Generic Vacancy Announcement (GVA): Nutrition Specialist (Childhood Obesity), NO3, UNICEF Athens, Greece ( Greek Nationals)

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Tuesday 12 Jul 2022 at 09:15 UTC

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This is a NO-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-3 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.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

UNICEF became operational in Greece in early 2016 as an outposted team from the Regional Office of Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) to respond to the significant influx of refugee and migrant children and their families at that time. Following several years of engagement with national stakeholders, UNICEF and the Government of Greece made a decision in January 2020 to formalize the agency’s presence in the country under the form of a Greece Country Office. This office falls under the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia located in Geneva, which supports the work of 21 Country Offices within its geographical scope, reporting in turn to global headquarters in New York. Within the framework of an expanded mandate for all children in Greece, UNICEF and Greece moved towards an even greater collaboration and partnership in order to address the needs of all vulnerable, marginalized and left-behind children in the country.

In the context of the Country programme for Greece (2022-2026) approved by the UNICEF Executive Board in March 2022, UNICEF and the Government of Greece have agreed on national targets for children, concerning health, education, social protection, child protection, justice and youth employability. Regarding the Health and Nutrition agenda, and within the context of the National Action Plan on Public Health (2021-2025) and the National Prevention Programme ‘’Spyros Doxiades’’. UNICEF is scaling up programming to address the high prevalence of childhood obesity in the country through the following pillars:

i. advancement of an enabling environment including strengthening regulations, policies, and strategies to promote healthy diets, practices, and services for the prevention of childhood obesity, ii. programmes that strengthen the primary prevention of childhood obesity, including actions to improve nutrition in infancy and early childhood, prevention intervention programs at the school and community/municipal level, as well as developing awareness raising campaigns for social and behavioral change, iii. interventions to enhance secondary and tertiary prevention and response programmes, iv. establishment of a European Regional Initiative on Childhood Obesity as a platform to enable exchange of lessons learned, good practices, and proven effective approaches to address childhood obesity among and within EU member states, v. development of strategies and programmes focusing on achieving social and behavioral change so that children and their caregivers across Greece make more informed lifestyle choices.

How can you make a difference? The Nutrition Specialist (Childhood Obesity) will be responsible for the overall management of the childhood obesity programme including its design, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation in the context of the Greece Country Programme 2022-2026 already agreed with the Government. The Nutrition Specialist provides technical guidance and management support to counterparts and partners to facilitate the administration of the programme and the achievement of agreed results. This is carried out according to country-specific plans, approaches and methodologies, under the umbrella of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, institutional standards of performance, and accountability framework.

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Nutrition Specialist to the preparation, planning and implementation of nutrition programmes/projects contributes to and accelerates the national development efforts to improve the nutritional status of mothers, infants and children in the country. This in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to continue to provide programme services to mothers and children that promotes greater social equity in the country.

1. Programme development and planning

  • Ensure comprehensive and current data on maternal and child nutrition is available to guide policy development.
  • Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
  • Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning and management of the Prevention of Overweight and Obesity programme.
  • Finalize the design of the programme and oversee its implementation, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, the Country Programme, and coherence/integration with national priorities, plans and competencies and agreed specific goals, objectives and targets using results-based approaches and methodologies
  • Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
  • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

▪ Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, and UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in nutrition programmes.

▪ Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action and interventions to achieve results.

▪ Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.

▪ Actively monitor programmes and projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress. Identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.

▪ Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.

▪ Prepare regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

  1. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

▪ Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, best practices, and approaches on nutrition and related issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation, and delivery of results.

▪ Participate in discussions with national partners, clients and stakeholders to promote nutrition and development issues especially in the prevention and management of overweight and obesity.

▪ Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.

  1. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with nutrition sector government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge.

• Facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve programme goals on maternal and child rights as well as social justice and equity.

• Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for nutrition programmes.

▪ Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered.

  1. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

▪ Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best and cutting edge practices in nutrition management and information systems. Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.

▪ Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.

• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on nutrition related programmes and projects.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, nutritional epidemiology, or another health-related science field. • A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child health/nutrition care. • Experience in health/nutrition programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset. • Experience in coordinating multisector Interventions for the prevention of overweight and obesity is an asset. • Fluency in Greek and English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, Sustainability (CRITAS)

Core Values

• Care

• Respect

• Integrity

• Trust

• Accountability

• Sustainability

Core Competencies

▪ Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)

▪ Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)

▪ Works Collaboratively with others (2)

▪ Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)

▪ Innovates and Embraces Change (2)

▪ Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)

▪ Drive to achieve impactful results (2)

▪ Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

View our competency framework at

https://www.unicef.org/careers/get-prepared#Competencies

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. 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:

This is a Generic Vacancy Announcement (GVA) for the The Nutrition Specialist (Childhood Obesity) NO3 post in UNICEF Greece. A successful and recommended candidate of this talent group would be assigned/offered placement to a position subject to necessary approvals and funding availability.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org