UNICEF seeks to recruit an international consultancy – Roving nutritionist, WCARO, Dakar Senegal

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a hope

 

Background

The management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is critical for child survival and a key cost-effective component of the scaling up nutrition framework for addressing undernutrition. Globally,

50 million children under 5 years old are wasted and of these 16 million  are severely wasted. Approximately 28 per cent of all severely wasted children lived in Africa. According to the most recent estimates, wasting affects 7.8 percent of children under 5 years in the west and central Africa region (WCAR), of which 3 percent are severely affected.

UNICEF plays a leading role in supporting countries to implement and scale-up services to efficiently manage SAM, and provides technical support and capacity building, both directly to Ministries of Health (MoH) and via Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Although coverage of SAM management continues to increase, the overall rate of admissions has reached a plateau, and lags far behind the global SAM burden of 16 million children. In 2015, the number of SAM admissions increased slightly to 3.5 million in 69 countries from 3.21 million children in 73 countries the previous year.  In West and Central Africa, there has been progress in the treatment of SAM as reflected by the increase in admissions from 1.3 million in 2013 to 1.9 million in 2017. However, in spite of this significant progress, less than 30% of the children needing treatment are reached.

While significant progress has been made in the management of SAM, UNICEF continues to face challenges in securing adequate supplies of RUTF to meet the needs of children in many countries. With the support of USAID-Food for Peace, UNICEF has been able to secure at least 10-15% of regional RUTF needs since 2012 alongside technical support for scaling-up the management of SAM in priority countries (Central Africa Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, and Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso).

While country level actors (governments, implementing partners as well as UNICEF) are strengthening their internal capacities to maintain or scale-up the management of SAM, it is critical for USAID-FFP and UNICEF that priority countries receive adequate technical support when required in identifying and addressing bottlenecks that prevent the scale-up of effective coverage and the achievement of set targets. To achieve this, UNICEF- WCARO is hiring a roving field-nutritionists who will provide tailored technical support to USAID-FFP supported countries.

 

How can you make a difference?

Objective

The overall objective of the consultancy is to provide technical support to USAID-Food For Peace supported countries to scale-up care for children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in humanitarian contexts.

Specific objectives include :

• Regional analysis of bottlenecks and challenges to scaling-up programs ;
• Technical support to USAID- FFP countries in implementing actions under country grants ;
• Quality review of proposals and budgets ;
• Donor reporting ;
• Monitoring of country grants implementation.

Scope of work :

Under the supervision of the Nutrition in Emergency Specialist, the consultant will :

1. Regional synthesis of bottlenecks of coverage for SAM management. The consultant will do a regional synthesis of bottlenecks of coverage based on various BNA conducted at country level in the past years and desk review of country reports ;
2. Provide dedicated support to 2-3 priority countries for addressing key bottlenecks. Following the review of bottlenecks and challenges with the country teams, the consultant will support country offices in developing/finalising and implementing action plans to address bottlenecks ;
3. Technical support to USAID-FFP supported countries. Based on country plans, capacities and needs, the consultant will provide technical support (in country and remotely) on key areas that will be identified by the country teams to ensure delivery against the proposed activities under the grant.

Monitor USAID-FFP Grants implementation and quality control. The consultant will monitor the implementation of the grants, support reporting as needed and review proposals and budgets before submission.

 

Deliverables and Schedules :

Area of responsibilities	Key tasks	Deliverables	Timeline/ Deadline
Scaling up management of SAM	Regional analysis of critical bottlenecks of coverage for SAM	Regional analysis finalized and compendium report  disseminated to countries	15 February
	Action plans for addressing the most important BN	Action plans discussed and finalised with priority countries, including clear roles of support for the roving nutritionist	29 February
Technical Support to countries	Technical support to countries to ensure implementation of actions proposed under the USAID-FFP grant	Proposed plans discussed and shared with countries with clear timelines, roles and responsibilities.     Ongoing support as per plan	31sth January 2019     February – December 2019
Reporting,  review of proposal writing, monitoring of grant implementation	Quarterly monitoring of grant implementation	Quarterly report of implementation status and recommendations	March; June; September, December 2019
	Technical support in reviewing and providing feedback on Concept note/proposals to COs	Quality CN/proposals from FFP supported countries are submitted	Whenever concept notes are submitted by countries
	Review of country donor reports and consolidation of regional donor report	Donor report submitted as per timelines	31st March 2019 10thDecember 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timing

Starting date : 2nd January 2019

Ending date : 16^th December 2019

 

Reporting Requirements :

• Timely submission of the regional analysis of bottlenecks and challenges ;
• Timely submission of action plans for dedicated support to countries ;
• Donor reports consolidated as per donor format and timelines ;
• Quarterly monitoring reports on grant implementation ;
• Country trip reports ;
• Final consultancy report.

 

Administrative Issues :

The consultant will be based in the RO – Nutrition section with travel to the 8 countries supported by USAID-FFP. The consultant will have a UNICEF email account.

She/he will report to Nutrition Specialist (emergency nutrition and resilience) as the direct line supervisor and the Regional Nutrition Advisor

 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education :

At least a master degree in nutrition or public health or related field – or equivalent professional experience

Work experience :

 Minimum 5 years of experience in the field of nutrition or public related programmes

Languages : Fluency in French and English.

 

Competence :

• Ability to express clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment.
• Proven skills in report writing, especially for USAID emergency grants (FFP).
• Proven skills in nutrition data analysis and interpretation
• Proven skills in communication, networking, advocacy, and negotiation
• Work experience in sub-Saharan Africa; ideally in West and Central Africa
• Work experience in SAM management and workshop facilitation
• Cooperates and works effectively with others in the pursuit of common goals respecting different gender, culture, opinions, values, perspectives, ideas, skills, expertise, knowledge, and experiences
• Judgement – Able to make effective, realistic, and impactful decisions based on limited information and time, logical inferences, experiences, and the consideration of implications, alternatives, and consequences.
• Flexibility – Works effectively on multiple assignments simultaneously and adapts to changing demands and circumstances;
• Computer skills, high ability to works with different dimensions of Microsoft excel including internet and various office applications.

 

For every Child, you demonstrate dedication

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The technical competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at : http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

“UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.”

 

Remarks :

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.