DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS6 November 2024-23:59-GMT Greenwich Mean Time (Dakar)
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๐ฉ Vacancy Announcement nยฐ: JR104962
๐ข Job Title: Nutrition Consultant (Wasting Transition Plan Regional Manager)
โจ Contract type and Grade: International Consultant, CST Level II
๐ง Duration: 11 months
โ Unit / Division: Nutrition Unit
๐ Duty Station: Dakar, Senegal
โฐ Closing date: 06 November 2024
The progress made in the 19 countries comprising RBD against the 2025 World Health Assembly nutrition targets remains insufficient. West and Central Africa is the worldโs only region in which the number of stunted and wasted children continues to rise. In West and Central Africa, several factors threaten the food security and nutritional status of the population, especially of women and children under five. These include recurrent climatic and economic shocks, conflicts and armed violence, population displacement, fragile health systems, demographic pressures coupled with minimal coverage of basic social services, household food insecurity, poor access to clean water and sanitation, chronic poverty, high levels of childhood illnesses and water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, and inadequate feeding practices for infant, children, and women. Affordability remains also a challenge in the region, more than half of households in the Sahel countries have no access to nutritious diets.
In these humanitarian contexts, continued efforts for the early detection of children with wasting and their management remain critical; likewise essential are actions to reduce the incidence of children whose nutrition situation may deteriorate into wasting.
The 2023 WHO Guideline on the Prevention and Management of Wasting and Nutritional Oedema together with the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting (GAP) provides an opportunity to foster new program approaches to ensure that as many children as possible benefit from coordinated efforts to prevent and address wasting. WFP with its partner UNICEF has developed a joint strategic approach to accelerate programmatic shifts in humanitarian and fragile contexts based on this new WHO Guideline. WFP and UNICEF will work together to provide a combined package of interventions to address child wasting. The joint approach emphasizes the importance of addressing maternal nutrition, elevates attention given to preventive actions as part of every program response and to increasing convergence and coverage to reach those populations most vulnerable and hardest to reach.
This approach will be implemented through a phased three-year transition plan (2024-2026) in 15 priority countries (Haiti, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Yemen); supporting governments and partners incorporate evidence-based programmatic shifts in alignment with the WHO Guideline.
WFP in these countries will implement shifts in programs to address child wasting and maternal malnutrition in collaboration with its key collaborators, supported through the respective Regional Bureaus and joint actions taken at global level. The global actions include evidence generation through strong monitoring and evaluation or operations research, nutrition vulnerability analysis, documentation and sharing of success and lessons learnt from new program approaches, joint advocacy, and supply chain optimization of specialized nutritious foods.MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The overall purpose of this assignment is to steer the WFP contribution of the joint transition plan of child wasting towards its intended outcomes by engaging proactively and supporting constructively the various stakeholders involved at regional and country level, as well as improving nutrition response to emergencies in the region.
Under the overall guidance of the Senior Regional Nutrition Advisor, the consultant will report to the Regional Nutritionist. The consultant will work in close collaboration with a variety of stakeholders such as colleagues across the Nutrition Unit in RBD, with WFPโs Nutrition and Food Quality Service in headquarters and selected country offices, and with counterparts in UNICEF at the regional level.
The consultant will be required to travel periodically to support high priority countries that are part of the transition plan on child wasting in the region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria), as well as in other francophone high priority countries in Africa (DRC and Madagascar).
The consultant will coordinate and manage the joint transition plan on child wasting at the regional level to ensure that respective country offices are effectively supported. This includes:
1. Stakeholder engagement and coordination: Support coordination structure and external communication at regional and country level between WFP, UNICEF, and other stakeholders as required., including:- Lead and support co-facilitation of regular regional coordination meetings with UNICEF for updates and tracking progress against work plan.
- Lead and support co-facilitation of thematic ad hoc regional meetings or workshops, and face-to-face regional meetings with key stakeholders across organizations at regional level.
- Participate in monthly calls of the global wasting transition team and provide updates as needed.
- Develop/refine a regional workplan that encompasses support across the 7 countries related to transition plan initiation, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and resource mobilization, in line with the global project management workplan.
- Oversee implementation of the regional workplan.
- Monitor and ensure timely course correction in collaboration with stakeholders related to challenges in progress against the workplan. Support periodic reviews with participation to allow reflections, revision to workplans, and exchange of best practices.
- Liaise and collaborate with the Emergency preparedness and response team at RB level to ensure nutrition aspects are integrated into emergency-related activities.
- Assist in strengthening information exchange and operational linkages between the Regional Bureau, WFP HQ, other UN Regional Bureaux, COs, and key partners.
- Support the production of nutrition information/analysis for the RBD Region and provide inputs for internal and external documents and meetings.
- Contribute to the preparation of and actively participate in the regional NiE sub-group meetings.
2. Strategic and overall support to Country Offices
- Support countriesโ programmatic shifts ensuring alignment with WFPโs strategic direction for wasting and WHO Guidelines.
- Provide strategic and any other support required to Country Offices, including for the planning, implementation, and monitoring of integrated nutrition emergency responses.
- Assist in nutrition context analysis and response planning for improved nutrition in emergency response, in line with corporate and global guidelines.
- Identify support needs, additional guidance and tools that can facilitate implementation of the strategic and programmatic shifts for wasting and maternal undernutrition at country level and liaise with HQ and RBD teams to develop or provide these.
- Contribute to conceptualizing and drafting guidance and tools, as required.
- Support country offices in documenting good practices and evidence of success stories in the region.
- Provide capacity strengthening to colleagues in the region working on nutrition in emergencies and on the wasting transition plan as required.
3. Visibility, Communication, and Advocacy
- Follow progress, successes and challenges related to the different phases of the transition plan in the region and jointly with the stakeholders at country level and the M&E and knowledge management team identify content to feature in communication and knowledge products.
- Provide input to communications materials and draft summaries or briefs related to the experiences with the stages of the transition plan, the partnerships involved to inform management and involved stakeholders at regional level.
- Deliver briefings or presentations to select stakeholders of the nutrition or food security humanitarian community at regional level to raise awareness and get buy- in for the transition plan, as needed.
- Support advocacy and resource mobilization efforts at regional level and input into materials as required.
4. Support any other activities related to WFPโs strategic objectives in nutrition and related workplans as required.
Education:
Masterโs degree in nutrition, Public Health, Food Security, Food systems or other related fields, or Bachelorโs degree with additional years of relevant professional work experience
Experience
At least 5 yearsโ work experience in international nutrition programming experience related to fragile and humanitarian contexts.
- Solid experience with programs to prevent and manage wasting across multiple-sectors and with multiple stakeholders.
- Experience managing BHA funded projects is an advantage.
- Experience of working with UN agencies, or key international NGO in humanitarian settings; work experience with WFP is highly desirable.
- Experience with change management processes is desirable.
Knowledge and Skills Required
- Solid knowledge of the global nutrition and food security (humanitarian) architecture.
- Strong project management skills including critical and strategic thinking and change management.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work in multicultural settings.
- Excellent team leadership and teamwork skills.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Language Skills
Fluency in both English and French is required (Level C - reading, writing, speaking)
Closing date: 06 November 2024
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY
- All employment decisions are made based on organisational 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, Join 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.
- 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.
- Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance
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- WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.
- All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFPโs standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment.
Special Notice on WFP RBD office relocation:
WFP and other UN Agencies will be moving to the new United Nations House in Diamniadio, 30 kilometres from downtown Dakar.
Special recommendation:
Before you apply, please confirm that both (i) your on-line profile and CV are accurate and up to date, (ii) your CV should include your employment history, academic qualifications, and language skills
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REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified
All employment decisions are made on the basis of 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.