Massimiliano Sani

Social and Behaviour Change professional

Massimiliano Sani is a Social and Behaviour Change professional with over 15 years of experience in UNICEF who has joined the HQ team in June 2023 as Senior Adviser, SBC, outposted to Nairobi. He currently serves as the Deputy SBC global lead, connecting dots between SBC programmes and operations and advocating for the institutionalization of SBC in UNICEF. He is currently leading the UNICEF’s faith engagement approach and he serves as SBC focal point for several cross-cutting areas, such as Adolescent Girls programming, inclusion of people with disability, among others.

Previously, I have served mainly in Eastern and Southern Africa, the last 5 years with the Regional Office and previously in Mozambique and Angola. In his regional capacity, Max has advanced significantly the quality of the articulation of SBC in ESAR Country Programmes by collaborating with the Regional Adviser, Deputy Representatives and SBC managers to conduct SBC diagnostic assessments, annual performance analysis and designing checklists to enhance the visibility and articulation of SBC in our programmes. Max has also extensively contributed to the development of the new global SBC programme and operational guidelines to inform the new Strategic Plan 2022-2025. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Max  fostered several partnerships with faith and youth networks, established social listening and community feedback mechanisms, advanced SBC through digital engagement, while supporting countries to measure changes in attitudes and behaviours through time-series community rapid assessments. Max also brings extensive experience and expertise in designing and implementing innovative social and behaviour change strategies across all goal areas, to advance children and adolescents’ wellbeing. Max holds a master’s degree on Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain and a 5-years degree on Communication Sciences from the University of Bologna, Italy. He can provide technical assistance and guidance to ROs and COs in English, Spanish and Portuguese.