Consultant: Social Behavior Change Advisor - USAID Laos Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Project

USAID Laos Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Project

 

TITLE: Social Behavior Change Advisor

REPORTS TO: Chief of Party

STARTING DATE: November 1, 2024

EXPECTED DAYS: 40

 

1. Background:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Laos Counter-Trafficking in Persons (Laos CTIP) Activity works closely with the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (GOL), civil society organizations (CSO), and private sector to reduce the instances of trafficking in persons (TIP) in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). The Activity contributes to GOL’s national response to TIP, especially in the areas of prevention and protection.

During a three-year extension from October 2024 – September 2027, the project will build on its strengths and lessons learned from the first seven years of implementation to sustainably reduce the risk of trafficking and unsafe migration and ensure increased access to protection services. Laos CTIP will implement activities in five target provinces: Bokeo, Luangnamtha, Oudomxay, Salavanh, and Vientiane.

While the Activity worked to increase awareness and knowledge about TIP and unsafe migration during its first seven years, people continue migrating unsafely. Therefore, Laos CTIP will specifically focus during the extension on changing the attitudes and behaviors related to unsafe migration, TIP, and stigmatization of individuals at-risk of trafficking, their parents, caregivers, communities, businesses, and government officials. While the Activity will have standalone social and behavior change (SBC) activities, they will also be integrated throughout its components. Specifically, Laos CTIP plans to use SBC activities to:

1. Promote gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) among target audiences (government, employers, and communities).
2. Shift public perception of trafficked individuals, especially those coerced into criminal activities.
3. Equip people at-risk of trafficking with the knowledge to make safe migration choices.
4. Help communities better understand survivors of trafficking, migration, local risk-factors, and issues associated with each.
5. Reduce push factors within households for unsafe migration.
6. Expand the effectiveness and reach of the Activity’s existing information and education communication (IEC) materials.

Laos CTIP will conduct formative research, likely through a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice behaviors (KAPb) study, to inform its SBC strategy. The study will identify drivers of change, characteristics of target audiences, intended changes for diverse groups of people, and associated interventions that can influence attitudes and behaviors at the individual, household, community, and national level. Following the completion of the study, the consultant will draft the SBC strategy in consultation with the Laos CTIP SBC Specialist. Thereafter, Laos CTIP will hold an SBC workshop for staff and partners with two objectives: (1) to present the KAPb study completed by the research firm to informpartners on the findings and give them the opportunity to provide comments; and (2) to train partners about SBC and its importance to changing behaviors, as well as to discuss the strategy including entry points, strategies, objectives, best media formats or platforms to reach different types of audiences, etc. Depending on the availability of GOL stakeholders, the SBC workshop maybe split into two workshops to cover the two objectives separately. Finally, Laos CTIP will use the findings of the formative research and SBC strategy to launch campaigns at the national, community, and individual levels.

 

2. Scope of Work:

Winrock International seeks a Social and Behavior Change Advisor to provide technical direction and guidance to Laos CTIP for the design and implementation of its SBC activities, build the capacity of project staff on SBC, and support the team to further build the capacity of stakeholder and partner staff on SBC. The SBC Advisor will help integrate knowledge of evidence-based best international practices in SCB into the TIP/safe migration/and Laos contexts.

During this assignment, the SBC Advisor will work closely with and provide technical support, guidance, and mentorship to the Laos CTIP SBC Specialist. The SBC Advisor will also work with other members of the Laos CTIP staff as well as Home Office support staff, as necessary.

Specifically, the SBC Advisor will:

1. Support the Laos CTIP team to finalize priority behaviors identified to be the focus of this work, map out existing and missing information.
2. Help Laos CTIP finalize the terms of reference (TOR) for a request for proposals (RFP