National Community Engagement Consultant: Strengthening Community Engagement System in Islamabad, Pakistan .2.5 Months. Site/Office based

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Pakistan, with a population exceeding 240 million, faces persistent challenges in poverty, social exclusion, gender inequality, and vulnerability to disasters and emergencies. Over 38% of Pakistanis live in multidimensional poverty, with deep disparities at provincial and district levels, exacerbated by social exclusion, discrimination, and violence against marginalized groups, especially women, children, and minorities. The COVID-19 pandemic, recurring natural disasters, and ongoing humanitarian crises have further exposed the fragility of community systems and the urgent need for robust, inclusive, and resilient community engagement mechanisms

Social norms, information gaps, and low trust in public services further hinder service uptake. Technical solutions alone are insufficient; robust community engagement (CE) is essential to expand service reach, strengthen frontline systems, and address behavioral, social, and structural barriers. However, current CE efforts are fragmented and inconsistently linked with service delivery.

Community engagement emerged as one of the most effective components across the SBC portfolio[1]. It relies on trusted local actors, culturally grounded approaches, participatory delivery, and regular interpersonal contact. These strategies helped shift knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours across sectors including health, WASH, education, nutrition, child protection, and polio.

The SBC formative evaluation highlights that interpersonal, community‑embedded delivery was the central driver of behaviour change. By leveraging community trust, local insights, and repeated face‑to‑face engagement, programmes were able to overcome social barriers, build ownership, and make desired behaviours more practical and acceptable for households.

In recent assessments, UNICEF has also identified the following institutional and sectoral gaps:

• Insufficient advocacy to ensure that SBC/community engagement is at the heart of program implementation and is adequately resourced.
• Significant fragmentation, siloing, and non-alignment of government-led and donor-supported efforts across sectors applying SBC principles.
• A lack of agreed upon and consistent understanding and application of high-quality technical standards for implementation of community engagement at country level.
• Limited human and financial resources to expand current community engagement initiatives, and engagement in new/emerging program focus areas such as violence against children, child marriage, gender equality, inclusion and non-discrimination.

UNICEF’s Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) and Community Engagement (CE) framework highlight that sustainable development and humanitarian outcomes require institutionalized, participatory, and inclusive CE platforms. These systems must be strengthened both horizontally (across community networks) and vertically (with local governance institutions) and must be guided by the Minimum Quality Standards and Indicators for Community Engagement. Pakistan’s programmatic context includes sectoral priorities in Health, Nutrition, Education, WASH, and Child Protection, with cross-sectoral initiatives in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Social Protection, and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP).

Why Community Engagement Matters

• Strengthening Systems: CE extends state capacity, especially in underserved regions. Each Lady Health Worker (LHW) covers about 1,000 individuals, nearly double the recommended ratio in remote districts. Community structures such as Village Health Committees and Local Support Organizations mobilize communities, facilitate referrals, track service defaulters, and provide feedback. Villages with active CE platforms report a 22% increase in primary health care utilization, a 17% rise in birth registrations, and a 15% improvement in accountability between communities and service providers.
• Improving Service Uptake and Quality: CE platforms address barriers such as restrictive norms, mistrust, and gender-based limitations. Initiatives have led to increased caregiver knowledge, higher attendance at health sessions, improved immunization rates, better detection of malnutrition, and greater satisfaction with maternal health services.
• Shifting Social and Gender Norms: Sustained CE is more effective than mass media in changing attitudes and behaviors. Outcomes include a 14% increase in father participation in child feeding and clinic visits, a 23% rise in immunization acceptance in previously resistant communities, and consistent improvements in women’s decision-making and health-seeking behaviors. CE also builds trust in public systems, particularly in rural areas.

UNICEF remains the lead agency providing continuous and dedicated investments on understanding people, their beliefs, values, and the social norms that shape their lives by partnering with national governments, civil society organizations, faith engagement networks and development agencies.

In the Pakistan context, community engagement expands the influence and agency of local actors such as religious leaders, traditional authorities, community‑based organizations, women’s groups, youth networks, and informal governance structures, all of whom are critical in shaping norms and facilitating the behavioural processes leading to acceptance, recognition, and sustained adoption of positive practices. Through deliberate engagement, these actors become integral partners in strengthening local systems, improving programme relevance, and ensuring that interventions are culturally appropriate, socially acceptable, and operationally effective.

• In Pakistan, CE plays a pivotal role in enhancing demand generation, service uptake, and positive social and behaviour change, directly influencing progress across key programme outcomes, including:
• Neonatal and child survival.
• Improved nutritional status of girls and boys.
• Children’s enrolment, retention, and learning outcomes.
• Protection of children from violence, exploitation, neglect, and harmful norms.
• Equitable access to safely managed WASH services; and
• Strengthened climate resilience and community preparedness.
• Behaviourally informed CE interventions when tailored to Pakistan’s diverse linguistic, social, and cultural contexts can shift attitudes, beliefs, and practices related to health, nutrition, education, protection, and hygiene. Community platforms function as crucial intermediaries between communities and service providers, facilitating trust‑building, transparency, problem‑solving, shared accountability, and joint decision-making. Given Pakistan’s heterogeneity, CE approaches must be context‑specific, acknowledging differences in local norms, power structures, and historical experiences with service delivery.

UNICEF’s role is to advocate for, institutionalize, and support the mainstreaming of CE across national systems and sectoral policies, ensuring long‑term sustainability and scalability. By strengthening national capacities and embedding CE within government structures, UNICEF contributes to improved accountability, enhanced system performance, and increased local ownership of development and humanitarian outcomes.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: TMC0002130 TOR.pdf

• Education: Master’s in Social and Behavioral Science, including sociology, cultural anthropology, political economy, development studies, including community development, psychology and/or related social sciences is required. Community development, international development or related disciplines 
• Work Experience: 10 years’ experience in designing, developing and rolling out community engagement strategies and frameworks with and for people. Experience with UN agencies and knowledge of UNICEF mission and mandate will be an added advantage
• Skills Proven track record in navigating political and community sensitivities, creating inclusive engagement spaces and extensive working experience with diverse communities.

Knowledge of community engagement platforms including digital platforms, social online and offline listening.

Excellent public speaking, writing, communication, and facilitation, conflict resolution and de-escalation  

Familiarity with UNICEF’s mandate and Global SBC Framework;

Prior experience working with Government and UN agencies in Pakistan or similar contexts is an asset

• Language Requirements Fluency (written and oral) in English and Urdu.
• Desirables provincial local language an asset

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Advertised: 22 May 2026 Pakistan Standard Time
Applications close: 29 May 2026 Pakistan Standard Time

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