Nutrition Officer

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.

Despite a promising environment for improved development, growth and stability, The Gambia is faced with increasing food and nutrition insecurity due to COVID-19, climate-related shocks, rising food costs and conflict. The results of the 2021 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment CFSVA) released in February 2022, reveal the worst levels of food insecurity in The Gambia during the past decade (CFSVA 2011: 5%; CFSVA 2016: 8% and CFSVA 2021: 13.4%). The IPC3+ numbers are the highest in the last five years, doubling from previous years. The number of people in IPC3+ are expected to reach 207,000 during the 2022 lean season (from June to September), with 200,000 in Phase 3 and 7,000 in Phase 4. CFSVA 2021 results also show a steep decline in the nutritional status of children under the age of five since 2019, with stunting rates at 18.6 percent (0.6% increase), wasting rates at 9.2 percent (4.1% increase), and underweight rates of 16.8 percent (4.8% increase). The Gambia is dependent on importing many basic food items, making the country vulnerable to global price increases. As such, the Ukraine-Russia crisis is further exacerbating the food security situation.

The current Country Strategic Plan 2019-2022 (to be extended until 31 December 2023) has 5 Strategic Outcomes: Strategic outcome 1 focuses on contingency plans for response to shocks. Strategic outcomes 2, 3 and 4 complement the work of the Government in building the resilience of vulnerable populations through nutrition-sensitive and gender-responsive social safety nets for children in primary and early childhood education, pregnant and lactating women and girls, children under 5 and smallholder farmers. Strategic outcome 5 involves capacity strengthening to facilitate the alignment of national policies through an integrated approach to food and nutrition security that includes the school meals programme, nutrition interventions, social protection, disaster risk reduction and early-warning systems. WFP staffing will be enhanced and nationalized during the course of implementation of the current CSP and the design of the new and succeeding CSP. A UNV nutrition officer is needed during the transition period to bridge the gap and introduce / strengthen the national nutrition staff to implement the CSP nutrition component.

Under the direct supervision of Deputy Country Director and Head of Programme, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Design and strategy: • Translate WFP policies and other relevant policies into nutrition strategies, programme design, implementation modalities and operations adapted to the Gambian context • Ensure that WFP nutrition programmes are consistent with WFP policies as well as relevant national or international guidance. • Provide technical and strategic advice on programme design for nutrition specific and sensitive programming, including assessment and analysis, the choice of relevant objectives, activities (including community engagement), transfer modalities, and commodity to maximized impact on nutrition outcomes. • Explore and develop strategic partnership and linkage with the global initiatives and approach of the Japanese Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) such as Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa (IFNA) and Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment & Promotion (SHEP) in close contact with JICA office in Dakar.

Implementation and coordination: • Work with senior management and relevant in-house units to ensure effective advocacy, design and delivery of WFP nutrition interventions. • Oversee operational and strategic partnerships, including inter-agency collaboration with key agencies such as UNICEF, and FAO and engagement with government and the donor community to ensure a strong multi-sectorial response to nutrition. • Represent WFP at national and regional meetings to contribute to technical discussions, exchange experiences, and identify advocate for areas of potential collaboration. • Contribute to emergency preparedness actions, providing technical recommendations on contingency planning, risk analysis and early warning related to nutrition risks for host and refugee communities, respectively.

Capacity strengthening: • Manage the nutrition team providing guidance and coaching as required to ensure appropriate career development and enable high performance. • Strengthening the capacity of WFP staff, partners, national and regional governments to prepare for and respond to nutrition problems. • Provide technical support on the Government of the Gambia on national nutrition related initiatives, including development nutrition policies, strategies, action plans, protocols and guidelines as well as policy development in areas complimentary to nutrition (e.g. social protection, health, agriculture, and education) in line with international guidance and current evidence.

Operational research, knowledge management and M&E: • Support the monitoring and evaluation of WFP’s nutrition activities, including selection or development of appropriate M&E indicators, technical analysis and interpretation of process and outcome monitoring results to ensure programme quality. • Advice on the design, technical analysis and interpretation of Food Security and Nutrition assessments, Joint Assessment Missions and other information to assessment the impact of nutrition activities. • Manage and provide technical support on nutrition-related operational research and evidence building.

Accountability Adaptability and Flexibility Client Orientation Commitment and Motivation Communication Empowering Others Ethics and Values Integrity Knowledge Sharing Planning and Organizing Professionalism Self-Management Working in Teams

• Experience working with governments on developing nutrition policies and/or implementing a nutrition programme (within food security or health). desirable • Experience conducting nutritional assessments, data analysis and management - desirable • Experience working in both emergencies and development context. - desirable • Experience in strategic planning at country level. -desirable • Experience in design for nutrition specific and sensitive programmes or approaches (directly or with government). - desirable • Experience maintaining pipelines, developing systems and approaches for nutrition Experience building strategic partnerships with multiple governments to raise awareness on nutrition related issues. - desirable • Experience developing partnerships in nutrition and working with multiple stakeholders with varying viewpoints and agendas. – desirable • Experience presenting nutrition findings/global evidence to governments to build country specific nutrition plans/programmes. - desirable • Experience with managing large-scale nutrition programmes, including experience with CMAM and stunting prevention programmes, Food by Prescription. - desirable • Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. • Knowledge of nutrition and recent developments in the field; • Knowledge of research methods and monitoring and evaluation standards is desirable; • General knowledge of SUN, UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures govern-ing administration is desirable; • Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative health/nutrition survey techniques is an added value; • Ability to communicate clearly orally and in writing; • Good interpersonal skills ability to work in a team in a multi-cultural context; • Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook).

The Gambia is a B hardship duty station. The security situation is relative good in the sub region.