LRPS-2024-9189667 "Development of Strategic communication plan and SBC packages to raise awareness on project activities and training opportunities regarding Alternative Learning Opportunities for out

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INSTITUTIONAL CONTRACT

Title of the assignment

Development of Strategic communication plan and SBC packages to raise awareness on project activities and training opportunities regarding Alternative Learning Opportunities for out of school adolescents.

Purpose

The purpose of the assignment is to craft the Strategic Communication plan followed by development and dissemination of contextualized SBC packages for the programme implementation areas as well as potential marginalized communities. The plan and the packages will be informed by the findings of an ongoing Rapid assessment on Knowledge Attitude and Practices of adolescent and young people who are out of school.

The objective of the assignment is also envisioning to inspire a community dialogue and interactions among its intended audience on Alternative Learning Programme for Out of School Adolescents and the most marginalized. The SBC packages to be developed would address the key drivers of the current behaviours and foster the desirable behaviours based on the findings from the evidence.

The communication packages, training contents and tools to be developed through a participatory process to address the insights of key stakeholders and packages will be used in the project implementation areas. The expected output from the implementation of the plan and communication package is to facilitate creating an enabling environment for adolescents and young people for optimal enrolment in the skill building training opportunities and encourage their participation in the income generating activities. It is also expected that after attending the counselling and soft skill training the learners will be aware of life skills issues and empowered to seek necessary information.

Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) Intervention Locations

ALP intervention Upazilas by BRAC and Its partners: Chattogram District: Anwara, Chattogram City Corporation, Karnafuli, Lohagora, Mirsharai, Potiya, Satkania, Sitakundu; Mymensingh District: Dhobaura, Fulbaria, Mymensingh Sadar, Gaforgaon, Haluaghat, Ishwarganj, Nandail, Trishal; Narayanganj District: Araihajar, Bandar.

ESDO supported areas: Satkhira District: Satkhira Sadar, Shyamnagar, Kalaroa Jamalpur District: Jamalpur Sadar, Dewangonj, Islampur; Sherpur District: Sherpur Sadar, Sreebordi, Jhinaighati Gazipur District: Gazipur City Corporation, Kapasia, Kaliganj

Barishal District: Barishal Shador Upazila, Gouronodi; Bhola District: Bhola Sadar, Lal Mohon.

Estimated Duration

April 2024 – October 2024

Tania Sultana, Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Specialist

SBC Section, UNICEF Dhaka

*Note: key stakeholders include adolescents and youths, parents/ caregivers, employers, Market Committee, SMEs and Community leaders.

1.            Background and rationale:

There are approximately 34.3 million adolescents (17.6 million males and 16.8 million females) in the 10-19 years age group in Bangladesh constituting nearly 20 percent of the population. This cohort has a significant potential to accelerate the country’s growth and development as every year, an additional two million young people come to an age, to join the workforce. The youth employment profile suggests a strong outward migration from agriculture into industries, services, and international migration, with the average earnings of young people substantially lower than for adults and a large majority ending up in non-formal employment. Accelerating the results in advancing the rights of adolescents and youth in Bangladesh continues to be hampered by lack of knowledge, belief system, and inequitable access to information and essential basic services. The key deprivations of children and adolescents are also affected due to hindrances and underlying challenges of beliefs, attitudes, and entrenched social norms that strongly influence behavioral practices which need to be addressed through creating an enabling environment and improving the response mechanism.

Bangladesh successfully moved from a low-income country (LIC) to a lower-middle-income country (LMIC) in 2015 and met the United Nations criteria1 to graduate out of the least developed countries (LDC) in 2018. Development has been particularly impressive in terms of reducing the poverty headcount, with a significant poverty reduction from 31.5 percent in 2010 to 20.5 percent in 2019,2 and maintaining economic growth of nearly 6 percent per year over the past decade. Bangladesh has made impressive progress in advancing child rights over many decades. Improvements include a decline in under-five mortality, a reduction in childhood stunting, an increase in attendance in primary and secondary schools, an increase in birth registration, and an increase in access to safe drinking water and toilets. Bangladesh’s continued commitment to children is evidenced in the Eighth Five-Year Plan in which the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals also forms an important part.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have been closed for more than one year, affecting more than 40 million children, adolescents, and young people. As of mid-September 2021, following more than 18 months of closure, schools across Bangladesh reopened. The longer children are out-of-school, the higher the risk that they will drop out entirely, which will negatively impact the lives and opportunities of children, depriving them of their rights and

1 The three criteria for graduation out of LDC status are: per capita income, a human assets index and an economic vulnerability index.

2 Bangladesh Poverty Assessment, World Bank, 2019; and Asian Development Bank Basic Statistics, April 2021

undermining human capital development in the country.3 The most disadvantaged will pay the highest price as they will be least able to continue learning during the pandemic. In addition, over 2.7 million beneficiaries of school feeding programmes will miss important nutrition intake, increasing their chance of malnutrition4. For children with disabilities, the pandemic is devastating given their greater likelihood of having an underlying health condition and exclusion from distance learning programmes. It is estimated that around 20 percent of children from primary education are at risk of severe learning loss that may trigger dropout and repetition.

Girls’ education is significantly affected by the long term closer of schools and learning institutions due to pandemic as girls are likely to do more household work and are at higher risk of being subjected to violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse, without access to psychosocial support. The GoB’s plan to enroll one million out-of-school children in non-formal education has been delayed and the 800,000 boys and girls already enrolled in the GoB and NGO non-formal education programmes, as well as learners in skills and adult literacy programmes, are at-risk of never re-enrolling. Given that Education section of UNICEF is supporting the implementation of a project “Empowering Out of school adolescent girls and young women with market-driven occupational skills, transferable skills, and job placements”, based on data collected to identify and profile out-of-school children per location, set the targets, manage data and information for effective and efficient implementation. The initiative will also track progress and measure results according to specific indicators within the results framework. All data is disaggregated according to gender, ethnicity, location, and specific categories such as children with disabilities and children and adolescents living in any other difficult condition.

The Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) is a strategic programme component which is one of the critical element of this interventions to facilitate the adoption of positive behaviours by individual and creating an enabling environment through enhancing their knowledge and skills demand for services. Under this initiative SBC component aims to addresses the underlying drivers of human behaviour by engaging with the adolescents to realizing their rights and empowered to share their opinion and seek necessary services while advocate their peers also.

Given the context, SBC section of UNICEF conducted a baseline study to explore the Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of adolescents/ young people, parents/ caregivers, and relevant key stakeholders about the education, alternative learning opportunities, skill development and job opportunities of adolescent girls within age range of 15 to 24 years. Followed by the baseline the multimedia activities including communication contents on addressing the misperceptions and fostering the positive practices around the programmatic interventions need to be implemented prior to the end line survey. The findings from this qualitative study will be used to inform the development of contextualized social and behavioral change intervention plan in selected programme areas. The insights of key stakeholders regarding the SBC issues will be used to enhance their correct knowledge and motivate them to adopt positive practices which will be measured during the endline assessment.

Therefore, Social and Behavi(our Change (SBC) section intents to engage an experienced Creative Agency to develop a strategic communication plan/strategy and SBC contents based on the baseline rapid assessment findings.

Specific Purpose and Objectives

• To conduct desk review and mapping of the existing communication packages and contents on relevant behavioural issue been used by ALP implementing agencies.

3 First day of school 'indefinitely postponed' for 140 million first-time students around the world – UNICEF (2021): https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/press-releases/first-day-school-indefinitely-postponed-140-million-first-time-students-around-world  4 https://www.wfp.org/news/government-bangladesh-expands-school-meals-programme

• To develop Strategic Communication plan and Creative Strategy based on the evidence analysis and stakeholder consultation.
• To develop and produce Strategic Communication Packages, tools and utilisation guideline based on pretesting, behavioural analysis.

2.Description of the Assignment: Scope of Work under the assignment

Description of the Task

End Products/Deliverables

Time frame

1. Desk review and Mapping of Existing Communication Packages:
   1. Review documents/reports to understand the programme including the role of strategic communication and to identify the behavioural drivers of existing practices related to alternative learning and life skills.
   2. Collect and mapping of the communication packages been used by implementing agencies and assess the gaps to be addressed in relation to key behavioural issues.

• Inception report: The inception report that outlines the findings of the desk review and mapping of existing communication packages. The inception report should mention detailed approaches of each deliverable along with a detailed action plan and timeline.

2 weeks (From the date of signing contract)

1. Prioritized Message Matrix based on Rapid Assessment and stakeholders Consultation

1. Prepare a concept note based on review and analyse the baseline report of the Rapid Assessment
2. Validate the ‘Value Grid’ with key stakeholders Message and Content Matrix Development Meeting to identify ‘Prioritised Message Matrix’ to encapsulate the existing values with expected values associated with

Alternative Learning.

• A ‘Value Grid’ (Message Matrix) developed as per study findings and prioritised behaviours related to Alternative Learning opportunities and life skill issues.

• Message and Content Development Matrix

3 weeks (From the date of Inception Report submitted)

1. Development of the Strategic Communication Plan and Creative Strategy
   1. Conduct consultation workshop with key stakeholders, right holders and duty bearers including adolescent girls, parents/caregivers, local leaders, employers, CSOs and key government stakeholders from the ALP intervention areas.
   2. Develop draft of the Strategic Communication plan based on stakeholders’

• Strategic Communication Plan and creative strategy comprising of key strategic approaches in addressing the insights of specific audience segments. A comprehensive set of suggestive contents and indicative creatives.

6 weeks (To be initiated before the content development workshop and simultaneously continued) consultation and the findings of baseline KAP assessment and Desk Review related to key behaviours and underlying drivers of existing practices and beliefs.

1. Documentation and reporting:

1. Minutes and report of the meetings and consultation workshops within 3 days
2. Submission of completion report with all the contents and deliverables

• Meeting minutes

• Final Completion report including the strategic communication plan and all SBC contents as final deliverables

3 (three) days after each meeting 2 weeks

1. Deliverables                                                        

The indicative deliverables of the assignment are given below. However, the strategic communication plan and the creative strategy based on the research findings may reflect the requirement for new output.

Technical outputs/deliverables

• Inception report: The inception report should mention detailed approaches of each deliverable along with a detailed action plan and timeline. The report will also include a mapping matrix documenting existing SBC packages, materials and community engagement tools on the relevant key behaviours; and an analysis of the gaps of issues not been addressed.
• A ‘Value Grid’ (Message and Content Development Matrix) developed as per study findings and prioritised behaviours related to Alternative Learning opportunities and life skill issues.

Strategic Communication Plan and creative strategy comprising of key strategic approaches in addressing the insights of specific audience segments related to uptake and continuation of Alternative Learning Pathways (ALP). A comprehensive set of suggestive contents and indicative creatives.

• Dissemination Plan for the contents and packages developed and disseminated in the intervention areas.
• Final Completion report including the strategic communication plan and all SBC contents as final deliverables.

Communication Package as deliverables

• Value Grid (Message and Content Development Matrix) based on the KAP Baseline, Mapping report, and consultation with key stakeholders including the right holders and duty bearers reflecting the expected

SBC contents ‘Prioritised Messages’.

• A creative strategy on the prioritized SBC packages (both graphic design and audio-visual contents) developed and dissemination plan on the key behavioural issues related to ALP. Pretest tools and plan developed, pretest conducted, and reports submitted.
• Community Engagement tools including factsheets, flashcards, brochure/leaflet and *counseling module (under development by UNICEF) along with utilization guide designed, developed, pretested, and produced upon endorsement and disseminated in the intervention areas for using in the dialogue sessions.