Nutrition Specialist, P-4 at UNICEF

How can you make a difference?

• Under the overall supervision of the Regional Nutrition Advisor, the Nutrition Specialist TA position will be responsible for technical support and strategic direction on food systems transformation for children, overweight prevention and school age and adolescent nutrition (abbreviated as “FS/OW/SACA-N”), across all the country offices of ESAR. The food systems aspect links closely to various other areas of work in the Nutrition Section, including maternal and early childhood nutrition and the prevention of wasting.
• The Nutrition Specialist provides substantive support to the Adviser for the work of the Nutrition Section, in terms of authoritative technical assistance and advocacy, oversight on implementation of multi-country grants and quality assurance to the FS/OW/SACA-N aspects of nutrition programs in countries, contribution to the regional aspects of the nutrition section’s work on FS/OW/SACA-N, including development of tools and guidance, innovation, evidence generation, analysis and knowledge development, exchange and thought leadership. The position contributes to partnerships with regional economic commissions (RECs) in the region, as well as with other stakeholders including UN agencies, NGOs, donors, academia, technical institutions and others on FS/OW/SACA-N. The Specialist provides authoritative technical guidance and management support throughout the regional and country programming processes to facilitate the achievement of concrete and sustainable results in FS/OW/SACA-N programs/projects according to plans, allocation, results based-management (RBM) approaches and methodology and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Duties and responsibilities include the following:

Data, evidence, and knowledge products:

• Provide oversight to the institutional contract on assessment and analysis of packaged foods
• Contribute to the oversight of the contract undertaking scoping of opportunities for improved foods for children and the knowledge products arising from this.
• Provide technical support to countries to identify gaps in current data and generate evidence on topics related to child overweight prevalence, its determinants, the landscape of existing policies and programmes.
• Provide support to countries to advocate for and generate data on overall nutrition status of primary school age children and adolescents.
• Provide support to countries to undertake landscape analyses of food environments and policies, programmes on overweight prevention and SACA-N
• Provide technical assistance to countries to design and implement formative research and qualitative investigation, including profiles of children’s lived experience of food environments, related to nutrition of school age children and adolescents and child overweight
• Contribute to the design and coordinate and support the implementation of assessments of commercial determinants of child diets.
• Produce quality thought leadership/knowledge products of various types – peer reviewed articles, UNICEF reports, policy briefs, case studies, advocacy pieces, multi-media materials, presentations (including on the findings from the landscape analyses and other assessments and documented experiences from various countries on introducing and implementing legislative measures, policies and programmes).
• Analyze country office annual reporting and NutriDash data on FS/OW/SACA-N and prepare updates and reports on progress. Contribute to a scorecard on food systems work in countries.

Regional resources and tools:

• Produce technical briefs and frameworks on policy measures and strategies for food systems, overweight prevention and packages for nutrition of school age children and adolescents, to contribute to increasing UNICEF knowledge and confidence and build capacity of UNICEF offices to work on these domains.
• Support the development/review of SADC resources: i) toolkit on nutrition of school age children; ii) strategy for prevention of overweight and obesity, iii) capacity building on overweight prevention; iv) food systems for children concept note with SADC agriculture section; and contribute to concept notes and advocacy for SADC standards for sugar taxes, food marketing restrictions and front of pack labelling.
• Collaborate with Education Section and WFP to develop guidance and tools on school-based health and nutrition and school meals
• Contribute to dissemination of guidance and tools to UNICEF staff through webinars, network meeting and other means.

Technical assistance to country offices

• Provide technical assistance to UNICEF country offices to develop recommendations for policy change, strategies and programmes on food systems for children, overweight prevention and nutrition of SAC/adolescents, based on evidence generated.
• Provide technical assistance for policy advocacy and dialogue related to food policies and financing, overweight prevention and nutrition of school age children and adolescents.
• Contribute to development of country office funding proposals.

Advocacy and partnership on legislative measures, policies and strategies:

• Produce briefing notes and advocacy materials on FS/OW/SACA-N
• Engage with RO and HQ Supply colleagues on improved foods for children
• Engage with partnership and fundraising colleagues in ESARO on the investment case for food systems for children including improved foods
• Identify and pursue collaboration with WFP and FAO and other key food systems partners on food policies and improved foods for children
• Working together with WHO and others, support country advocacy efforts to address child overweight through creating improved regulatory and legislative environments, including on food and beverage marketing, front of pack warning system labels, fiscal measures and school food environment and nutrition policies.
• Provide technical assistance to the design, implementation and monitoring of school nutrition programmes in the UNICEF-WFP HOA partnership focus countries (Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan) and coordinate with WFP’s regional bureau in Nairobi on this aspect of the partnership. Coordinate with the WFP regional bureau in Johannesburg on school-based programmes in the southern Africa sub-region.
• Help establish a regional network of experts on food systems, overweight in children and nutrition of school age children and adolescents.

Double duty actions in existing health, ECD, SBCC and school platforms:

• Provide technical assistance to countries to integrate child overweight prevention into existing systems and platforms, including IYCF counseling in the health system and communities, social and behavior change (SBC), parenting programmes and ECD centers, and pre-schools, including to model and document effective “double duty” actions.
• Contribute to updating country IYCF counseling packages with overweight prevention content.
• Contribute overweight prevention content for ECD, and parenting materials and resources as required.
• Provide technical assistance to countries on design or improvement of school nutrition curricula, school nutrition education, weekly iron folate supplementation and deworming interventions, physical activity, healthy school canteens and restrictions on marketing and selling of unhealthy foods through primary and secondary schools.
• Contribute to design and content of SBC strategies on child overweight and nutrition of school age children and adolescents.
• Contribute nutrition content of multi-sectoral materials related to adolescents as required.

Food systems and nutrition of school age children and adolescents in humanitarian contexts:

• Work with Supply and Nutrition in Emergencies colleagues to position local solutions for nutrient-dense foods to prevent malnutrition in young children and women as part of the response and procurement plans in emergencies
• In collaboration with ESARO Nutrition in Emergencies colleagues and UNICEF HQ, develop/adapt guidance, and tools on delivering on UNICEF Nutrition CCC #4 on nutrition of school age children and adolescents in emergencies
• Contribute to the provision of technical assistance to countries on Nutrition CCC#4

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education:

• Advanced university degree in Public Health or Nutrition (preferably with specialized training in one or more of the following: public health and nutrition planning, health and nutrition education, health care system management, or epidemiology, food systems, food policy, food technology, overweight and NCD prevention), Social Policy, Social Development, Community Development, Food Policy, or other relevant disciplines.

Experience:

• At least eight years of professional work experience at the national and international levels in planning, programming, implementation, research, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition programmes. Professional work experience in a managerial/leadership position, or a technical expert position in nutrition.
• Developing country work experience.
• Relevant experience in nutrition program/project development and management in any UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Background/familiarity and specific work experience on food systems, overweight prevention and school age and adolescent nutrition

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of a second UN and/or local working language of the duty station an asset.

Deadline: 17 Jul 2023 E. Africa Standard Time