Infant and Young Child Feeding Specialist – Lebanese Nationals

Under the supervision of the Community Nutrition Officer, the IYCF specialist will provide awareness and counseling to mothers/caregivers of children under the age 2 to ensure optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) at household level. The IYCF specialist will assess the mothers/caregivers’ wellness status and ability to breastfeed using a guided assessment in order to evaluate proper route of support by either providing close support on breastfeeding to lactating mothers, exploring if non-breastfeeding mothers can re-lactate and supporting them to properly feed their infant and young children. The specialists will also support the mothers to make informed decisions on child feeding.

Objective 1: Assess feeding support needs by mothers and caregivers of children under 2 years of age (20 %)

• Assess mothers/caregivers and their children to identify specific feeding support needs, using rapid and full assessments, with face-to-face observations.
• Specify route of support to follow and referrals needed while consulting with the team
• Support in conducting other assessments as needed

Objective 2: Provide support and counseling to mothers and caregivers of children under 2 years of age, strictly abiding by COVID-19 protective measures for self, mother and child (50 %)

• Assist and support in the coordination with authorities and municipalities to implement activities in allotted areas of intervention and maintain relationships
• Plan HH visits to support mothers with one-on-one counseling, especially on exclusive breastfeeding for children under 6 months, continued breastfeeding, optimal complementary feeding practices for mothers of children between 6-24 months, and maternal health
• Support and counsel mothers identified w/ difficulties breastfeeding and suboptimal IYCF practices
• Conduct regular follow-up and remote support to mothers assisted, as needed
• Assist and give one-on-one counseling related to IYCF for pregnant women
• Support non-breastfeeding mothers to re-lactate or get support from wet nurses
• Counsel non-breastfeeding mothers/caregivers on proper use of artificial feeding (BMS) through training, demonstration, and on-going guidance, following SOPs developed by the nutrition sector and following international standards
• Participate in other nutrition and health promotion activities that could be identified based on beneficiaries needs and linked with the nutrition context
• Register and record all relevant data regarding the beneficiaries and the sessions conducted, keeping detailed track of the needed follow-up sessions to plan and needed services expressed
• Develop and contribute to development of IEC material, as needed

Objective 3: Conduct referrals based on counseling as expressed by mothers and evaluated by LS (10 %)

• Observe and collect information during activities sessions on the beneficiaries’ needs and vulnerabilities, keeping protection-related needs in mind

• Support team in conducting daily and weekly referrals to ACF staff as expressed by mothers or assessed during counseling and support on needs related to nutrition-vulnerability, including WASH, food security, general health, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, etc.

• Refer mothers to mother-to-mother support groups, establish any if/where needed and support the activities of these groups

Objective 4: Document and report on all activities conducted on a daily and weekly basis details on target, progress, referrals, challenges, and needs (20%)

• Transfer all data collected on hard copies to soft copies and archive following archiving strategy
• Provide verbal and written report, on a daily and weekly basis, on all activities, including type of support provided, targets reached, progress at work, follow-ups conducted, referrals made, challenges faced, lessons learned and needs
• Document all forms and files used for mothers/caregivers visited and counseled by keeping an updated register and storing all tablets, data, and documents in secure locations/files
• Attend debriefing meetings with line manager and other team members, as requested
• · Respect the security rules specified in the mission and base security plan and comply with the security plan and perform the security management tasks that can be assigned in its protocols.
• Communicate to the security managers of the working location any security related information or noncompliance with the security plan

Objective 6: Support humanitarian activities of Action Against Hunger

• Support the emergency interventions of the organization as per the employee’s abilities
• Support any activity that helps reaching our humanitarian goals, as per the employee’s abilities
• Promote gender equality within the humanitarian and/or development work
• Attend meetings and trainings as needed

Training/ Education:

BS/MSc. in nursing, midwifery, or related medical/health field

Technical specific knowledge:

Preferable to have completed at least the 20-hour training on Infant and Young Child Feeding (provided by MoPH/UNICEF); knowledge on IYCF in emergencies is a plus

Previous experience:

1 year of experience as lactation specialist/IYCF counselor is a plus

Humanitarian sector knowledge:

NGO experience is a plus, experience in working with Syrian refugees, vulnerable Lebanese and other refugees is desirable

Languages:

Native Arabic speaker and fluency in English are a must

IT and specific systems:

Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Mobility (national/ international)

National

Action Against Hunger – Lebanon seeks to promote gender equality and is committed to empowering women to participate effectively in their communities, we strongly encourage women to apply.

We Strongly encourage people with disabilities to apply.

ACF has a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and abuse (SEA).