International-Consultancy to technically support the development of Recipe booklet for South Sudan

Contract

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Background Between the ages of 6 to 23 months, which is the complementary feeding period, continued breastfeeding and access to a diverse range of nutritious foods provide children with the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals they need to develop to their full physical and cognitive potential, with benefits that endure well into adulthood. Complementary foods should be feed to baby with diverse food items, with a texture and a density that is palatable and likeable by children, considering their capacity to chew, the small size of their stomach, and safety considerations. Appropriate complementary foods and feeding practices in first 2 years of life contribute to child survival, growth, and development learning potential; it can prevent malnutrition in all its forms, morbidity, and obesity later in life. Additionally, lifelong food preferences, tastes and habits are often established during this period.

The most recent global estimates of complementary feeding practices – based on latest indicators established by WHO and UNICEF– highlight a worrying situation. It clearly stipulated that in low and middle-income countries, half of all children are not receiving the minimum meal frequency (the minimum number of meals throughout the day needed to meet their nutrient needs); more than two thirds of children are not receiving the minimum dietary diversity (meals from a minimum five number of food groups); and five out of six children are not receiving a minimum acceptable diet ( composite indicator of both the minimum meal frequency and minimum dietary diversity) needed to reduce the risk of all forms of malnutrition.

The situation is not any different for South Sudan as Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring System (FSNMS round 27) indicates that only one in 10 children (8.3%) in South Sudan attain the Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) required for optimal growth and development. Although, the proportion of children receiving the recommended number of meals, indicated by the Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF) is 23%, the quality (diverse, nutrient and calorie dense) of the meals consumed does not meet the required standard, thus affecting the composite indicator (MAD) negatively.

Issues in feeding the children a diverse diet In addition to long standing food insecurity in South Sudan (as per latest FSNMS 27, food insecurity affects three fourth of the population), dietary diversity was also found to be an issue. Food consumed was mainly staples such as maize, sorghum, cassava, rice, millet, etc, with 78% of households consuming these within 24 hours prior to being surveyed, while 48% had consumed vegetables and 42% had consumed condiments. Protein-based foods, including fish, meat, and eggs, continue to be consumed infrequently, which is likely to contribute to ongoing malnutrition problems among children. The main reasons for this could be poor knowledge of feeding diverse diets (minimum 5 food groups), availability and affordability and lack of good understanding among mothers and caregivers of young children for use of local products to prepare nutritious and diverse diets. Standardization of recipe development gives further credibility to the value of the locally available and traditional recipes in the country and enhance diet improvement which in turn improves the nutrition situation of children, adults, and the community.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: Develop recipe booklet to promote the use of locally available and consumed food items for purposes of diet diversification.

Main Duties and Responsibilities: • Development of inception report • Review of the information from national & state officials about local food /recipes used in the different regions/states/counties. • Collect the information about seasonal availability and use of local foods, BSFP, and WFP food basket of humanitarian work. • Collect information about local child feeding and cooking practices and availability of items in local market • Presentation of recipes from the initial assessment to MOH • Field testing of the selected recipes & rating of the selected recipes • Finalization of the recipes • Design and finalization of the booklet • Endorsement and dissemination

Deliverables: The specific deliverables for the period of the consultancy entails outputs: 1. Inception report for development of the recipe book developed and submitted to MOH for approval. 2. Review of secondary data from national and state level about local foods / recipes used in the different regions/states/counties. 3. Collect information about seasonal availability and use of local foods, BSFP, and WFP food basket of humanitarian work. 4. Collect information about local child feeding and cooking practices and availability of items in local market. 5. Presentation of recipes from the initial assessment to MOH 6. Field testing of the selected recipes and rating of the selected recipes 7. Finalization of the recipes. 8. Design and finalization of the recipe booklet. 9. Endorsement and dissemination

Scope of Work: The recipe book strives to follow the Global guidelines of UNICEF (fail to feed) 2021, and WHO guidelines on Complementary Feeding: family foods for breastfed children (2000). With the engagement of an international consultant, this recipe booklet will be developed under the technical leadership of Nutrition Department, MoH in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture, UNICEF, WFP, FAO, MIYCN technical working group and nutrition cluster. Locally available foods will be grouped by each state or by region depending on common foods consumed in that region. Key Informant Interviews will be conducted with selected set of stakeholders for in-depth understanding of production, storage, and consumption of various food groups in the different regions.

The international consultant will be the lead in developing the recipe book for South Sudan. S/He will work in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF. He/she will be responsible for designing how this assignment will be carried out, conduct desk reviews as well as key informant interviews at national and state level with mother support groups, CNV, CHDs, and community members as well as nutrition partners. S/He will also document and provide update/feedback to Ministry of Health, UNICEF, and the MIYCN TWG on the progress of the work, conduct validation workshop and submit a final well-presented Recipe booklet to the Ministry of Health, government of South Sudan.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone: Deliverables/Outputs: Timeline (Days) Payment Schedule 1. a) Develop an inception report a) Desk reviews for: -Recipe list available - Seasonal availability of food items - Usual foods given to children b) KII with MoH and stakeholders Finalization of inception report 15 days (30th August 2023) 20%

2. Completion of field visits, testing and finalization of recipes • Conducting focus group discussions with mothers/caregivers, MtMSG, CNVs, health and nutrition workers and CSO staff - Presentation to MoH & Stakeholders Field testing of the recipes 60 days (30th October) 50%

3. Final version of recipe booklet

- Supervise work of graphic designer

- Presentation to MoH and stakeholders

Final copy by incorporating valuable technical suggestions 25 days (20th December 2023) 30% Total 100 days in a period of 6 months 100%

Minimum Qualifications required

• Master’s degree in nutrition, Public Health, or a related field • 5 years of experience in research on nutrition • Experience in writing peer-reviewed articles for publications including recipe booklet • Good writing and analytical skills • Excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to promote collaboration and consensus building • Experience in nutrition programme design and implementation.

Language Requirements: • Proficiency in English • Fluency in local language is an asset

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required: • Proven technical expertise for conducting ‘qualitative research’ and data analysis • Experience in conducting research on infant and young child feeding • Experience in organizing and documenting key informant discussions • Experience in documentation in emergency country (L3/L2) setting preferred • Familiar with South Sudan/ ESARO context.

All applications MUST be accompanied by a detailed technical and financial proposal.

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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.