Nutrition Performance CST II, Dakar

👉 Vacancy Announcement n°: 178332

📢 Job Title: Nutrition Performance CST II, Dakar

📌Type of Contract: Consultancy Contract, Level 2

✅ Unit / Division: Programme, Nutrition Unit

⚡ Duty Station: Dakar, Senegal

✨ Duration: 11 months

⏰ Closing date: 27 November 2022

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. To learn more about WFP, visit our website and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

COUNTRY CONTEXT/ ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The WFP Regional Bureau for West & Africa covers a region that extends from Mauritania to Chad and along the coast from Cameroon to Senegal. It consists of nineteen (19) countries; The West Africa Regional Bureau (RBD) is based in Dakar and provides strategic guidance, technical support, and direction to country operations in these countries.

The progress made in the nineteen (19) countries comprising RBD against the 2025 World Health Assembly nutrition targets remains insufficient. West and Central Africa is the world’s only region in which the number of stunted and wasted children continues to rise. In the Sahel, recurrent climatic and economic shocks, rising and fluctuating food prices, and demographic pressures coupled with minimal coverage of basic social services have resulted in chronically high undernutrition among mothers and children, especially in pastoral areas and during the agricultural lean season. Coverage of nutrition interventions are estimated only to be at 50% for treatment of severe acute malnutrition and 13% for treatment of moderate acute malnutrition, while coverage of prevention of malnutrition interventions is even lower. In this context, it is essential for WFP to improve monitoring of performance of its nutrition interventions to improve the quality and coverage, with an increased focus on prevention including through nutrition-sensitive programming.

In this region, a combination of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding interventions are being implemented and complement each other. This nexus of short-term (emergency response) and medium-to long term programming (development approach) is essential to ensure the appropriate balance between emergency response to acute shocks and strengthening of systems so resilience of nations, systems, communities and populations to new future shocks is improved.

The CRIALCES project aims to reverse the negative trend with regards to food insecurity, economic and job opportunities as well as the nutrition status of women and children in targeted areas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Building on existing initiatives, it contributes to the sustainable development of food and nutrition security in selected communities in order to reinforce their capacities to prevent and mitigate impact of disasters and crises. To reach these objectives, the CRIALCES project applies a food system approach, reinforcing simultaneously the food production, preservation, processing and consumption of nutritious foods at local, decentralized and national levels. Under this project, WFP also renews its efforts with governments through multi-sector platforms to build national capacities for tackling the multidimensional causes of undernutrition while strengthening food and social protection systems and hence, reinforces prevention of malnutrition. In support of the above, RBD, Nutrition unit will prioritize Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis, Nutrition and Food Security analysis through Hotspot analysis and Food system analysis under the CRIALCES project, as well as performance of the CRIALCES project and other nutrition interventions. RBD unit will also ensure relevant linkages are made towards overall progress in improving coverage of nutrition interventions in the region. This consultancy will strengthen integration of the CRIALCES-project approach into the wider WFP’s programme portfolio in response to the global food and nutrition crisis.

In particular, this position is needed to support overall Nutrition analysis to produce evidences, ensure reliability of food security and nutrition studies/surveys/performance and ensure timely, high quality, dissemination of technical easily-to-understand information to a wide variety of audiences to better inform donor discussions and program design in the region (e.g. needs assessment, situation analyses, programme design) with the aim to improve and scale up treatment and prevention of malnutrition in the region.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the overall guidance of the Senior Regional Nutrition Advisor, the Nutrition Programme Performance Consultant will report to the Regional Food System and Nutrition Analyst and will work in close collaboration with the whole Nutrition Unit as well as the other units of the WFP RBD, especially the RAM unit. The Nutrition Programme Performance Consultant will particularly support the production and dissemination of Nutrition and FS information and analysis (CRIACLES project, Cost of the Diet and FNG analysis, performance of nutrition interventions, incl. CRIALCES) to better inform donor discussions, programme related discussions and decisions, as well as generate strong evidence for wider use. Specifically, the consultant’s main responsibilities include:

1. Support Nutrition Data analysis and Information management in the Region with a specific focus on the Sahel countries and the CRIALCES project.
   1. Support the production of nutrition information/analysis for the RBD Region and ensure a close monitoring of WFP’s outcomes and nutrition related performances on the CRIACLES project.
   2. Collaborate actively with WFP RBD RAM unit on the Cost of Diet and Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis as well on visualization/communication products from the CRIALCES project.
   3. Support the continuous development of the methodology and tools for the Joint Hotspot Analysis and ensure bi-annual Hotspot Analysis edition in close collaboration with WFP RBD RAM unit, UNICEF, and any relevant partners.
   4. Support the monitoring of nutrition specific and sensitive indicators, especially in the context of the implementation of the integrated resilience approach in the five (5) Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) and linkages with CRIALCES project.
   5. Contribute to the analysis of nutrition data trends in the Sahel, with a specific focus on the Central Sahel/LCB areas, and other RBD countries such as CAR and Cameroon.
   6. Ensure, in close collaboration with the Regional Nutrition Advisor, regular nutrition data trends and coverage analysis as well as a close monitoring of WFP nutrition programs to better inform Nutrition strategy at country and regional levels.
   7. Collect, compile and analyse nutrition data on admissions and performance at CO level with a focus on Sahel countries
   8. Provide technical assistance to the RBD and COs in the production of nutrition information based on recent assessment in emergency/fragile contexts, incl. assessments done under the CRIALCES-project, as well as on nutrition programme performance.

1. Contribute and support the preparation on Nutrition Information on FNG studies, Food security and Nutrition surveys/evaluations/evidence link With the Food Systems Analysis in the Region and Focus in The Central Sahel

1. In close collaboration with other Nutrition team members and with RAM unit, contribute to the analyses on food system components including:
   • Supply chain analysis around retail and markets analysis in the Central Sahel.
   • Local products/production analysis from FNG data analysis across the West and Central Africa region.
2. Produce information and analysis on food environment, emphasizing on affordability of nutritious diets for population of Central-Sahel, and other countries of the WCA region. 3.

1. Contribute and Support timely, high-quality dissemination of technical easy-to understand information to a wide variety of audiences
   1. Facilitate the collection, accessibility and use of information from several units (Nutrition, Food security, social protection, etc..) to better understand possible innovative programmatic integrations.
   2. Enhance the process and system of information management (Dashboards, country profiles etc.) directly linked with analysis produced by the Fill the Nutrient Gap (FNG) and the Food system
   3. Identify and enhance internal and external opportunities to connect with experts and practitioners to gather information, generate new evidence, stimulate learnings, and increase knowledge uptakes d. Prepare summaries, overviews of technical analysis, recommendations, findings etc. for different objectives and audiences
   4. Provide technical support for the design and implementation of operational research.
   5. Provide technical inputs in the several RBD brief and any internal other documents
   6. Any other task as required.

SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education:

Advanced university degree in public health/nutrition, statistics, international development and/or other related fields or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses

Experience:

Minimum of six (6) years of work experience in international development/humanitarian work, data analysis, compilation of information from various sources, and preparation of analytical reports.

• Must have experience in nutrition program design, implementation, data analysis, nutrition programme information management.
• Experience in Western and Central Africa is desirable, at regional and/or country level
• Experience working in the UN preferably with WFP is desirable.

For holders of a first university degree at least eight (8) years of relevant professional work experience in the same field.

Languages: Fluency in English and French (Level C – reading, writing & speaking).

Other specific job requirements:

• Excellent analysis and drafting skills are required.
• Excellent skills in basics statistics are essential.
• Ability to engage effectively at working level with a wide range of actors including those in the international humanitarian community and governments.
• Ability to work under tight deadlines and simultaneously manage multiple tasks in an autonomous manner.
• Maturity, initiative, courtesy, tact and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds
• Strong understanding of WFP operations and CSP desirable

Before you apply…

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

All employment decisions are made based on organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

Special notice on office relocation: WFP and other UN Agencies will be moving to the new United Nations House, presently under construction in Diamniadio, 30 kilometres from downtown Dakar. The name of the duty station for this position will remain Dakar, Senegal.

⏰ Closing date: 27 November 2022

Why work at WFP

• Meaningful and impactful careers – Our day-to-day work makes a difference in the lives of the people we serve.

• Continuous learning and training – We provide learning tools for our staff to continually develop their careers.

• Multicultural and stimulating working environment – We encourage gender and cultural diversity to make our teams stronger.

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