TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) Consultancy: Social and Behavior Change Communication Technical Advisor

Background and Rationale

The SAFE-EMPLOYMENT Program is jointly implemented by the Impact and Innovations Development Centre (IIDC) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation as part of the Young Africa Works (YAW) Uganda strategy. The program aims to ensure that young people, especially young women, refugees, and persons with disabilities, access education, skilling, employment, and entrepreneurship opportunities in safe, inclusive, and dignified environments.

Findings from the Partner Safeguarding Assessment (November 2025) reveal that while most YAW partners demonstrate baseline commitment to safeguarding, significant systemic, behavioral, and cultural gaps persist across all sectors (Agrifoods, Workforce Development, MSMEs, and the Digital Economy). Some of the gaps include outdated or incomplete safeguarding policies, inconsistent training and awareness, weak reporting and case management systems, limited participant feedback mechanisms, uneven third-party oversight, and safeguarding practices that are not fully embedded in organisational culture, particularly within private and for profit entities.

Critically, the assessment highlights that safeguarding risks are not driven by policy gaps alone, but by entrenched social and gender norms, power imbalances (abuse of power), low safeguarding literacy, silence around abuse, weak accountability cultures, and limited voice and agency among young people to speak out and seek redress. These risks manifest differently across sectors—for example, unsafe work placements with artisans, weak digital safety awareness, poor vetting of local agents, inadequate protection during apprenticeships, limited guidance for safe programming in MSMEs and incubators, among others.

In response, SAFE EMPLOYMENT identifies Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) as a core pillar for addressing these challenges. SBCC is essential to complement policy and system strengthening by transforming norms, attitudes, behaviors, and everyday practices that enable or tolerate harm, including abuse, exploitation and harassment in the programs.

IIDC therefore seeks an experienced SBCC Consultant to design a Safeguarding SBCC Strategy that is explicitly informed by the Partner Safeguarding Assessment findings and tailored to the realities of Young Africa Works sectors, with a strong focus on private sector actors, training institutions, and work placement environments.

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a context-specific, evidence-based Safeguarding SBCC Strategy that responds directly to the safeguarding risks, behavioral drivers, and system weaknesses identified in the Partner Safeguarding Assessment.

The strategy will guide YAW partners to:

• Address harmful social and gender norms, power dynamics (abuse of power), and silence that perpetuate abuse and exploitation;
• Strengthen safeguarding culture, accountability, and duty of care within institutions and workplaces;
• Increase young people’s awareness, agency, and confidence to report concerns and seek support (urgency);
• Reinforce survivor-centered, gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and refugeesensitive safeguarding practices across sectors.

Scope of Work

The Consultant will work closely with IIDC, YAW partners, and the Mastercard Foundation to undertake the following tasks:

Safeguarding SBCC Assessment and Behavioral Analysis

Building on the Partner Safeguarding Assessment (November 2025), the consultant will:

• Analyse cross-sectoral and sector-specific safeguarding risks that require behavioral and normative change, including:
  • Silence, fear of retaliation, and low trust in reporting systems;
  • Gender biases, harmful masculinities, and normalization of harm including abuse, harassment and exploitation;
  • Weak accountability cultures among supervisors, mentors, artisans, managers, loc parentis, service providers, etc;
  • Limited safeguarding literacy among staff, contractors, and third-party actors;
  • Power imbalances affecting young women, refugees, and persons with disabilities.
• Identify priority behaviors to change at individual, institutional, and community levels, clearly articulating:
  • Current behaviors;
  • Desired behaviors;
  • Key behavioral drivers (social norms, incentives, beliefs, institutional practices, etc).
• Map existing communication channels and gaps across sectors, including workplaces, training institutions, digital platforms, and community settings.

Co-Creation of the Safeguarding SBCC Strategy

• Facilitate a participatory SBCC co-creation workshop with selected YAW partners and young people ensuring representation across sectors.
• Co-develop a Safeguarding SBCC Strategy that:
  • Aligns with Mastercard Foundation Safeguarding Standards in the context of the global, regional and national statutory requirements;
  • Responds directly to risks identified in Agrifoods, Workforce Development, MSME, and Digital Economy sectors;
  • Defines audience segments (e.g. young people, supervisors, artisans, mentors, employers, boards, community leaders);
  • Articulates clear behavioral objectives linked to prevention, reporting, response, and accountability;
  • Embeds survivor-centered, gender-transformative, disability-inclusive, and refugee-sensitive approaches;
  • Includes practical guidance for private sector and for-profit entities where safeguarding culture is weakest.

Message and Materials Development

• Develop simple, targeted safeguarding and gender-transformative messages that:
  • Raise awareness of abuse, exploitation, harassment, and harm and their consequences;
  • Promote zero tolerance to abuse and reinforce duty of care;
  • Encourage reporting, whistleblowing, and help-seeking by young people;
  • Promote positive masculinities and leadership accountability;
  • Address sector-specific risks such as unsafe work placements, digital exploitation, financial exploitation, and abuse by intermediaries.
• Support piloting of messages with target groups and revise based on feedback.

Campaign Design

• Develop and roll out innovative tools (e.g. avatars, videos, role models) promoting safeguarding and ethical leadership.
• Design of a safeguarding and gender equality awards initiative recognizing leaders and institutions that model best practice.

Key Deliverables

1. SBCC Behavioral Analysis Report linking safeguarding risks to priority behaviors, attitudes and norms.
2. SBCC Co-Creation Workshop Report, including agreed messages and actions.
3. Safeguarding SBCC Strategy (Private Sector Focus) aligned with Partner Safeguarding Assessment findings.
4. Campaign Design Framework for safeguarding and gender equality in private sector and training environments.
5. Approved Safeguarding and BCC Communication Materials, including posters and core messages submitted to the Foundation.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced degree in SBCC, Public Health, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or related field.
• Minimum 8 –10 years’ experience designing SBCC strategies in safeguarding, SGBV prevention or youth employment contexts.
• Demonstrated experience addressing power, norms, and accountability in private sector or workforce-related programs.
• Strong understanding of survivor-centered, gender-transformative, and disabilityinclusive programming.
• Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder co-creation processes.
• Familiarity with the Ugandan context and large, multi-partner programs is a strong advantage.

• Analyse cross-sectoral and sector-specific safeguarding risks that require behavioral and normative change, including: Silence, fear of retaliation, and low trust in reporting systems; Gender biases, harmful masculinities, and normalization of harm including abuse, harassment and exploitation; Weak accountability cultures among supervisors, mentors, artisans, managers, loc parentis, service providers, etc; Limited safeguarding literacy among staff, contractors, and third-party actors; Power imbalances affecting young women, refugees, and persons with disabilities.
• Identify priority behaviors to change at individual, institutional, and community levels, clearly articulating: Current behaviors; Desired behaviors; Key behavioral drivers (social norms, incentives, beliefs, institutional practices, etc).
• Map existing communication channels and gaps across sectors, including workplaces, training institutions, digital platforms, and community settings.
• Facilitate a participatory SBCC co-creation workshop with selected YAW partners and young people ensuring representation across sectors.
• Co-develop a Safeguarding SBCC Strategy that: Aligns with Mastercard Foundation Safeguarding Standards in the context of the global, regional and national statutory requirements; Responds directly to risks identified in Agrifoods, Workforce Development, MSME, and Digital Economy sectors; Defines audience segments (e.g. young people, supervisors, artisans, mentors, employers, boards, community leaders); Articulates clear behavioral objectives linked to prevention, reporting, response, and accountability; Embeds survivor-centered, gender-transformative, disability-inclusive, and refugee-sensitive approaches; Includes practical guidance for private sector and for-profit entities where safeguarding culture is weakest.
• Develop simple, targeted safeguarding and gender-transformative messages that: Raise awareness of abuse, exploitation, harassment, and harm and their consequences; Promote zero tolerance to abuse and reinforce duty of care; Encourage reporting, whistleblowing, and help-seeking by young people; Promote positive masculinities and leadership accountability; Address sector-specific risks such as unsafe work placements, digital exploitation, financial exploitation, and abuse by intermediaries.
• Support piloting of messages with target groups and revise based on feedback.
• Develop and roll out innovative tools (e.g. avatars, videos, role models) promoting safeguarding and ethical leadership.
• Design of a safeguarding and gender equality awards initiative recognizing leaders and institutions that model best practice.

• SBCC strategy design
• Safeguarding
• SGBV prevention
• Youth employment contexts
• Addressing power, norms, and accountability in private sector or workforce-related programs
• Survivor-centered programming
• Gender-transformative programming
• Disability-inclusive programming
• Facilitating multi-stakeholder co-creation processes

• Advanced degree in SBCC, Public Health, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or related field.
• Minimum 8 –10 years’ experience designing SBCC strategies in safeguarding, SGBV prevention or youth employment contexts.
• Demonstrated experience addressing power, norms, and accountability in private sector or workforce-related programs.
• Strong understanding of survivor-centered, gender-transformative, and disabilityinclusive programming.
• Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder co-creation processes.
• Familiarity with the Ugandan context and large, multi-partner programs is a strong advantage.