Consultancy - Generation of Scientific Evidence on Front-of-Package Warning Labelling and the Prevention of Children Overweight and Obesity in the LAC Region - 4 months (home-based)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, health UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices.

UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

The prevalence of overweight, including obesity among children and adolescents, is increasing almost everywhere; and now afflicts both urban and rural poor children and is increasing most rapidly in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) face some of the highest rates of childhood overweight in the world and is one of the regions where UNICEF and partners are working most actively on the prevention agenda. Compared to the world average of 5.6 per cent, 7.5 per cent of children under five in the region have overweight; this represents 4 million children of preschool age. The situation is worse among older children. Around 30 per cent of 5-19-year-olds living in the LAC region are now estimated to be affected by overweight and obesity, far higher than the world average of 18 per cent.

Childhood overweight impacts children ́s immediate physical and emotional well-being; increases the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) later in life; and carries heavy societal and economic consequences for the individual, families and their communities. The drivers of the overweight epidemic are multiple and complex. However, a large body of evidence suggests that changes to food environments are the major drivers of the rise of overweight during the past forty years. People’s food environments can be very different depending on the availability, affordability, marketing promotion and product properties of different foods.

UNICEF’s work to prevent childhood overweight and obesity and to foster a healthy and sustainable food system includes the generation of evidence and research, the formulation of policy recommendations, the implementation of initiatives and the promotion of public policies that guarantee the right of children to health and nutrition. Accordingly, UNICEF LACRO is looking for a consultant who can collect and analyze the experiences of the adoption of the front-of-package warning labels in México, Argentina and Uruguay and based on this analysis prepare one scientific manuscript and one presentation in PowerPoint. These documents will help the LAC region to advance in the development and implementation of effective public policies that enable healthier food environments for children and their families.

For information of the work of our organization in the LAC Region, please visit our website: UNICEF LAC Region

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of assignment

Under the supervision of the Regional Nutrition Specialist and in close collaboration with the Corporate Alliances Specialist, the consultant will produce one scientific manuscript in English and one presentation in PowerPoint in Spanish on the design and implementation process of the front-of-package warning labeling on foods and drinks in Mexico, Argentina, and Uruguay, based on a child rights approach. The scientific manuscripts should be published in peer-reviewed journals relevant to public health or nutrition.

Specific Tasks

The Individual contractor will be expected to prepare one scientific manuscript and one presentation in PowerPoint. The elaboration of these products will have the following activities:

1. Preparation of a concept note
2. Conducting interviews with key informants including representatives of UNICEF’s country offices of Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay, civil society groups, government officials, among others
3. Literature review of relevant documents, such as gray literature, legal regulations, press releases, journalistic articles, and policy papers and other key documents related to the topic.
4. Selection of peer-reviewed journals to which each of the manuscripts will be sent
5. Preparation of the first draft of the manuscript
6. Submission for feedback from the regional office and the country offices
7. Preparation of the second draft of the manuscript
8. Preparation of the presentation in PowerPoint
9. Accompaniment and support during the translation process of the manuscript from English to Spanish
10. Submission of the manuscript before the peer-reviewed journal selected
11. Incorporation of the journal feedback to the draft and subsequent versions throughout the process.
12. Submission of final version of the manuscript before the peer-reviewed journal
13. Support to activities related to its dissemination
14. Other required activities to pursue the objective of the consultancy

The documents and information related to the advocacy process during the adoption process of the front-of-package warning labels in the three countries will be shared with the selected consultant at the beginning of the consultancy.

The last activities (9, 10, 11, 12, 13) may be completed after the consultancy has ended. The consultant must commit to the assignment until the articles are published.

Expected Results One scientific manuscript and one presentation in PowerPoint on the adoption process of the front of package warning labels in Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, the documents should highlight a child rights-based approach to describe the implementation processes. The manuscripts should be published in peer-reviewed journals relevant to public health or nutrition.

Deliverables *Publication costs will be covered by UNICEF and the consultant must commit to publish the manuscripts (including all the follow up and inclusion of comments process). The authorship of the manuscript, including names and the order in which they are included must respect UNICEF's internal policy. ** Dates can be adjusted depending on the starting date of the contract. To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

- Postgraduate university degree in nutrition, public health, or other related fields. - A minimum of four [4] years of professional relevant experience with writing and publishing scientific manuscripts on children’s nutrition in academic journals. - Work experience in the LAC Region will be an asset. - Candidates with former experience working for the UN, UNICEF, NGOs or public institutions will have an advantage. - Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Knowledge of French or Portuguese will be considered an asset.

Technical knowledge and skills required - A good understanding of quantitative data analysis and qualitative analysis of nutrition and public policy information. - Experience as main or corresponding author in at least 3 published articles related to public health nutrition (ideally the same area of research) in peer-reviewed journals. - Professional technical knowledge and expertise in the field of nutrition, public health, prevention of overweight and obesity or similar. - Ability to analyze and synthesize documents. Ability to write adequately and technically in English. - Demonstrated ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines. Must be detail-oriented and with experience in edition and preparation of bibliographies, images, and graphs. Able to work independently, with low levels of supervision. - Previous research on FOPNL, marketing to children and nutrition policies is highly valued.

Supervision: the consultant will work under the direct supervision of the LAC Regional Nutrition Specialist and in close collaboration with the Corporate Alliances Specialist.

Workplace: this is a home-based remote consultancy.

How to apply: application should be submitted online and should include Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. Qualified candidates are requested to submit monthly and daily fees in their financial proposal.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and the following core competencies: Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness, Works Collaboratively with others, Builds and Maintains Partnerships, Innovates and Embraces Change, Thinks and Acts Strategically, Drive to achieve impactful results, and Manages ambiguity and complexity.

To view our values and competency framework please visit the following links: Our Values and Our Competencies.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/ recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at https://www.whed.net/home.php