Malin Bohlers, Desk Officer, West Africa, Swedish Red Cross. Direct phone: +46 (0) 8 452 4871, e-mail:

We kindly decline any offer of services from recruitment agencies or consultants.