Nutrition specialist

Volunteering

Contract

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The Child Nutrition and Development Practice Center of Excellence (CoE) supports UNICEF Country Offices by providing technical assistance, facilitating regional learning and exchange, generating evidence, documenting experiences, and promoting innovative approaches that contribute to improved nutrition and child development outcomes.

Through its work, the CoE seeks to strengthen country capacity, foster cross-country collaboration, and elevate promising practices that can inform policy dialogue, programme development, advocacy efforts, and resource mobilization. Across the region and globally, countries are implementing a wide range of initiatives aligned with the UNICEF Nutrition Strategy and Early Childhood Development priorities.

These include efforts to strengthen breastfeeding promotion, protection and support; implement and monitor the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes; advance the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI); adapt community-based Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling approaches; promote maternal nutrition; prevent child malnutrition through integrated intervention packages; strengthen the integration of Nutrition and WASH programming; and expand opportunities to integrate nutrition and Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions during the first 1,000 days.

Given the rich programming in ECN in LACRO, there is a great opportunity to better document, analyse, synthesize, and disseminate knowledge across countries and beyond. Strengthening regional learning can help identify effective approaches, support adaptation and scale-up, inform technical guidance, strengthen advocacy efforts, improve donor visibility, and contribute to more equitable and impactful programming throughout the region. Within this context, the UN Volunteer assignment will support regional knowledge management, evidence generation, learning, advocacy, and communication efforts related to nutrition and child development priorities.

The assignment will contribute to documenting country experiences, consolidating lessons learned and good practices, supporting donor reporting and knowledge products, facilitating regional exchanges, and translating evidence into accessible and policy-relevant messages. Working closely with UNICEF Country Offices, regional colleagues, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners, the UN Volunteer will help strengthen regional collaboration and ensure that successful experiences and innovations are captured, shared, and leveraged to improve outcomes for children and women across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The assignment offers a unique opportunity to contribute to regional and global learning agendas while supporting UNICEF's efforts to showcase country achievements, strengthen evidence-informed programming, and accelerate progress towards improved nutrition, development, and well-being outcomes for children, adolescents, and women throughout the region. In Nutrition in Emergencies, the assignment will also support global evidence and learning efforts, working with relevant UNICEF teams to identify, synthesize and disseminate emerging evidence, operational experience and lessons from humanitarian contexts across regions.

The UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Support regional efforts related to food environments for young children and healthy complementary feeding • Mapping and analysis of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods (CPCF), including support to dissemination (and other related efforts) of regional study on CPCF.
• Review of regulatory frameworks and marketing practices, documentation of country experiences, and development of evidence-based guidance and knowledge products to support policies and programmes that promote nutritious diets, protect breastfeeding, and improve complementary feeding practices among children 6–23 months. • Support the review, adaptation, development and dissemination of Nutrition in EMergency (NiE) guidance, tools and operational resources, ensuring alignment with UNICEF's Core Commitments for Children and relevant global guidance, while helping translate global evidence into practical resources for Country Offices and bringing country and regional implementation experience into global learning and guidance processes. • Support the mapping, documentation, and analysis of multisectoral approaches that integrate Nutrition and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions, including the identification of implementation models, good practices, lessons learned, and opportunities to strengthen convergence across sectors. • Contribute to equity-focused analyses related to nutrition vulnerabilities among Indigenous Peoples and other underserved populations, including reviewing available data, programme documentation, and evidence related to nutrition outcomes, infant feeding practices, access to services, food systems, and social determinants of malnutrition. • Support the Global Child Nutrition and Development practice in its Humanitarian Action & Resilience Programme Offer to countries globally. This may include support to knowledge management, global award management, reporting and proposal development, as well as Technical Assistance to Country Offices.

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management • Drive to achieve results • Communication skills

• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience at national and/or international levels in public health, nutrition, child development, emergency and/or development programmes (focused on health and nutrition). • Demonstrated professional experience supporting programme documentation, knowledge management, evidence generation, literature reviews, dissemination processes, donor reporting and proposal development, and/or development of technical and advocacy products is required. • Experience conducting desk reviews, evidence syntheses, situation analyses, mapping exercises, and/or analytical work related to public health, nutrition, maternal and child health, early childhood development, or social policy is required. • Experience supporting the development of technical briefs, reports, presentations, guidance documents, case studies, learning products, communication materials, and advocacy products for technical and non-technical audiences is required. • Experience collecting, organizing, analysing, and presenting qualitative and quantitative information from multiple sources to support programme planning, advocacy, decision-making, and donor reporting is required. • Exposure to or experience supporting nutrition programmes is required. Experience related to maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding (IYCF), breastfeeding promotion and support, prevention of child malnutrition,Nutrition in Emergencies, child wasting, food systems, or early childhood nutrition is considered a strong asset. • Familiarity with UNICEF’s Nutrition Strategy, infant and young child feeding programming, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, community-based nutrition counselling approaches, or Early Childhood Development (ECD) programming is desirable and will be considered an asset. • Experience in nutrition programming in humanitarian, fragile or emergency contexts, including child wasting, IYCF-E, preparedness and response, is considered a strong asset. • Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, SharePoint) is required. Experience with data visualization, knowledge management platforms, or research software is considered an asset. • Experience supporting UNICEF, UN agencies, government institutions, academic institutions, civil society organizations, or humanitarian/development partners is considered an asset. • Experience working in humanitarian contexts is highly desirable. • Availability for international travel.

Living conditions in Panama have continued to improve steadily over recent years, and the country remains one of the most attractive places to live and work in the region. Panama maintains a Very High Human Development Index, reflecting strong progress in health, education and overall quality of life. Urban areas offer modern services, reliable infrastructure and a vibrant cultural environment, while the country’s natural beauty—two oceans, national parks and rich biodiversity, adds to its appeal. Panama’s economy remains dynamic in 2025, supported by logistics, services and trade, contributing to a stable environment for residents and visitors. Public safety continues to be a government priority, with visible police presence in key areas and protocols aimed at ensuring a secure experience for locals and foreigners. The country’s healthcare system is robust, with public and private hospitals offering quality care and specialized services, an important consideration for expatriates and travelling professionals. Transportation and road infrastructure meet international standards, particularly in Panama City, making mobility efficient and reliable. Overall, Panama offers a combination of modern urban living, natural landscapes and improving public services, creating favourable living conditions for national and international staff alike.

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Added 7 days ago - Updated 8 hours ago - Source: unv.org