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UNICEF Afghanistan – International Consultancy for SBC evaluation
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Contract type
- Consultant
Locations
South Asia Region
- Afghanistan
Functional Area
Programme
- Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
- Social Policy
Position level
- Consultancy
International Consultancy for the evaluation of the UNICEF Afghanistan’s SBC community structures and interventions (remote for 3.5 months)
Apply now Job no: 596477
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Kabul
Level: Consultancy
Location: Afghanistan
Categories: Social Policy, Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
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For every child, the right to advocacy
How can you make a difference?
UNICEF Afghanistan is commissioning an evaluation of UNICEF Afghanistan’s SBC community structures and interventions. The evaluation will serve as a critical learning and accountability exercise, generating evidence on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and coherence of the SBC interventions and community structures. It will identify lessons learned, best practices, challenges, and opportunities for improvement to inform future programming.
Background, Context, and Rationale
A. Afghanistan Context
Afghanistan, located in South Asia, is a landlocked predominantly mountainous country. No recent census has been carried out with population estimates varying by data source. While the majority of the population (73 per cent) live in rural areas, the country is rapidly urbanizing with annual urban migration rate of over three percent driven by limited services in rural areas, frequent natural disasters, economic opportunities and returning migrants. Progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is among the lowest globally; Afghanistan ranks 160 out of 167 countries ranked with progress on most indicators stagnating or improving only marginally. An exception to these trends in in SDG where Afghanistan has made notable progress in expanding access to basic drinking water services (SDG 6.1), coverage has increased substantially over the past decade, rising from around half of the population (52 per cent) to 82 per cent using at least basic services by 2024. Despite this progress, the country remains unlikely to achieve the 2030 target of universal access to safely managed drinking water. While the previous government reaffirmed commitment to the 2030 Agenda, current national policies curtailing women’s rights, including bans on girls’ and women’s access to secondary and higher education and the “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” introduced in 2024, directly contravene commitments to achieving SDG 5 and SDG 4. These restrictions further increase the risk of uneven service access and disproportionate burdens on women and girls. According to the Afghanistan Gender Index, women exercise only 17.3% of their potential rights and freedoms.
The collapse of the government in Afghanistan in 2021 marked a significant turning point, with policy decisions by the de facto authorities (DfA), alongside political and economic isolation by international actors, jointly constraining servicedelivery and limiting scope for mitigation efforts. Prior to the transition, aid accounted for 40 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and supported over 50 per cent (approximately US$6 billion) of the annual national budget, covering around 80 per cent of total public expenditure. The subsequent suspension of most international aid significantly worsened the country’s economic situation. While the economy has stabilized somewhat, state capacity for service delivery remains limited. The general security situation and rates of civilian casualties have largely improved since the DfA takeover, with former “white areas” now accessible to de facto government and international actors for the first time in decades. However, as discussed above, restrictions on the participation of women have intensified since the political transition. These measures have significantly limited the ability of women and girls to participate in community level processes. In addition, mass cross-border returns, with more than 2.52 million Afghans returning from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone, coupled with a significant reduction in international aid, including drastic cuts in funding from the United States beginning in January 2025, constitute compounding shocks that have further strained the capacity to respond to rising humanitarian needs, and place sustained pressure on basic services and livelihoods.
The sustainability of healthcare delivery has been threatened since 2021, compounded by shortages of health professionals (especially female), the brain drain of Afghanistan, and disruptions in community-based delivery. Preventable diseases, including measles and acute watery diarrhea, exacerbate risks of morbidity and mortality, with under-five mortality estimated at 55 deaths per 1,000 live births. Children under 15 represent roughly 43% of the population, forming a large cohort with significant health, developmental and nutritional needs. Approximately 66.9% of children (nearly 15 million) live in multidimensional poverty. Poverty is significantly higher in rural areas (70.8%) compared to urban settings (37.4%). This economic instability has severely compromised family coping mechanisms, forcing many into harmful strategies such as child labour, child marriage, and hazardous migration, while 90% of young children now lack an adequate diet due to food poverty. Furthermore, restrictions on women’s employment and girls' post-primary education not only diminish current household purchasing power but are projected to cause a substantial long-term economic impact, potentially costing the country’s GDP billions of dollars by 2030.
B. Social and Behavioral Change at UNICEF Afghanistan
The Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Section of UNICEF Afghanistan is a cross-cutting function that combines scientific evidence, behavioural science, social and behavioural data, and community knowledge to understand and address the factors that influence people’s behaviours, social norms, access to services, and engagement with programmes. SBC works across UNICEF programme areas to create an enabling environment in which children, families, communities, service providers, and local structures can contribute to positive and sustainable change.
In Afghanistan, Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) supports community systems strengthening, community engagement, youth and adolescent participation, social and behavioural evidence generation, Accountability to Affected People (AAP), grievance and feedback mechanisms, advocacy, and resilience-building. It works closely with programme sections, local authorities, civil society and faith-based organizations, community structures, youth networks, academia, and other partners to strengthen local capacity, inclusion, ownership, and sustainability. Through these partnerships and community platforms, SBC brings programmes closer to communities and creates opportunities for people to participate in and influence decisions that affect their lives.
In 2025, SBC reached 14.1 million people with life-saving information, including 51% females, and engaged 3.6 million people in structured behaviour change interventions, including 55% females. It strengthened the capacities of 10,720 religious scholars and community influencers, 53% of whom were women, to promote health, nutrition, education, hygiene, and child protection practices. Capacity strengthening further extended with capacitating 4879 community networks, frontline workers, implementing partners and 12810 youth across the country. In 2025, more than 50,000 grandmothers were active nationwide, working alongside religious leaders, youth networks, community health workers, and other community structures to strengthen trust, promote positive behaviours, and suppor