Operation Stop Ebola!! in Paynesville, Liberia by UNMEER/Martine Perret
(CC BY-ND 2.0)
GLOBAL
Designing the future of SBC at UNICEF
The Challenge
How might we energise and inspire people around a new vision for SBC?
The Context
UNICEF’s legacy in Communication for Development (C4D) positioned it as a global leader in social and behaviour change (SBC). But with evolving challenges facing children worldwide and new evidence from the field of behavioral science, the agency needed to refresh its approach and tools. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the urgency, and UNICEF was seen as a North Star in guiding behavioural responses for the sector. To keep pace, the organization needed a unifying, updated and evidence-based vision for SBC — one that could win hearts and minds across a diverse, global workforce.
UNICEF has a unique advantage to lead global change with approximately 50% of the social and behaviour change workforce in the development sector.,
About 74% of child-related SDG indicators are not on track to meet global targets by 2030, or don’t have enough data to track progress.¹
“Changing our behaviour as citizens may not be enough to contribute to a more sustainable future, but no constructive change is possible without individual and collective action. We can indeed make a real difference towards the future we want.”
-Bronywn Hayward, Changing behaviour to achieve progress
1K1A6382 by UNICEF Ethiopia/Nahom Tesfaye (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
UNICEF has a unique advantage to lead global change
with approximately 50% of the potential social and behaviour change workforce, amongst 13 leading global organizations.2, 3
In March 2021, UNICEF asked us to find a way to galvanise its global network of staff, partners, policy makers, implementers, and funders around its new vision—
a vision that not everybody was on board with. To ensure this shift would be embraced by UNICEF staff, partners and the wider SBC community, we needed to do things differently. We needed buy-in from sceptics, supporters, and end-users both obvious and unknown.
Operation Stop Ebola!! in Paynesville, Liberia by UNMEER/Martine Perret (CC BY-ND 2.0)
What We Heard
Over eight months, we worked closely with experts from around the world, internal and external to UNICEF, through interviews, workshops, and co-design sessions. From behavioural scientists to policy leaders, we gathered insights into the sector’s most urgent needs and aspirations. We heard experts ask for:
- Inclusive systems that evolve with experience, not static manuals that are quickly outdated.
- More sophisticated, flexible tools for operationalising SBC.
- Content that’s editable, adaptable, and easy to localise.
Members of UNICEF’s core global team told us that they needed:
- More sophisticated tools for operationalising SBC
- Tools to promote, manage and advocate for SBC within UNICEF programmes, that could be edited and adapted to various contexts
- Something that would evolve and adapt with their collective experiences
Our Interviewees
External Advisory Group
National Autonomous University of Mexico
Aimée Vega Montiel, Feminist Researcher
Tbilisi State Medical University and Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Akaki Zoidze, Expert in Health Policy and Systems
Grid Impact
Alex Fiorillo, Principal
Final Mile
Anushka Ashok, Behaviour Architect
OECD
Benjamin Kumpf, Head of Innovation, Development
Busara Center for Behavioral Economics
Chaning Jang, CEO, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Danielle Pedi, Senior Programme Officer
World Health Organization
Elena Altieri, Behavioural Insights Unit Lead
ThinkPlace Senegal
Isabel Sandoval, Studio Director
The Carter Center
Moses Katabarwa, Senior Programme Anthropologist and Epidemiologist
University of the Witwatersrand
Nicola Christofides, Senior Lecturer, SBC
USAID
Nikki Tyler, Lead Advisor
Unilever
Richard Wright, Behavioural Science Director
Ogilvy Growth and Innovation
Sam Tatam, Head of Behavioural Science Practice
eMBeD
Zeina Afif, Senior Social Scientist, World Bank
Massive Systemic Change
Virgina Lacayo, Social Change and Systems Thinking
Preliminary Advisors
CDC
Amy Rowland, Associate Director for Communication Science
Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance
Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO
Ogilvy Center for Behavioral Science
Chris Graves, President and Founder
Ogilvy Center for Behavioral Science
Chris Graves, President and Founder
Duke University
Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics
Policy Innovation Centre
Faisal Neru, Executive Director
United Nations Foundation
Geeta Rao Gupta, Executive Director
UNICEF HQ
Henriette Ahrens, UNICEF Programme Division
Anthrologica
Juliet Bedford, Director
ideas42
Karina Lorenzana, Behavioural Scientist
Rare
Kevin Green, Vice President, Center for Behavior & the Environment
WHO Health Emergencies Programme
Michael Ryan, Executive Director
Rudi Coninx, Senior Policy Adviser
Médecins Sans Frontières
Michel-Olivier Lacharité, Head of Emergency Desk
UNICEF Paraguay
Rafael Obregon, Country Representative
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Tracy Johnson , Senior Program Officer
Communication Initiative
Warren Feek, Executive Director
Our Solution
We helped UNICEF articulate their new vision for how to promote social and behaviour change, and turned that vision into a colorful, user-friendly toolbox reflecting the voices and contexts of staff all over the world. Through short, accessible articles co-written by staff all over the world. The guidance explains the vision, new approaches like behavioral science, systems strengthening, and the role of SBC in Climate. It also includes tools to operationalise the guidance — tools to help countries collect and analyze data, designs strategies, select partners and more. It’s all hosted on an easy-to-use digital homebase designed for insiders and newcomers alike. It speaks in approachable language, offers downloadable tools, and houses over 40 vetted resources.
It stands as both a toolkit and a testament: a shared vision for change powered by collaboration.
Impact:
The SBC Guidance is used by practitioners and learners across the globe as both a practical coaching tool and a foundational syllabus. Its influence extends beyond day-to-day application and has since been formally integrated into UNICEF’s global learning platform, Agora, where it serves as a core part of SBC training modules.
