Closing date: 15 Nov 2018
Terms of Reference
Desk Study of Social Media for Behavior Change Communication for disaster preparedness and DRR in LAC
BACKGROUND
Globally the engagement with social media continues to increase across demographics with Facebook and Twitter being the most popular platforms. In regional comparison, Latin America has one of the highest social media uses globally. As of January 2018, the social media penetration rate in South America was 63% and 59% for Central America. This equal 4th and 5th place for global social media penetration rates after North America, Northern Europe and Eastern Asia.[1] Given the substantial presence of social media in people’s everyday lives, it is crucial for humanitarian actors to better understand the opportunities and mechanisms of digital communication to effectively engage with at-risk populations. The use of social media during a disaster has significantly advanced in recent years and is acknowledged for its role in supporting response efforts, particularly in enhancing situational awareness, however its use for disaster preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is significantly less developed. Within the humanitarian sector, an increasing number of organizations are taking the time and effort to engage with social media for disaster response, even going so far as employing social media focused analysis tools in order to derive greater efficiency from their online engagement and listen to the online community to gather insights useful for operational strategies, yet this use of social media and their analysis within DRR and disaster preparedness is less prevalent.[2]
Diversified communication channels and engagement strategies, including social media, have great potential to reach broader audiences and promote social and behaviour changes across different demographics and socio-economic contexts, including youth as one of the strongest user groups of social media. To date, humanitarian organizations lack the practical guidance, good practice and lessons learned to effectively engage digital communication as part of their engagement and behaviour change strategies.
A mapping of existing resources and meta-analysis of existing research studies on the use of social media for Behavior Change Communication (BCC) to inform the development of guidance for the use of social media platforms to strengthen the engagement with communities in the context of risk reduction programs in Latin America and the Caribbean is needed.
PURPOSE
Social media platforms and their use continue to evolve and new forms of engagement with the users are constantly emerging. While the use of digital communication can place increasing pressure on the resources of organizations, it holds clear benefits by meeting and interacting with target audiences and communities in spheres that they are already using and are comfortable with.
Alongside traditional communication and engagement approaches, digital engagement should be considered a core element to an organization’s DRR and preparedness strategy in order to maintain and build relationships across the target audience, enhance trust and motivate changes, particularly if social media is a trusted channel of communication in the country and/or region and/or target group/community.
The purpose of the desk study is to gather relevant resources and information on social media, digital communication and Behavior Change Communication that already exists and is being integrated into disaster preparedness and DRR programs in LAC. The collected information will inform the development of a social media guidance document for enhancing effectiveness of preparedness and DRR approaches in the region.
OBJECTIVE
The overarching goal for this work is to develop a baseline understanding of what guidance, resources and documentation already exists on the use of social media for Behavior Change Communication that is relevant to disaster preparedness and DRR programming in Latin America and to collate this information in a mapping report. The report will then inform the development of detailed, context appropriate guidance for the use of social media tools to strengthen Behavior Change Communication in the context of risk reduction work in Latin America and the Caribbean. The mapping will cover both existing guidance and research documents useful for aa risk reduction context, as well as information that speaks to the usage of different social media platforms in Latin America. This will identify the most popular social media channels that organizations should be able to navigate to increase communication and engagement with target audiences.
SCOPE OF WORK
To achieve the objective, the work involves the following components:
· Conduct a systematic literature review to map relevant, existing resources, guidance, research and documentation on the use of social media to strengthen Behavior Change Communication applicable to risk reduction programming. Of interest are resources and documents that address
o How social media tools are used to support Behavior Change Communication
o Organizational guidance on the integration of social media into existing behaviour change and community engagement strategies
o Examples of use of social media in support of preparedness and risk reduction programming in Latin America and the Caribbean
o Examples that can show lessons learned for specific contexts.
o What are the most used, the most trusted and accessible social media channels.
· Collate the gathered information in a concise mapping report that facilitates a baseline understanding of what already exists and define clear recommendations on the applicability of the social media use in preparedness and risk reduction programming in LAC.
· Define the overall methodology to undertake the mapping work and ensure this includes a consultation with key stakeholders and partners on the current use of social media and available resources (If feasible, design and roll out a short online survey to humanitarian organizations and NGOs using social media in LAC to strengthen Behavior Change Communication.)
[1] Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/269615/social-network-penetration-by-region/ (accessed 5.17.18)
[2] Trilateral Research (2015): Comparative Review of Social Media Analysis Tools for Preparedness.
How to apply:
Comments: Applicants will need to send their proposals no later than the closing date. In order for us to assure a proper comparative evaluation of your application for this vacancy and to enable us to consider your proposal against other similar current and future vacancies, we ask that you submit your application taking into account the following:
Important Note:
- Please note that the selected candidate will be hired through a consultancy contract;
- The incumbent is responsible to abide by Federation policies, procedures, plans.
- Only those candidates shortlisted for interviews will be notified.**Send your proposal to hr.americas@ifrc.org
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DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE
The work will cover a total of 20 working days between Mid-November and Mid-December 2018
Activity
Deliverable
Define the methodology
Conduct literature review and develop/roll out a survey (if agreed in the methodology)
List of information sources and resources
Develop mapping report
Final report
Design and conduct a brief survey (if feasible)
List of survey questions; results should be integrated into the final mapping report