Consultancy: Consultant, Quantitative Research Analyst for Nutrition – Nutrition Section, PD, NYHQ/Home based – Req # 538409

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Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

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For every child, hope.

 

Consultancy Title: Quantitative Research Analyst for Nutrition 

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Care for child wasting, known as Community Based Management for Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) follows a standardized treatment protocol approved by the WHO and implemented in over 40 countries worldwide. Children without complications are admitted for outpatient treatment based on specific anthropometric criteria (Middle Upper Arm Circumference, Weight for Height or Edema) and receive therapeutic products, alongside routine medication, which are administered at home with weekly visits to the health facility. The dosage of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is based on the weight of the child at admission and is steadily increased over the course of recovery. Recovery is determined once a child achieves a certain anthropometric status. Whilst management for severe wasting is a routine service which should be available in all contexts where wasting occurs, management of moderate wasting depends on the context, whereby either children receive nutritional counselling or a supplementary product depending on the food security environment.

Over the last 5 years, several organisations have been adapting standard CMAM protocols to respond to contextual challenges in the implementation of the service. In some instances, these adaptations have been a result of emergency or humanitarian contexts which called for a simplification or harmonization of services in the face of issues around access and utilization of health services. In other instances, these adaptations have been attempting to resolve more systemic issues related to the service, such as costs and coverage. The commonality across all adaptations is the intention to render services more accessible, for a lower cost. In general terms, these adaptations are referred to as simplified approaches.

One of the modifications that UNICEF is keen to document and build evidence around is the modified RUTF dosage in the treatment of wasting. In Afghanistan in 2019 & 2020, as a result of operational constraints and issues related to supply, wasting treatment services were adapted in certain areas of the country. The dosage of RUTFs was simplified and reduced over the course of recovery. Admissions criteria were also simplified to a MUAC only criteria and expanded to admit children with severe and moderate wasting according to this criterion. This consultancy will support the final analysis of the data collected during this period of modifications and the write-up of these modifications into a scientific journal article. 

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Scope of Work:

Quantitative data analysis (50%): The consultant will collate existing quantitative data and analyse the data to identify growth trends in both protocols trialled in Afghanistan. Statistical analysis of the data will follow the elaboration of a clear data analysis plan, in consultation with UNICEF teams.

Scientific journal writing (50%): The consultant will write up the findings of this analysis into a peer review journal, in collaboration with colleagues from the country and regional offices, and HQ if needed.

Objectives

 The overall objective of this consultancy is to support the documentation of the operational experience in the implementation of a simplified and reduced dosage of RUTF in the treatment of wasting.

Specifically, the consultant will:

1. Clean the individual dataset and compile data ready for analysis
2. Define quantitative analysis plan to compare recovery rates in the standard protocol vs. adapted protocol
3. Conduct quantitative analysis to identify and compare growth trajectories in both protocols
4. Write up this analysis into a peer review paper and successfully submit the article for review   

Task/milestones:

• Deadline: 1 May 2021

Quantitative data compilation and analysis (20 days)

• Deadline: 31 July 2021

Report writing and submission, including co-author reviews (20 days)

Qualifications

1) Education

• Masters in a science related field (e.g. public health, epidemiology, health science, statistics, nutrition or related field), with 5 years of relevant experience.

2) Work experience

• At least 5-7 years of professional experience in managing and analyzing large-scale datasets and statistical methodologies in the field of public health/nutrition
• Demonstrated capacity to design and implement quantitative data analysis using appropriate statistical software
• Record of scientific publications using statistical analysis, ideally in the area of public health nutrition

3) Competencies

• Outstanding communication skills, with ability to write and speak in a clear and practical manner in English is mandatory.

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply to become a part of the organization.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.