National Consultancy on Gender Bottleneck Analysis in Nutrition and Health programmes (Open to Malawian Nationals only)

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.

For every child, Protection...

Gender equality is essential to realizing the mandate of UNICEF to uphold the rights of all children. UNICEF adopted UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP), 2022–2025 which operationalizes the UNICEF Gender Policy (2021–2030). This GAP demonstrates UNICEF commitment to gender-transformative programming and specifies how UNICEF will promote gender equality across its programmes and workplaces. It affirms that promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is the responsibility of everyone, regardless of organizational role. The GAP elaborates the steps required to accelerate progress on gender equality across the five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022–2025, as well as within institutional systems and processes, with clear indicators and monitoring mechanisms to track changes.

The priority results for gender equality across the UNICEF Strategic Plan Goal Areas include, inter alia, improvement in the quality of maternal health care and nutrition, and HIV testing, counselling, and care. UNICEF work on gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women is grounded in the human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality upheld in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is further anchored in the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and their follow-on commitments, as well as other international frameworks. It aligns with the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and other United Nations system-wide processes to advance gender equality.

Gender inequalities and other factors disproportionately compromise access to and the quality of health care and nutrition services for children, adolescent girls, women including marginalized children and adolescents. Gender and age biases can reinforce discrimination in health and nutrition policies, health facilities and community services delivery platforms; influence restrictive movement of caregivers to access vaccines and essential nutrition services for their children; dictate child caring roles as women’s roles; increase gender roles for women and adolescent girls especially in the care economy; place health decision-making authority and financial control in the hands of others considered influential leaving behind the key child caretakers; interrupted services and the strain on parents and caregivers. All these have had adverse effects on the children’s nutrition well-being and care, including heightening inequalities between children of different genders within the same family. Gender inequalities and discriminatory social norms and practices have implications on child nutrition, for instance, lack of male involvement in child caring practices, women’s limited decision-making powers, limited access to and control over household resources negatively affect child nutrition and health. The unequal power relations, gender roles, and unequitable household decision-making and nurturing care have negative implications on health, nutrition and other outcomes for children, adolescents and women. Mostly, women and children do not equally have access to healthy diets as well as other optimal health and nutrition services and practices, including access to Vitamin A, Micronutrient Powders, Iron supplementation, growth monitoring and promotion services including immunization to prevent malnutrition and vaccine preventable diseases for children, adolescents and women

How can you make a difference?

The consultancy will conduct a gender bottleneck/barrier analysis in the uptake of child health and nutrition services and in particular Vitamin A supplementation to guide gender transformative programming of child health and nutrition services including Vitamin A supplementation. The Gender Bottleneck/Barrier Analysis Report should provide a comprehensive picture of specific gender barriers negatively affecting realisation of child health and nutrition objectives specifically Vitamin A Supplementation and other child health and nutrition standard package (as defined in the guidelines for Vitamin A Supplementation integrated child health and nutrition standard package). These barriers should be identified using two models namely, the socio ecological model and gender transformative approaches. Further, the analysis should provide strategic action points that would be implemented to address these gender barriers in Vitamin A Supplementation and uptake of the standard package, used for capacity building activities on gender integration in the child health and nutrition standard package and in the implementation of Vitamin A Supplementation in particular.

A gender-transformative approach addresses gender inequalities, remove structural barriers, such as unequal roles and rights and empower disadvantaged populations. Practically, this means working for change in: laws and policies, systems and services; distribution of resources; norms, beliefs and stereotypes; and behaviour and practices. The approach therefore demonstrates attention to all 3 critical dimensions of change: policies, legislation and budgets, formal systems and services, and underlying social structures, and demonstrates at least an intent to address the core dimension, a change in unequal gender power relations.

The Gender Consultant should, using the gender transformative approach/model, analyse root causes of low uptake of Vitamin A Supplementation and child health and nutrition services in general; examine gender-related barriers at different levels to increasing uptake of Vitamin A Supplementation and other child centered health and nutrition services at household, community and institutions/health facility level; identify the unequal gender power relations at different levels that may affect uptake of Vitamin A Supplementation and child health and nutrition services among children of different age groups including children aged 12months and above; critically examine gender inequalities, gender roles, norms and dynamics that may have a bearing on uptake of child health and nutrition services and Vitamin A Supplementation; analyze multiple and overlapping deprivations (by gender, age, disability, and other social variables and provide transformative strategies to address the identified barriers to increase uptake of child health and nutrition services including Vitamin A Supplementation.

Further, identify the gender-related factors influencing the decision-making process on vitamin A supplementation within households; Assess the impact of gender roles and responsibilities on women's and

children's access to vitamin A supplementation services; Explore/understand the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of both men and women towards vitamin A supplementation and its relevance in maternal and child health; Investigate the influence of socio-cultural norms and practices on the utilization of vitamin A supplementation services; examine the role of community and health system factors in addressing gender barriers and enhancing the coverage of vitamin A supplementation; Examine the attitudes of health workers towards the caregivers towards nutrition and health services

To make it participatory, the Gender Consultant will conduct consultations with Nutrition programme staff, selected implementing partners and caregivers to identify gaps/ issues and strategies to enhance gender integration in child health and nutrition services delivery including in VAS programming.

This assignment will be done in three phases as follows:

Guided by the Terms of Reference, the Gender Consultant should:

Phase I: Develop an Inception Report

• Conduct literature review of key relevant documentation including the findings and recommendations of the other relevant evaluation/assessment reports in the nutrition programming in general and Vitamin A programming in particular.

• Develop and submit an Inception Report which should, inter alia, stipulate methodology, data collection tools and work plan with clear deliverables and submission dates.

  Phase II: Development of a report on Gender Barrier Analysis in the implementation of child health and nutrition services

• Conduct a comprehensive desk review to identify gender barriers in child health and nutrition services delivery in the health and community services delivery platforms

• • Conduct consultations with UNICEF staff (Nutrition, Health, Social behaviour change and Gender) and selected implementing partners including caregivers to identify key strategic gender barriers and strategies to address these barriers affecting access Vitamin A and other nutrition and health services. .
  • Draft the Nutrition and Health Sector Gender Bottleneck/Barrier Analysis Report on VAS and child health and nutrition services

  Phase III: Finalization of the Draft Gender Barrier Analysis Report and Training material on gender transformative child health and nutrition integrated services including VAS programming

• Present the draft Nutrition and health sector Gender Bottleneck/Barrier Analysis Report to the technical working group for input.

• Integrate input from technical working group to finalize the draft Gender Barrier Analysis Report
• Submit the final Gender Barrier Analysis Report and content for training session on gender transformative nutrition programming.

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

Academic qualification:

• At least minimum of master's degree or PhD in in Gender Studies, or Social Science, Nutrition, Anthropology, Sociology with specialization in gender and development.

  Required work experience:

• 10 years' experience and 5 years’ experience for master's and PhD respectively of professional work in the gender or nutrition sector at both national and international level with proven experience in conducting sectoral gender barrier analysis in any relevant sector.

• Experience working with UN agencies and national government in an international setting is an added advantage.
• Experiencing in similar work such as conducting gender related research, assessment and auditing.

Knowledge, technical skills and competencies:

• Knowledge and skills in facilitating gender transformative programming approaches and capacity building activities.
• Strong knowledge of human rights/child rights/women rights/ gender based and adolescent programming, and gender analytical skills.
• Knowledge of gender programming experience in both regular and humanitarian set up focusing on nutrition.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in conducting sectoral gender analysis generally and in nutrition.
• Knowledge of child nutrition and health and the prevailing challnges in Malawi to have healthy children
• Good negotiating, advocacy, communication and writing skills.
• Excellent computer skills.

Language Proficiency

• Excellent English written skills is a strong requirement.

Please refer to the attached full Terms of Reference TOR -National Consultant Gender Barrier Analysis in Child Health and Nutrition.pdf for more details on the consultancy and requirements.

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.

HOW TO APPLY...

Interested consultants should provide the following:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Brief technical proposal (no longer than five pages) demonstrating the consultant’s understanding of the assignment and approach/methodology to the assignment
3. Financial proposal including a breakdown of their all-inclusive fees (including professional fees, travel, living cost, visa and other costs). Financial Proposal for Consultancy.xlsx Complete the attached form.
4. References details

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.