Country: South Sudan (Republic of)
Closing date: 06 Aug 2013
Title Nutrition Consultant (SSCO Juba) Purpose Development of National Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) strategies/guidelines and training protocols for South Sudan Consultancy classification level* Mid-level international expert nutritionist Location Juba, South Sudan Duration 4 months Start Date 1st September 2013 – 31 Dec 2013 Reporting to Nutrition Manager, UNICEF Country Office
Background: After the independence of South Sudan in July 2011, the humanitarian situation remains fragile, with increased border violence, internal insecurity, rising food insecurity, and high malnutrition rates which is expected to generate continued humanitarian needs in the subsequent years. Economic austerity, high inflation and a large refugee influx have complicated the humanitarian landscape.
Malnutrition remains above the emergency threshold. It is one of the major killers of children below five years being an overarching aggravating factor for malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia with medical complications leading to deaths. Twenty-eight per cent of children under five are moderately underweight with 12.2 percent severely underweight; 31 percent are stunted; and 22.7 percent moderately wasted with wide variations across states.
South Sudan has a strong culture of breastfeeding. Almost all children are breastfed at some time in their lives (SSHS 2010). However, many aspects of infant and young child feeding are far from optimal, in particular the exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding with timely introduction of complementary feeding. According to SHHS 2010, only 45 percent of infants are exclusively breastfed for six months and 21 percent introduced complementary feeding at 6-9 months.
Inappropriate infant and young child feeding practices are among the most serious obstacles to maintain adequate nutritional status, and contribute to high levels of malnutrition in South Sudan. Majority of deaths during the first year of life are often associated with inappropriate feeding practices. To address this, UNICEF and MoH have decided to focus comprehensively on the preventative components of essential nutrition services with expansion of infant and young child feeding program to improve the feeding practices for children across all 10 states of the country. However, one of the key challenges, though, the lack of updated and harmonized national IYCF guidelines to provide directives to the implanting partners on promoting and scaling-up IYCF programs as well as low IYCF training coverage, poor coordination of partners and barriers to access the community. South Sudan MoH needs to have uniform national standards with guidelines and tools that should guide all 10 states on the implementation of IYCF programs. Justification: The task requires extensive consultations across Immunization, Nutrition, WASH, HIV/AIDS, and MCH programs of UNICEF, Ministry of Health, and the UN agencies (WHO, WFP, UNFPA, FAO) and NGOs and requires full time technical person to facilitate the development of the National IYCF guidelines. The assignment requires a full-time dedicated expert. In addition to providing technical guidance to the consultant, the current staff of the Health and Nutrition Section of UNICEF South Sudan Country Office has other deliverables expected from them. Hence, there is urgent need for a consultant and the consultant will provide an independent added value from his or her expertise and work experience in the field of IYCF and in the area of guideline development. The Health and Nutrition Section proposes to an International Consultant at least mid-international consultancy level for a period of four months.
Purpose and objectives: Under the overall guidance of Nutrition Manager, the consultant will work closely with the Nutrition Department in the Ministry of Health, Directorate of Primary Health Care and IYCF technical team to develop the IYCF national guidelines and training protocol.
Major activities and responsibilities: 1. Draft and finalize an inception report with detailed activity plan and time frame guided by this ToR and share copy to Health & Nutrition Section and Nutrition Dept. of MoH for their review and endorsement.
Carry out the implementation of the inception report / activity plan to deliver expected consultancy outputs; specifically review of existing literatures on IYCF, infant feeding and HIV, existing IYCF guidelines for nutrition in emergency (NiE) used in Maban and other relevant national / international documents as deemed necessary, in close coordination with the MoH Nutrition department, Nutrition unit of Health & Nutrition Section, and UNICEF Zonal Offices.
Desk review of the existing document in South Sudan and also from other countries who have successfully implemented community-based approaches to promote IYCF practices.
In consultation with all relevant partners, draft the national IYCF strategies/guidelines and training tools with an action plan for rolling out the implementation of IYCF including the M&E framework to monitor the progress.
Present the draft guidelines and training tools in a consensus building workshop with the stakeholders
Revisit the first draft and make necessary revision to integrate appropriate inputs during workshop and present the revised version to MoH and UNICEF.
Prepare, submit the final guidelines to the MoH/UNICEF.
Education and work experience:
Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in public health nutrition, community nutrition, community medicine, medicine, nursing and midwifery, social science, or other relevant discipline.
At least 5 years of work experience in the field of public health or public health nutrition
Working experience with UN agencies, development partners, and international NGOs
Excellent communication skills in English
Creative thinking, drive for results and strong commitments.
Good inter-personal relationship even in diverse work environment.
Added advantage: work experience in South Sudan
Payment schedule The payment schedule will be on a monthly basis based on agreed deliverables. The last payment will be upon submission of the final draft documents with satisfactory evaluation.
Reporting: The consultant will be assigned full time to the Ministry of Health and UNICEF and will report directly to the UNICEF Nutrition Manager.
Expected Deliverables: (Hard and e-copy) 1. Inception report with detailed activity plan and time frame. 2. Monthly progress report 3. First draft of IYCF guidelines and training Tools. 4. Final draft of IYCF guidelines and training tools 5. Final consultancy completion report.
General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics The organization will assume responsibility for the following: The consultant will work from UNICEF office and/or the MoH in Juba, depending on the availability of office space in both offices. The consultant will be required to come with his/her own laptop. UNICEF will provide other supplies related directly to the task for duration of the consultancy. Final payment to the consultant will be dependent on the completion of deliverables as well as hand over notes and submission of the completion of consultancy evaluation. UNICEF will only cover the costs of economy class from place of residence to Juba and back. All work related transport (land/plane) costs within South Sudan will also be covered by UNICEF. Unless authorized, UNICEF will buy the tickets of the consultant. In exceptional cases, the consultant may be authorized to buy his/her travel tickets and shall be agreed to beforehand. Policy both parties should be aware of: The consultant is not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement. No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant. Consultant must sign the contract before commencing his/her travel from place of residence to Juba. Consultant will have to complete the online basic and advanced security training prior to travel to Juba, South Sudan. Signed contract copy or written agreement must be received by the office before the consultancy can be undertaken by the consultant. UNICEF is not responsible for insurance coverage for the consultant and waiver in the event of injury while executing the duty is required from the consultant. The consultant will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget. Consultant will be required to sign the Health Statement for consultants/individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, including Medical Evacuation. The Form Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary must be completed by the consultant at the HR Section.
Submissions should reach UNICEF South Sudan by 6 August 2013 and include:
a. A cover letter outlining the relevant qualifications and experience b. Brief proposal outlining work approach c. Samples of previous related work done before d. Curriculum Vitae e. P11 Form f. Expected monthly consultancy fees (USD)
How to apply:
Submission of Applications:
Applications from applicants, accompanied by the above documents and a completed United Nations Personal History Form, (which can be downloaded from our website at www.unicef.org/employ) should be sent to the address below by on or before Tuesday 6th August 2013.
Send application to:
Human Resources Officer, UNICEF South Sudan Country Office, Juba, South Sudan
OR PREFERABLY: Email: jubavacancies@unicef.org
UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. UNICEF is a smoke-free environment, Zero tolerance of sexual abuse and exploitation is our policy