Consultant, Technical Support to Liberia’s National Malaria Control Program for the 2026 ITN Mass Campaign - Social and Behavior Change (SBC)new

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191 member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability. 

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. At Geneva level, the Health and Care Department’s (HCD) Strategic Direction focuses on Health Systems Strengthening and WASH Systems Strengthening through four pillars: Global Health Security, Global Health Protection (UHC), Global WASH Services and Transformative Partnership. 

About AMP

The Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP) is a workstream within the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and is an integral part of RBM’s Country and Regional Support Partner Committee (CRSPC). AMP is a global partnership including government, private sector, faith-based and humanitarian organizations. Housed and chaired by the IFRC, AMP is focused on three main activities: (1) coordination of partners involved in insecticide-treated net (ITN) campaign and continuous distribution activities; (2) development of operational guidance for planning and implementing ITN distribution through all channels; and (3) technical assistance to national malaria programs and partners based on requests.

Background

Malaria is endemic in Liberia with year-round transmission. Children under-five and pregnant women bear the highest burden. In Liberia, the main vector control strategy against malaria is the distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) through routine and mass distribution channels. Since 2015, Liberia has implemented four mass ITN campaigns with the technical support from the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), with the most recent in 2024.

The Alliance for Malaria Prevention is a global partnership focused on scaling up access to and use of ITNs through all distribution channels. AMP’s objective is to ensure high quality, effective and efficient planning for ITN distribution to ensure that targets are achieved. AMP is housed and chaired by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The 2015, 2018, and 2021 campaigns were paper-based, while in 2024 Liberia introduced digitalization in its mass ITN distribution campaign. The National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), as co-Principal Recipients (PRs) of the Global Fund grant, continue to leverage digitalization for the ITN distribution campaign with the support of the eGov Foundation as digital transformation partner of the 2026 campaign.

 

Job Purpose

(...Continued from Organizational Context)

The planning and implementation of the 2024 campaign was supported by the AMP, with the provision of Technical Assistants (TAs) in the areas of strategy/M&E, logistics and social and behaviour change (SBC). The TAs supported the development of the various campaign documents (macroplans, the campaign tracker and the risk mitigation plan). They also provided technical support to the Campaign Management Team (CMT) during the implementation of the campaign (household registration (HHR) and ITN distribution).

As the NMCP and partners prepare to implement the 2026 nationwide ITN campaign using lessons learned from the 2024 campaign, the need for technical support from the AMP is crucial. Therefore, the NMCP and CRS request technical support of the AMP.

Objectives of the Technical Support

General objective: To provide comprehensive SBC technical assistance, both remotely and in person, in support of the planning and implementation of the 2026 ITN mass campaign in Liberia. This includes strengthening planning and coordination components of the campaign to ensure activities are delivered efficiently, on schedule, and at high-quality, in alignment with national malaria control strategies and operational requirements.

Specific objectives:

• To provide technical assistance across all campaign phases (macroplanning, microplanning, training, implementation and post-campaign), in accordance with the NMCP timeline for the planning and implementation of the campaign.
• Ensure that AMP TA expertise is deployed at each critical phase of the campaign cycle, based on the campaign timeline and NMCP requests and mission-specific terms of reference (TORs).
• To contribute to the timely and high-quality delivery of campaign milestones through targeted technical inputs adapted to operational needs at each phase.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

PHASE 1 – SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS, TRAINING PACKAGE AND MICROPLANNING VALIDATION  - 25 days (in-country and distance support)

• Support the development/updating of advocacy packages, key messages, SBC tools and materials and training agendas and materials for all phases of the campaign implementation (pre, during and post) to ensure timely availability of printed materials before training and implementation.
• Support the finalization of the entire SBC training package (agendas, training manual / guidelines, SOPs, practical exercises, group work, etc.) for all cadres and all levels.
• Work with the other sub-committees, specifically the M&E sub-committee, to develop a training plan to enable full adoption of the training package by national trainers, HHR and distribution teams within the allotted timeline.
• Support the national facilitators with the organization of the SBC training and its preparation to ensure a conducive training environment.
• Support the SBC training of trainers through capacity building of the national facilitators.
• Support the step-down SBC trainings through monitoring and feedback to the national and sub-national facilitators.

Deliverables:

1. Advocacy packages for different levels finalized and validated.
2. SBC key messages finalized and validated.
3. Final drafts of SBC materials (e.g. job aids, SOPs) developed and validated, ready for graphic design and / or production.
4. SBC training package (agendas, training manual / guidelines, SOPs, practical exercises, group work, etc.) for all cadres and all levels finalized and validated.
5. Training plan developed, finalized and validated.
6. SBC training of trainers organized and implemented by national facilitators at high quality.
7. SBC step-down trainings and advocacy sessions organized and implemented at high quality.

PHASE 2 – TRAINING AND SUPPORT TO HHR AND DISTRIBUTION IMPLEMENTATION – Single and double phase - 10 days (distance support)

• Support the establishment of a structure for the daily review meetings with the counties and the SPs that maximizes the time and ensures critical issues are surfaced and addressed as priorities.
• Support national monitors with their tasks, build capacity and provide daily observations in the review meetings for programmatic improvements.
• Support the SBC sub-committee with tracking of issues arising, management and response to rumours and misinformation and resolution to challenges and bottlenecks.
• Support validation of data from household registration and ITN distribution (research options for data validation where needed).
• Support review of data from independent monitoring to direct improvements for SBC based on data collected.

Deliverables:

1. Daily observations provided during implementation of activities to support SBC improvements recorded and prioritized as lessons learned for final report and future campaigns.
2. Available SBC data reviewed, assessed and queried for day-to-day improvements and progress against objectives for decision-making.
3. Issues arising affecting campaign implementation, timelines, security of personnel or ITNs, etc. are addressed quickly and successfully.

PHASE 3 – DATA RECONCILIATION AND FINAL REPORTING - 5 days (distance support)

• Support analysis of all SBC data and information (including monitoring mass media) received to identify trends, challenges, successes and lessons learned.
• Support for organization of post-campaign meetings, including the collection of information from sub-national levels to inform discussions specific to SBC.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• Support the development of the final campaign SBC report.

Deliverables:

1. SBC and programmatic data and information used to identify trends, challenges, successes and lessons learned.
2. Post-campaign meetings organized, and sub-national SBC data collected from sub-national levels to inform discussions.
3. Final campaign SBC report drafted.

Coordination/Communication during the TA support period:

1. Actively participate in meetings as requested by NMCP, CRS and other stakeholders. This involves contributing to discussions, providing updates, and addressing key topics as requested by these parties.
2. Submit a detailed weekly situation report (SitRep) before 18:00 Geneva time every Tuesday, prior to the AMP weekly call. The SitRep should be shared with the NMCP team, CRS, the AMP team, and the RBM team to provide updates on the status of the ongoing activities, track the progress of the consultant against their established work plan, and ensure that the team is aligned on key deliverables for the week.
3. Participate in the AMP weekly conference call, which takes place every Wednesday at 16:00 Geneva time, as much as possible. This call is essential for coordinating efforts, discussing key issues, and staying informed about ongoing and upcoming tasks and priorities.
4. Submit interim mission reports in alignment with the invoicing process. These reports should outline the progress made during the mission, identify any challenges encountered, and provide updates on the deliverables and milestones reached. They will be used for tracking and ensuring that progress is properly documented for invoicing purposes.
5. Submit a comprehensive final mission report within 10 days of the mission’s (or the contract’s) completion. The final report should include a detailed account of all activities undertaken, observations made during the mission, and a set of recommendations for future actions. Recommendations should be specific, including designated responsibilities and suggested timelines for implementation. Additionally, supporting documents related to the mission, such as field notes and relevant records, should be provided alongside the final report to ensure transparency and thorough documentation.

Time allocation:

The consultancy timeframe will be from October to 31st of December 2026.

Travel to Liberia will be associated with this consultancy assignment.

Education

Required

• Advanced university (master’s) degree in public health, social science, public administration, business administration or related area.

Experience

Required

• At least 7 years of experience working on mass ITN distribution campaigns, mass vaccination campaigns, or other large-scale health programmes.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in the following ITN campaign areas: Social and Behavior Change Communication.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Fluency in English.

Competencies, Values and Comments

Application Instruction

Please submit your application in English only.

 

Notes

The consultant will be contracted by the IFRC and the standard contractual terms will apply.

 

The closing date and time for this vacancy are based on Geneva time. Applications must be submitted by 23:59 (11:59 PM) Geneva time on the advertised closing date.