NGO JOBS

Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: Ghana
Closing date: 25 Sep 2013

IntroductionUNICEF is committed to contribute to nutrition improvement in Northern Ghana through the scale-up of highly effective nutrition specific ad sensitive interventions, implemented in close coordination with various government and development partners. These include promotion of evidence based maternal, infant and young child nutrition actions during the first 1000 days of life starting from conception. As part of various initiatives to reduce stunting such as the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, UN System Nutrition Network and the UN REACH Initiative, UNICEF seeks to contribute to achievement of high coverage of nutrition specific interventions by implementing partners and make necessary linkages with nutrition sensitive interventions.

JustificationTwo of the three northern regions have persistent high rates of malnutrition particularly stunting and all three regions have high rates of anemia. In order to make a significant dent on rates of malnutrition, there is a need to scale up evidence based highly effective nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions. Ghana Health Services is already implementing a number of these interventions, but the coverage is low and the quality needs to be improved.

While Ghana Health Services has recruited Consultants at district level, the technical capacity at district and facility level needs to be enhanced, especially with the latest evidence on nutrition during the first critical thousand days of life and counselling skills. UNICEF and Ghana Health Services have recently adapted the community infant and young child feeding counselling package for implementation in Ghana starting from September 2013.

Further, implementation of community based management of malnutrition is going on in at least 50 districts in the three northern regions, however, the numbers of children benefiting from this life saving intervention are much less than expected. Hence in addition to the regular nutrition surveys, there is a need to conduct a coverage evaluation using a special methodology and verify if coverage is indeed low or high, identify responsible factors and promote corrective actions where coverage is low.

While the UNICEF- Tamale Nutrition officer is on mission in one of the complex emergencies for a few months, there is a need to get temporary technical assistance to ensure that UNICEF support to the activities outlined above is not disrupted. Further for smooth collaboration and implementation of planned activities, it is important that the Consultant is very familiar with the programmes and methodologies being implemented by the partners. It is therefore proposed that as an interim measure a consultant is recruited to UNICEF-Tamale office as Nutrition Office for a period of 6 months. During this period, UNICEF will have enough time to strengthen the nutrition staff capacity.

Objectives and responsibilities of the RecruitmentThe main purpose of this consultancy is to provide hands-on support to implementing partners on scaling up highly effective maternal, infant and young child nutrition actions. The Nutrition Consultant will be required to work closely with implementing partners and undertake the following responsibilities:

Programme planning and development• Through his/her recruitment to UNICEF, actively liaise with nutrition experts, implementing organisations, decision makers and staff at all levels to keep abreast of key policies and trends in the area of Nutrition• Facilitate situation assessments and development of evidence based action plans for scaling up highly effective nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive actions both within the health sector and beyond• Solicit proposals from implementing partners to UNICEF for scaling up nutrition, review submissions and ensure consistency with planned results as well as technical and administrative guidelines. Provide relevant feedback and facilitate communication with all key players• Ensure that action plans are based on bottleneck analysis and facilitate involvement of key sectors• Facilitate costing of action plans based on potential contributions from both government and development partners• Contribute to organisation of coordination meetings of key sectors involved in Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and REACH initiative

Implementation support• Liaise with regional and district management and staff and ensure that health facilities have necessary strategic supplies for scaling up highly effective nutrition and related interventions. Provide support to partners in forecasting, management of nutrition supplies & logistics to ensure no stock outs of strategic supplies at all levels. • Facilitate staff capacity strengthening and ensure that at least 50% of facility staff have required knowledge, skills and job aids on maternal, infant and young child nutrition counselling• Contribute to innovative delivery of nutrition services to improve both geographic access and population/target group coverage.• Facilitate collection of data and analysis of service utilisation by vulnerable groups of the population and contribute to reduction of disparities• Provide technical support in analysing the quality of programme implementation using standard performance indicators for key interventions• Facilitate submission of activity and financial reports from national, regional and district levels and ensure that activities and reports are consistent with planned results and administrative guidelines

Monitoring, supervision, reporting and documentation• Ensure that implementing partners are familiar with relevant results frameworks• Timely and regular (monthly) reporting of all data required by the programme logical framework• Facilitate design and regular organisation of SMART surveys based on availability of resources• Build capacity of staff in implementing the monitoring and supervision modules of the community IYCF, CMAM coverage assessment, and monitoring of other nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive actions• Contribute to planning, organisation and reporting on various nutrition assessments such as CMAM coverage surveys, gender assessments and analyses, and facilitate sharing of lessons and follow up of recommendations• Work in collaboration with other UN organisations and development partners, including civil society organisations and ensure a multisectoral approach to nutrition• Prepare and give presentations at workshops, meetings and other fora• Prepare inputs for progress reports to UNICEF and contributing partners• Provide other project support as requested

Specific Tasks and Deliverables

Objectives and responsibilities Activities and Tasks Deliverables TimeframeProgramme planning and development Support the consolidation of cIYCF action plans for the 3 Northern Regions. Finalized and costed community IYCF action plans for the 3 Northern Regions and FACE forms submitted to UNICEF. 5th October 2013. Provide technical support to the zonal REACH Coordinator in planning of monthly and quarterly Scaling Up Nutrition and REACH activity plans. Copies of monthly and quarterly Scaling Up Nutrition and REACH activity plans for the 3 Northern Regions for the previous month. By the 5th of the subsequent month.Implementation support Provide technical support for the roll-out of cIYCF in the 3 Northern Regions and compile training reports including pre- and post-test results. Monthly community IYCF training and activity reports for the 3 Northern Regions for the previous month. Monthly. Provide technical support for the ongoing implementation of CMAM in the 3 Northern Regions, with special focus on the poorly performing districts. Monthly CMAM activity reports and updates for the implementing district in the 3 Northern Regions for the previous month. Monthly. Provide technical support for micro-nutrient supplementation (Vitamin A, iron and folate, iodine) and deworming in the 3 Northern Regions through the routine Child Health Clinics and campaigns. Quarterly progress reports of micro-nutrient supplementation (Vitamin A, iron and folate, iodine) and deworming activities in the 3 Northern Regions for the previous quarter. Quarterly. Provide technical support to the zonal REACH Coordinator in the organisation of coordination meetings of key sectors involved in Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and REACH initiative. Minutes of monthly and quarterly Scaling Up Nutrition and REACH coordination meetings for the previous month. Monthly. Facilitate design and supervise the conduction of nutrition surveillance in the 3 Northern Regions (TBD). Nutrition Surveillance reports for the 3 Northern Regions. 31st December 2013. Facilitate design and organisation of the CMAM coverage survey in the 3 Northern Regions. CMAM routine data sets and coverage survey reports for selected 6 districts in the three Northern Regions. Data sets by Mid October and reports by 31st December 2013.Monitoring, supervision, reporting and documentation Targeted monitoring and supervision to poorly performing districts and sub-districts. Monthly supervision and monitoring reports and trip reports for the previous month. Monthly. Collation, cleaning and sharing of routine nutrition data. Monthly validated and analyzed CMAM data for the previous month. Monthly. Documentation of innovations and lessons learnt on nutrition interventions. Compilation of innovations and lessons learnt on nutrition interventions. Quarterly. Monthly progress reporting. Monthly progress report. Monthly. Production of the final report of the consultancy. Final report of the consultancy. End of consultancy in April 2014.

Methodology and Scope of WorkThe Consultant will be based in Tamale, and work in close consultation with GHS in the 3 regions. S/He will have considerable travel to regions and districts and will also work with other development partners including NGOs that may be involved in implementing nutrition activities. This assignment involves considerable coordination and collaboration with nutrition and related staff in other UN agencies and development partners.

Reporting and work relationsThe Consultant will report to Health and Nutrition Specialist, and will work with both programme and operations staff in UNICEF-Tamale and Accra as necessary. In an effort to promote behavior change and implement a multisectoral approach, the Consultant will work very closely staff working on Communication for Development, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation and Social Protection. The position is based in UNICEF-Tamale office and will require frequent travel (30-40%) in UWR, UER and NR regions.

Payment Schedule

The Consultant will be paid a lumpsum on a monthly basis, upon submission of a monthly report and deliverables as detailed above.

Required Background and ExperienceQualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required for the assignment include;• University degree in Nutrition, Health, social science or other related areas• At least 5 years’ demonstrable experience in the field of nutrition. Previous experience with reputable institutions/ organisations in setting up and implementing nutrition interventions. Previous work with UNICEF or another UN agency is an added advantage.• Strong analytical and communication (oral and written) skills.
• Complete proficiency in English, with additional knowledge of the local language of the area is an asset.• Computer proficient, including use of relevant software and other applications, e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, internal databases, Internet navigation etc. • S/He should have good analytical, negotiating, communication and advocacy skills and report writing skills. • Strong monitoring and evaluation skills

1. General conditions: procedures and logistics

i. The Consultant will work from Tamale and travel to the three regions and districts.
ii. UNICEF will provide the office space while working in Tamale, but the Consultant will provide his/her own computer. iii. UNICEF will provide transport and DSA where appropriate during the field visits.

1. Policy both parties should be aware ofi. Under the recruitment agreement, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays.ii. The Consultant is not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.iii. No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the Consultant.iv. The Consultant may not travel without a signed travel authorisation prior to the commencement of the journey to the duty station.v. The Consultant will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.vi. The Consultant will be required to sign the Health statement for Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance.vii. The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' must be completed by the Consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section.

2. Application Procedureviii. Interested candidates should submit a copy of their CV and P-11 form, technical and financial proposal with indicated fees for the services to be provided. The fee should be expressed on the daily rate on the basis of deliverables. The application need to be submitted to hrghana@unicef.org or mailed to:

    The Human Resources Officer, UNICEF, P.O. Box 5051, Accra-North

How to apply:

If interested, please complete the attached United Nations Personal History form (P11) which can be dowunloaded from http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc and include a copy of your CV and motivation letter by indicating the title of the position and send your application directly to:

email: HRghana@unicef.org

Applications submitted without the P11 form will not be considered.

Only short-listed candidates will be notified.