International consultancy to conduct an assessment of dietary behaviours of children in primary schools, Prishtina, Health, Off premises

Contract

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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, a hero

Improving the nutritional status in children is considered a key strategy for reaching global development goals and reducing the non-communicable diseases burden. Children’s nutritional status reflects their overall health and development. Malnutrition, characterized by poor growth and micronutrient deficiencies, has been associated with lower developmental outcomes in both children and adolescents and are major risk factors for mortality and morbidity. Underweight, overweight, stunting and wasting are symptoms of malnutrition and can have life-long effects on a child’s health and development.

Data on the nutritional status of children up to 5 years of age in Kosovo indicates that 4 % of children in Kosovo are stunted and 6 % are overweight. Moreover, according to data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019-2020, children whose mothers have no education, who live in poverty, or who are part of a marginalized community experience higher levels of some form of malnutrition compared to children in the general population. For instance, in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, every seventh child under 5 years of age is stunted and 1 in 14 is underweight. Further, there is a clear link between poverty and nutrition, as stunting is concentrated to the poorest quantile both in the general population and among minority groups. While the proportion of children from richest households who are stunted is just 2%, this is as high as 9% for those from the poorest households.

For children at primary school level, data on feeding practices is not available, posing a challenge towards evidence based policy and programme development. Similarly, there are no data on physical activity in schools.

The school setting provides an environment in which the health of children, as well as that of the wider school community, can be protected and promoted. Schools can be a key platform to encourage and support dietary and other habits that promote healthy growth and development.

With the aim to support creating a conducive environment for promoting healthy eating behaviors in schools in Kosovo, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) has established a multi-sectorial working group for the development of guidelines on healthy feeding and physical activity in schools. These guidelines will serve as resources for teaches and will be integrated into the primary education curricula. As part of these efforts, UNICEF is supporting MESTI and the working group to conduct an assessment of the nutritional status and dietary behaviors of children in primary school, which will inform the development of these guidelines.

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall supervision of the UNICEF Health Officer, the international consultant will conduct an assessment of school age children’s eating patterns and the availability of nutritious food in primary schools in Kosovo, as well as recommend actions for the implementation of healthy feeding in the school setting to inform the development of the guidelines for healthy nutritional practices and physical activity that will be implemented at national level. The work will be conducted in close cooperation with the working group established by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation for the development of the guidelines. Further, the consultant will be supported by UNICEF’s implementing partner – that will make available national staff – who under the direct guidance of the international consultant, will conduct the data collection/surveying/interviewing/field work with relevant stakeholders, including

representatives of institutions, teachers, and parents, as defined in the methodology of this assessment. The international consultant will design the methodology and develop data collection instruments and provide this to the national consultants who will conduct the field work accordingly.

The methodology features a “mixed methods approach” to data collection, using both primary and secondary data sources. A literature review will be conducted first, followed by field activities which will be conducted by UNICEF implementing partner dedicated staff to gather quantitative data (surveys with key municipal stakeholders) and qualitative data (interviews and focus group discussions).

The following data collection instruments will be used to inform the assessment:

• Desk Review. A thorough desk review should focus on reviewing available data sources, legal frameworks that include relevant legislation, national strategies and policies and other relevant documents as identified during the inception stage.
• Survey with representatives of municipal directorates of education and school principals from 30 municipalities. Municipal officials and school principals will provide key information related to nutrition programmes in schools and the type of foods that are available in Kosovo.
• Focus groups with teachers, principals, parents and children of school age. Structured discussions will be conducted with school-age children, parents and caregivers related to understand the eating behaviours of children in schools.

Within the scope of this assignment, the key expected outputs are:

1. Develop a methodology and the data collection instruments (document and data collection, surveys, qualitative interviews) for assessing eating behaviors and availability and source of nutritious food in selected primary schools in 30 municipalities in Kosovo. 2. Review the policy and legal framework related to the healthy feeding promotion in primary schools 3. Coordinate the data collection/field work of the national consultants: develop the interview and survey structure and questions, determine what data and documents to collect from schools and relevant stakeholders 4. Analyze the data collected on children’s eating patterns and the availability and source of nutritious food in primary schools and compile a report with the findings 5. Develop a brief document with recommendations to the working group for health promoting schools to inform the development of guidelines for healthy feeding in schools 6. Present the assessment (report and recommendations) to the working group and other relevant stakeholders

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

• An advanced degree in the field of nutrition, medicine food sciences, public health, dietetics, biochemistry or other fields related to nutrition.
• At least 7 years of work experience in the programmes and projects in the field of nutrition.
• Excellent working knowledge of the English language, including report writing.
• Experience with UNICEF or in the Western Balkans region, is an asset.
• Experience with similar assessments, is 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.