Consultant – Nutrition Surveys

Job Description

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee serves refugees and communities affected by oppression or violent conflict worldwide. Founded in 1933, the IRC is committed to freedom, human dignity, and self-reliance. This commitment is expressed in emergency relief, protection of human rights, post conflict development, resettlement assistance, and advocacy.

IRC CHAD STRATEGY:

The IRC started operations in Chad in 2004 to respond to the humanitarian crisis caused by the influx of refugees from Darfur to eastern Chad, with intervention in the Ouré Cassoni refugee camp. Assistance to Sudanese refugees has now expanded to the management of the ten camps in the East and one camp in the West with assistance to refugees and local communities in health, nutrition, and water, hygiene, and sanitation. In 2012, to respond to drought and food insecurity, IRC expanded its geographic coverage in the Guéra region. IRC is currently working in three health districts Mongo, Mangalmé and Melfi and is providing prevention and treatment of malnutrition to the local population. In May 2016, IRC opened an office in the Lac region to respond to the Boko Haram crisis. IRC implements assistance projects in health, nutrition as well as protection and response to gender-based violence.

IRC Chad is committed in its 2021-2023 Strategic Action Plan, to continue to provide essential humanitarian services in health, nutrition and protection/GBV, while improving the economic well-being and building the resilience of beneficiaries, especially women and girls. IRC Chad will continue to work with and closely support states actors/Ministries for key areas of intervention so that IRC's actions fit into national policies to ensure better ownership of actions taken.

The IRC nutrition sector intervention approach focuses on supporting acute malnutrition treatment in children under 5 years old in targeted areas to improve access and coverage of the nutrition services following the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition and in the collaboration with MoH. To achieve this, and ensure that appropriate measures and solution are taken, periodic coverage and prevalence assessments were planned in catchment areas of IRC supported Outpatient Treatment Program (OTP). The IRC is currently implementing OTP services in 104 sites (health center and mobile clinic) in 7 provinces, supported by various donors (INTPA, ECHO, AFD, UNHCR, UNICEF, SRF, SIDA, FCDO and private donors).

Under the DG ECHO, SIDA and FCDO funding in Lac Tchad, IRC planned to implement 2 different types of surveys i) coverage and access survey (using IRC coverage methodology) ii) prevalence/mortality survey according to the SMART methodology.

To support this process, the IRC Chad requests the support of an external consultant to conduct the two surveys above mentioned in Lac Tchad Province.

The objectives of the consultancy:

The Nutrition Survey consultant will conduct 01 survey with the SMART methodology and 01 coverage survey using the population-based methodology developed by the IRC. The Nutrition Survey consultant will involve key nutrition staff in skills-based training related to SMART surveys and coverage surveys to improve their capacity to independently conduct surveys (SMART, coverage, and other) in the future.

The activities

- Adapt terms of reference for nutrition surveys with support of the IRC Nutrition Coordinator, IRC MEAL Coordinator, and IRC HQ, and participate in national/ regional ethical approvals process as needed,

- Develop tools and training materials for the nutrition survey, which will be validated by the IRC Nutrition Coordinator, IRC MEAL Coordinator, and IRC HQ,

- Propose sampling framework, which will be validated by the IRC Nutrition Coordinator and IRC HQ,

- Provide coverage estimates and confidence intervals for SAM, GAM treatment in the IRC catchment areas of Liwa, Bol, Bagassola health districts.

- Provide all raw and cleaned datasets for data collection to IRC Chad and IRC HQ

- Organize and directly supervise data collection,

- Identify factors affecting uptake of the CMAM services in the IRC target areas,

- In collaboration with IRC program staff, develop specific recommendations to improve acceptance and coverage of the program,

- Support and mentor the IRC Nutrition Program Field Manager based in Liwa, Bagassola, Bol to build their capacity to conduct a nutrition prevalence and coverage surveys.

- Report all the processes and deliver final survey reports.

- Renforcer la compétence des équipes de supervision d’IRC sur le suivi évaluation des interventions en nutrition

- Support the Lake health and nutrition sub-cluster to address the questions on nutrition evaluations,

- Provide handover note for future assessments in the zone.

Delivrables:

1-Provide a SMART survey start-up report by 15 May 2023,

2-Provide a follow-up report on the SMART data collection by the end of May 2023,

3-Provide a draft of the final SMART survey report by 15 June 2023,

4-Provide the final SMART survey report by 30 June,

5-Provide a start-up report for the coverage survey on 25 June 2023

6-Provide a follow-up report on the coverage survey data collection by the end of July 2023

7-Provide a draft of the final coverage survey report on 15 August 2023,

8-Provide the approved final report of the coverage survey on 25 August 2023,

All report will be provided in French and in English, this is a four months consultancy.

The Chad nutrition coordinator will oversee the global follow up of the consultancy, especially at stages requiring validation.

Qualifications

Job Qualifications: ------------------------

Education: University degree in related field plus master’s degree in Public Health, Statistics, Public Health Nutrition or Global Nutrition is required. SMART Survey Training Certificate required.

Skills:

Demonstrated experience leading nutrition prevalence, mortality, and coverage assessments.

Strong data analytical skills and understanding of Nutrition monitoring and evaluation in low resource contexts using ENA, RStudio, STATA, or SPSS software.

Ability to work optimally and respectfully on diverse teams and across diverse contexts.

Good technical acuity takes initiative and produces results, ability to accept feedback and integrate it, strong communication and presentation skills and a dedication to contribute to a positive work environment.

Committed to upholding diversity, equality, and inclusion principles.

Good level interpersonal skills

Experience working with digital technology for health platforms (CommCare, Kobo, PowerBi) is an asset.

Work Experience: --------------------

Professional experience in applied quantitative research in the fields of health, nutrition, food security, at least two years of professional experience in conducting nutrition and mortality assessments.

Lead author of at least two validated SMART surveys, two SQUEAC / SLEAC surveys in different contexts.

Experience managing survey teams and in training. Experience working in rural areas with regular field visits.

Working Environment: Based in N’Djamena. Ability to travel to field up to 70% is required.

Language Skills: Fluency in French (oral and written) is required. English working proficiency is an asset.