Consultancy, Strategically document and disseminate UNICEF’s evidence on social norms around diet and body image in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico (3 months)

Contract

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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 the Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) is based in Panama, and operates in 36 countries and territories, covered by 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. For more information about UNICEF and its work, see the link www.unicef.org/lac.

For every child, health

The prevalence of overweight, including obesity, among children and adolescents, is increasing almost everywhere; and now affects both urban children and the rural poor. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the second most urbanized region in the world, with 81 per cent of the population residing in urban areas. This region also faces 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 LAC region have overweight. The situation is worse among older children. Around 30 per cent of 5 to 19-year-olds living in the region are now estimated to be affected by overweight or 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.

Social norms as the unspoken rules of behaviour and attitudes around eating and body image include understanding what people normally eat, how they talk about and conceptualize health, nutrition, and body image and the context of their social and economic environments that also impact what is accessible, affordable, and aspirational in communities. This is important because looking at social norms enables researchers and decision-makers to better understand people’s experiences of nutrition and how they make decisions, which can inform how to improve population health.

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 children’s right to health and nutrition. In 2022, UNICEF LACRO supported a study on social norms on diet and body image. In follow up to this study, UNICEF LACRO is looking for an individual consultancy to analyse the main results and recommendations of a study carried out in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico on social norms around diet and body image and prepare a scientific manuscript in a relevant peer-reviewed journal.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Assignment

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Nutrition Specialist and in close collaboration with the Corporate Alliances Specialist, the individual consultant will be requested to produce one scientific manuscript about UNICEF’s study on social norms around diet and body image developed in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia.

The manuscript should be published in a peer-reviewed journal. This publication will support region-wide advocacy for the development and enforcement of effective policies that enable healthier food environments for children and their families.

Specific Task The individual contractor will be expected to prepare one scientific manuscript. The elaboration of this product will have the following activities:

1. Preparation of an outline
2. A comprehensive review of the study on social norms around diet and body image carried out in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia, or other key studies (documents of the regional study will be shared with the selected consultant)
3. Identify a peer-reviewed journal (relevant to the topic) to which the manuscript will be submitted
4. Preparation of the first draft of the manuscript
5. Submission of the manuscript for feedback from the regional office and the country offices
6. Preparation of the second draft of the manuscript
7. Submission of final version of the manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal
8. Incorporation of the journal’s feedback in the draft
9. Other required activities to pursue the objective of the consultancy

The report of the study on social norms around diet and body image carried out in Colombia, Guatemala and, Mexico will be shared with the selected consultant at the beginning of the consultancy.

The authorship of the manuscript, including names and the order in which they are included must respect UNICEF's internal policy. The costs related to the cientific journal submission will be covered by UNICEF.

Expected Results One scientific manuscript based on the study on social norms around diet and body image in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia, the document should highlight a child rights-based approach. The manuscript should be submited in a relevant peer-reviewed journal.

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

Education: Postgraduate degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Public Policy or similar

Work Experience: 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.

Languages: Fluency in Spanish and English is required.

Technical knowledge: 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.

Other skills and attributes: 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 urban food environments and obesity prevention is highly valued.

Supervision: The contractor will work under the direct supervision of the Regional Nutrition Specialist and in close collaboration with the Corporate Alliances Specialist. Workplace: This is a remote home-based consultancy. No travel is involved. Duration: This consultancy is expected to start on 20 March 2023, with an estimated duration of 3 months. For every Child, you demonstrate... UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this assignment are… Builds and maintains partnerships, Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, Drive to achieve results for impact, Innovates and embraces change, Manages ambiguity and complexity, Thinks and acts strategically, Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

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.