Individual Contractor (MIYCN coordination, monitoring, and reporting), Dhaka, Bangladesh (Not for Bangladeshis)

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.

Background:

While Bangladesh has achieved significant reductions in child Stunting in the past two decades, stunting reduction needs to be accelerated if the country is to meet the SDG 2030 and WHA 2025. The 2nd National Plan Action for Nutrition 2027-2025 (NPAN2) has specific targets for stunting reduction. Additionally, reduction of other forms of malnutrition such as wasting, underweight, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight need to be accelerated. Poor maternal and adolescent nutrition are thereby still pressing public health problems in Bangladesh and contribute to poor nutrition outcomes among children. The National Nutrition Services Operational Plan, Institute Public Health Nutrition (NNS-OP, IPHN), has prioritized interventions to accelerate the reduction of stunting and other forms of malnutrition through specific interventions to improve Maternal, Infant & Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) and adolescent nutrition.

UNICEF Bangladesh has just embarked on its new Country Programme 2022-2026. Nutrition prioritized actions have been aligned with government priorities for nutrition as reflected in its 8th Five Year Plan, the health sector programme including NNS-OP, UNICEF’s Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030, and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). In supporting the Government’s priorities, the UNICEF Nutrition programme aims to generate evidence on best practices of maternal nutrition to support scale up, through increased community-based engagement using existing platforms, including the integration of Growth Monitoring and Promotion (GMP) into EPI sessions, the use of multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) for pregnant and lactating women, innovation to care for pregnant women and prevent low birth weight (LBW), as well as demonstration of integrated early childhood care and development (ECCD) for 0-3yr through Primary Health Care (PHC). Besides these, UNICEF works with the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector to improve maternal care and practices at the workplace, and with the Ministry of Local Governance, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MoLGRD) to improve nutrition services through strengthened urban Primary Health Care (PHC).

These initiatives, including their integrated evidence generation activities, are part of key activities under the 2022-2023 Joint Rolling Workplan between UNICEF and the Government of Bangladesh (NNS, IPHN, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and will require intensified support, especially in documentation, monitoring and reporting of initiatives for advocacy efforts.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

In line with the above, UNICEF seeks a consultant to:

• Consolidate and analyse data from the field on programme demonstration/implementation and indicators (e.g. Community-based engagement package, MMS, maternal nutrition including scaling up of maternal rights protection for working women)) to determine if there are any bottlenecks that need to be addressed
• Facilitate the preparation of periodic reports, sitreps, activity-specific reports, as required
• Support the documentation and evidence-generation agenda (e.g revision of protocols, scooping reports, research tools, etc) of output 2 related activities
• Keep abreast of main developments in the Output 2 to prepare appropriate reports, briefing and advocacy notes including donor reporting

Major Tasks:

1. Develop a detailed workplan on monthly basis
2. Support Nutrition Manager in monitoring of Output 2 program progress
3. Support coordination with multiple partners, including consultants at national and subnational levels
4. Support CBE, MMS quarterly review meetings (led by relevant programs from MoHFW) to make necessary adjustment/corrections on programme implementation and monitoring to improve the programme implementation
5. Support monthly meetings, monitoring and handholding of zonal colleagues and MYCN consultants on CBE package rollout including implementation research and evaluation
6. Support in knowledge management planning and execution for output 2 activities, including revision of policy briefs and scale-up strategy based on the documented lessons learned and recommendations
7. Contribute writing to donor reports and other donor related activities
8. Contribute writing to advocacy materials and briefings
9. Provide additional support to Nutrition Manager as necessary

Deliverables:

• work plan, documentation of work planning
• contribute writing to progress reports
• number of meetings
• coordination meeting minutes
• consultancy reports
• Meetings minutes and recommendations
• MMS TAG meeting minutes and recommendations
• CBE quarterly reports reviewed and finalised
• Monthly coordination meetings minutes with zone offices
• Field monitoring reports and recommendations on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve
• results.
• research protocols and tools revised
• documentation on community-based modelling, including LBW package
• adolescent nutrition case study, MMS briefs, RCT and M@W process evaluation documents reviewed
• Draft donor reports, meeting programs, invites, minutes, presentations, concepts notes, etc.
• written inputs as required

• as required

  Brief TOR.docx

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

• University degree in Public Health and Nutrition, Management, Child Development, Water Sanitation, Engineering, Public Administration, Social Policy, Social Development, Community Development, or other relevant disciplines Demonstration of existing written publications (academic or otherwise) would be an asset
• Minimum of two years professional experience (preferably in a development and emergency context).
• Experience in reporting and donor compliance
• Experience developing and monitoring progress of programmes and/or projects
• Experience developing and monitoring budgets for projects and/or programmes
• Previous experience coordinating technical specialists
• Experience working with Government of Bangladesh and an understanding of the Bangladeshi institutional context desirable
• Fluent in English and strong written communication skills, native English would be an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit 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.