Health, Nutrition, and Early Child Development Specialist

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UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Tuesday 14 Feb 2023 at 00:00 UTC

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Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

The Health, Nutrition, and Child Development Specialist reports to the UNICEF Health and Nutrition Social Behavior Change (SBC) Specialist for supervision and general guidance with support of the Nutrition Manager and the Section Chief. The Specialist provides evidence-based technical and operational support to the SBC Specialist and internal colleagues as an integral part of programme development, planning, implementation, monitoring and/or evaluating in support of health, nutrition, and ECD initiatives and activities requiring the application of technical and theoretical skills. Through communication and engagement, as well as the empowerment and participation of stakeholders, communities, children, civil society partners, and government counterparts, s/he promotes measurable behavioral and social change/mobilization. This subsequently contributes to the achievement of sustainable and concrete results in improving children’s rights, survival and wellbeing in the country.

Under the direct supervision and guidance of UNICEF Health and Nutrition Social Behavior Change (SBC) Specialist with support of the Nutrition Manager and the Chief of Health and Nutrition, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Support to health, nutrition, and ECD program and planning.

• Conduct and/or participate in comprehensive health, nutrition, and ECD situation analysis of so-cial, cultural, economic and political issues in the country/region, including through nation-al/subnational working groups or committees. Assess/synthesize qualitative and quantitative information, establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based data to support holistic policy and programme development, as well as coordinated planning, implementation, and monitoring of ECD within health and nutrition related programmes/projects. • Participate in the design, planning and review of integrated health, nutrition and ECD interventions including development and establishment of goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based activities through research, collection, analysis of ECD related information and data to contribute to discussions on the underlying and contextual issues to be addressed (e.g. policies, gender/children inequality, cultural/social behavior etc) to ensure the successful and sustainable delivery of pro-gramme results for health and nutrition. • Collaborate/consult with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of SBC activities including system development activities and iniatives at the CO level, including in humanitarian response. • Contribute to the design of integrated ECD interventions, including development and establishment of goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based activities through research, • collection, analysis of ECD related information and data.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results. • Conduct and/or participate in monitoring and evaluation for integrated interventions including health and nutrition programme previews, meetings and mid-term/annual reviews to assess/report on success of SBC on programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based activities • Manage and follow-up on the implementation of programme components related to ECD to ensure their progress in accordance with the established goals, plans and strategies. • Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to conduct programme monitoring visits and discuss programmatic operational and implementation issues, providing solutions, recommendations and/or alerts for higher-level intervention and decisions • Support rigorous assessment and evidence generation surrounding the effectiveness of interventions as they relate to key outputs and outcomes for children • Relevant professional experience in social development planning and management in health, nutrition, and/or ECD related areas is required. • Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. • Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset. • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset. Networking and partnership building • Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders across relevant sectors through active sharing of information and knowledge to facili-tate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on ECD related interventions. • Draft communication and information materials for the Country Office programme advocacy to promote awareness and support report writing • Strengthen partnership/alliances and support resource mobilization for health, nutrition, and ECD interventions.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building. • Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders • Support implementation of innovative practices, approaches and latest technology on multiple media and social/digital platforms and networks for SBC that are appropriate/available for the CO context and audience around health, nutrition, and ECD • Support evidence generation and institutionalization/share best practices and knowledge learned/products with global/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners, and disseminate these products to key audiences including donors and partners around diverse models • Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

Horizontal cooperation and support within the Programme delivery, raising awareness and leveraging resources for children: • Work in a cross sectoral manner and ensure synergy between ECD with other programme components including health, nutrition and education. • Provide technical and operational support to other relevant Country program components – close cooperation with the Private partnership team to ensure that ECD is well understood and supported by the business partners, and close cooperation with the external communication team to ensure that ECD, health and nutrition are well promoted in the country and beyond.

☐ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Leadership ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Vision

• Relevant professional experience in social development planning and management in health, nutri-tion, and/or ECD related areas is required. • Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. • Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset. • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

The Republic of Rwanda is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. With almost 11 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa most of whom engages in subsistence agriculture and 39% of the population live below the international poverty line of USD 1.25 a day. Rwanda is a verdant country of fertile and hilly terrain and bears the title "Land of a Thousand Hills". The country has received considerable international attention due to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, in which between 800 000 and one million people were killed. In 2008, Rwanda became the first country in history to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women. The country now has many international visitors and is regarded as a safer place for tourists. The principal form of public transport in the country is shared taxi, with express tarmacked routes linking the major cities and local services serving most villages along the main roads of the country. Housing prices differ considerably depending on what sort of living standards you have. You can live with a local person for very cheap, take a room in a share house for anywhere from $250 to $600, or rent an entire house to yourself for a lot more. The nicer the house (and there are plenty of mansions), the higher the rent, obviously. A modern apartment could cost as much as $1,000 or more. Internet here is pretty not expensive and fairly reliable. Some houses have Wi-Fi but most people opt to buy a USB modem and either pay for a monthly data plan or pay per KB used. Rwanda has three main telecommunication companies i.e. MTN, Tigo and Airtel which offer an unlimited monthly plan for Rwf 20,000 per month (less than U$ 25). Rwanda has almost 40 district public hospitals and 400 health centers serving a population of nearly 11 million people. Kigali has four main public hospitals with up-to-date equipment and qualified personnel, those hospitals are King Faisal Hospital, Kigali Teaching University Hospital, Kibagabaga Hospital and Muhima Maternal Hospital. There are also many private clinics and pharmacies. Many Rwandans are covered by various health insurances schemes including rural peasants or poors who are covered by a famous medical insurance Scheme locally known as "Mutuelle de Sante” A combination of tropical location and high altitude ensures that most of Rwanda has a temperate year-round climate. Temperatures rarely stray above 30 degrees Celsius by day or below 15 degrees Celsius at night throughout the year. The exceptions are the chilly upper slopes of the Virunga Mountains, and the hot low-lying Tanzania border area protected in Akagera National Park. Throughout the country, seasonal variations in temperature are relatively insignificant. Most parts of the country receive in excess of 1 000 mm of precipitation annually, with the driest months being July to September and the wettest February to May. In addition to Kinyarwanda, English and French are the major spoken languages.

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