Maternal nutrition specialist – tool development
WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles
Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance
Job Title: Maternal nutrition specialist – tool development
Type of Contract: Consultant, Level 2
Division: Nutrition: Nutrition Operation/NUT
Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy (home-base could be considered)
Duration: 9 months
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
Maternal and child undernutrition remain major Public Health concerns in many countries where the World Food Programme (WFP) operates. The current unprecedented global food crisis is exacerbating the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable people in fragile contexts in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Women are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition from a physiological perspective due to their increased nutrient requirements for menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation. Pregnant women require a diet with sufficient energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals to meet their own needs for health and wellbeing as well as for the growth and development of the foetus. Poor nutrition during pregnancy is known to have adverse short and long-term effects on the mother and the unborn child. Undernutrition has the potential to be transmitted from one generation to another, representing an enormous cost for the individuals, communities, and societies.
WFP is a key stakeholder in support of maternal nutrition in the international community’s approach to ending undernutrition in pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) and their children to break this intergenerational vicious cycle. To operationalise WFP’s commitment towards meeting the immediate nutritional needs of the most vulnerable women, in humanitarian contexts, efficient and accurate targeting, alternative programme and distribution models that can reach PBW out of reach of the health system, and user-friendly tools are all required to guide programming.
The main purpose of this consultancy is to identify ways to enhance WFP’s reach and inclusiveness of maternal nutrition programs. It focuses on strengthening the capacity for decision making in relation to community-based identification and targeting of the most vulnerable pregnant and breastfeeding women eligible for food and nutrition support, in humanitarian and fragile contexts. This will be done through the development and piloting of a simple, user-friendly decision-support tool that effectively guides WFP and partners on appropriate targeting and program implementation models to maximise inclusion of eligible pregnant and breastfeeding women in the program.
This consultancy will feed into WFP’s work on malnutrition prevention and treatment and is integrated into the Nutrition Operations Unit at WFP headquarter. The consultant is expected to collaborate closely with relevant colleagues across and outside the Nutrition Division with WFP Regional Bureaus and selected country offices.
This piece of work will be linked to various maternal nutrition projects undertaken by WFP as well as the Balanced Energy-Protein (BEP) supplementation mapping planned by the Global Nutrition Cluster ‘s Technical Alliance Prevention Sub-working Group.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Conduct a desk review (2 months)
- Establish a work schedule and feasible timeline for the scope of work, in collaboration with key collaborators
- Review WFP, NGO and other partners community-led PBW-related maternal nutrition program-es focused, but not limited to, ten high-need countries and document their targeting and delivery models (countries being considered include Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Chad and Syria).
- Validate and complement, as required, available information on targeting approaches, admission criteria, delivery models and type of Nutrition support provided to PBW as well as on facilitators and barriers; carry out additional data collection (through surveys, key informant interviews etc, as required)
- Review -maternal nutrition matrix, already developed, and categorise –the information for relevance and pertinence. Use collected inputs to identify common bottlenecks and use to design pathways to overcome them.
- Document findings and validate with relevant stakeholders.
It is expected that the consultant uses his /her expertise on maternal nutrition to frame and inform the document review and tool development
- Develop and pilot test a tool to inform identification and targeting of PBW (5 months)
- Build on the desk mapping review findings, available literature, and consultations to develop- a simple, user-friendly decision tool incorporating feedback from relevant stakeholders at all stages.
- Produce an easy-to-use self-explanatory and visually smart overview of the tool; and guidance note to accompany the tool.
- Organise and support pre-testing and field testing of the tool, in a minimum of three countries, and make – required improvements.
- Finalize and validate the decision tree tool and guidance and develop a roll out strategy.
- Document methods, processes, and findings at each step, of the development, testing and piloting.
- Produce a paper that explains the decision-support tool and its use (2 months)
- Lead the writing of a-paper that explains the decision-support tool and discusses its uses and its limitations. The intended audience will be governments, WFP’s cooperating partners, and other key stakeholders.
- Support development of knowledge, communication, advocacy, and learning-materials as required.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
1. Desk -review conducted, documented and findings presented and validated
2. a) Decision tool for PBW targeting developed, tested, and finalised
b) Accompanying guidance and a dissemination strategy finalised
3. Paper for external audiences and learning materials finalized
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education:
Advanced University degree in Nutrition, Public Health, epidemiology, or related field.
Experience:
- More than 10 years of combined experience on direct implementation and/or providing oversight to emergency nutrition programming and nutrition-related operational research
- Specific experience on maternal nutrition prevention and treatment programming
- Designing and conducting primary and secondary research
- Developing guidance, decision tree tools or programmatic flowcharts.
- Translating and applying findings to programmes.
- Community participative approaches.
Knowledge & Skills required:
- Extensive technical expertise in treatment and prevention programmes for PBWs.
- Knowledge of the latest global developments in maternal nutrition programming, standards, and guidance.
- Confident with quantitative and qualitative research methods.
- Strong ability to think analytically and systematically.
- Strong interpersonal relationship and team working skills.
- Ability to work independently.
Languages:
Required fluency in English; French (speaking and writing) desired.
Terms and Conditions
WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.
http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.
Deadline for applications: 25 October 2022
Ref.: VA No. 175961
Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply
WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status
No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service
Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with
oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
