International Consultant, Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Nutrition (Not for Bangladeshi)

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Background:

Bangladesh has achieved admirable progress in improving the nutrition status of its population, with child stunting having reduced from 42% in 2012 to  28% in  2019  and wasting having reduced from  9.6% to 8.4%.[1] Moreover, the consumption of a Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) has increased from 21.2% to 34.1%, and Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) from 24.25% to 37.5% among children during the same period. Largely accountable for this progress is the success Bangladesh has had in mainstreaming nutrition into national policy and action plans; The National Nutrition Policy has been translated into the country’s Second National Plan of Action on Nutrition (NPAN2), nutrition has been mainstreamed as a key component of food systems planning in the Second Country Investment Plan (CIP2), and has been acknowledged as a key element to the successful implementation of the country’s National Social Security Strategy (NSSS), providing social protection for the most vulnerable. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government of Bangladesh’ related extended general holiday which commenced on 26 March 2020 and continued until 30 May 2020 is likely to have significantly impact  on nutrition outcomes and progress made so far.

Nutrition has been a priority for Bangladesh since its independence, and was incorporated into the country’s constitution through the forward-looking vision of the then Honorable President, , Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  He also established the Bangladesh National Nutrition Council (BNNC) in 1975. This Council is responsible for coordination of nutrition-related activities across ministries at the national and sub-national level. However, despite the existence of the Council, adequate coordination of activities remained a challenge, and while efforts to mainstream nutrition into national policies and plans were made, they remained heavily siloed. With NPAN2, the BNNC was revitalized  in 2017 to address this issue, and promising developments in the coordination of nutrition-related activities have since been achieved. As per the rolling workplan it is responsibility of UNICEF to build capacity and support BNNC to improve multisectoral coordination, develop advocacy materials to increase visibility and increase resources for Nutrition.

In 2019, Bangladesh’ first Public Expenditure Review on Nutrition (PER-N) was published, which analyzed public expenditure on nutrition between 2014 and 2018. This review highlighted that there is a need for strengthened coordination, reporting, and financial allocation within the nutrition sector. One of the key achievements of the BNNC since its reinvigoration was the development of a Multi-Sectoral Minimum Package of Nutrition interventions and services, as stipulated in NPAN2, creating a coordinated approach for nutrition across ministries. The Council also worked with all 22 partner ministries to develop a joint workplan, and developed guidelines for the operationalization of district- and sub-district level coordination of nutrition related interventions and services. BNNC has requested UNICEF to provide key strategic support in the conceptualization of pivotal documents and strategies, as well as advocacy.

Recently UNICEF has worked with BNNC to develop the integrated Social Economic Response action plan (iSERF) for Nutrition under the overall UN framework to mitigate the CoVID impact on Nutrition outcome. BNNC has played a critical role to develop the one UN response multisectoral plan for Nutrition. This plan is till December 2021. There is an urgent need to continue supporting BNNC in monitoring the response as one UN initiative to build back better and overcome the Nutrition impact. The iSERF will take care of the immediate response for CoVID impact, However as a next step there is a need to to start the next phase o planning cycle for the UN support to Nutrition for next five years from 2022-2026 which is United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). .

 This is deemed the most important instrument for planning and implementation of the UN development activities at country level in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and is the basis on which UNICEF builds its Country Programme Document (CPD), outlining its commitment to the Government and the People of Bangladesh. The UNSDCF aims at supporting the Government of Bangladesh in achieving the 2030 Agenda (focusing on the 5 Ps: People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace, and Partnerships). Government expectations and priorities are central to the UNSDCF, which is first and foremost a partnership with the Government based on key SDG priorities and gaps, in line with Bangladesh’ 8^th five-year plan and other national policy to ensure policy coherence. As such, multi-stakeholder collaboration will be the cornerstone of the UNSDCF. Especially nutrition, which in itself is multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral in nature, requires intensive coordination both internally within UNICEF and externally with other UN agencies and the Government, in particular BNNC.

All these elements mentioned above are interlinked  require coherent and focused coordination, support in developing the plans, advocacy materials, policy briefs, monitoring and reporting, for which BNNC has requested dedicated additional support. Therefore, nutrition section desires to recruit a consultant who will work closely with   BNNC and play at a critical role in supporting multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration for nutrition.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

In line with the above, UNICEF seeks a consultant to:

• Provide key support to BNNC in conceptualization, developing strategic  documents  to support multi-sectoral coordination for Nutrition
• Build capacity of BNNC to improve coordination with different ministries along with nutrition stakeholders
• Support BNNC for coordination, and reporting of nutrition activities under ISERP
• Support coordination for drafting, review and finalization of Nutrition issues within UNSDC   and BNNC as well as in drafting, review, and finalization of the nutrition strategy document.
• Provide support for multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach for nutrition to nutrition section and CXB

Work Assignment Overview
Tasks/Milestone:	Deliverables/Outputs:	Timeline
Provide  support for the further elaboration of the Minimum Multi-Sectoral Package of Nutrition based on continuous learning from district-level implementation	Report on development of Minimum Multi-Sectoral Package of Nutrition based on district-level implementation experience	Monthly, until October 2021
Support BNNC with the conceptualization of the financial tracking mechanism for nutrition	Concept note on financial tracking mechanism	Jan 2021
Support BNNC with conceptualization,  and advocacy for the surveillance system of key indicators	Concept note for surveillance system of key indicators Draft advocacy brief  for surveillance system of key indicators	Feb 2021
Provide support in development and finalization of BNNC key written communication and reporting materials	Periodic key written communication and reporting materials such as newsletters and annual monitoring reports	Quarterly
Support BNNC with monitoring and coordinating multi-stakeholder collaboration	Report on multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration	Monthly, until October 2021
Support BNNC with Review of existing Social Safety Net Programs for Inclusion of Nutrition Components/Interventions: conceptualization and policy brief	Concept note for review of social safety net programs	May 2021
Monitor implementation of UNICEF activities under ISERP, coordination, and reporting, monitoring of ISERP	Six-monthly monitoring report Coordination reports	Bi-annually, Monthly, until October 2021
Support multi-stakeholder coordination of ISERP implementation, monitoring and reporting	Reports on stakeholder coordination of ISERP	Monthly when applicable
Provide support in updating the nutrition section in CCA	Updated CCA for nutrition section for UNSDCF	Feb 2021
Support chief of nutrition in coordinating the nutrition sub-group  activities for UNDSDCF and drafting the UN chapter for nutrition.	UN nutrition sub-group co-ordination meetings held on time Nutrition chapter for UNSDCF drafted	May 2021
Support chief of nutrition for drafting Nutrition strategy note for the new country program	Draft strategy note for Nutrition drafted	April 2021
Provide support to COVID-response related activities	Report on COVID-response related activities when relevant	Monthly, until October 2021
Support multi-stakeholder coordination through the coordination of DP meetings under the HPNSP	Agenda, presentation and meeting minutes of DP meetings	Bi-monthly
Provide additional support to Chief of Nutrition as necessary	Report on support to Chief of Nutrition when applicable	Monthly, until October 2021
Monthly project briefing on the EU-UNICEF resilience programme with EU, or when required	Monthly project briefing communications with EU, meeting preparation materials, meeting minutes	Monthly, until October 2021
Provide written inputs to EU-UNICEF external project coordination when required	Written inputs to EU-UNICEF external project coordination when required	When required
Submit Final consultancy report	Final Consultancy Report	October 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in International Relations, Public Health, Nutrition, social sciences and any other related field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• Minimum 5 (five) years of experience as follows:
• Knowledge and understanding of Bangladesh nutrition policy environment, institutional infrastructure, and key stakeholders
• At least 2 years working experience working on nutrition policy documents like NPAN2, CIP2 with GoB institutions (BNNC, IPHN, MoA etc) supporting multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration
• Familiar with UN working environment, support in developing documents on coordination among UN agencies and working experience on Donor management and coordination
• Experience working in Bangladesh with different stakeholders i.e. donors, UN agency, implementing partners
• Adequate experience in multi-sectoral collaboration and stakeholder coordination in nutrition
• Fluent in English (spoken and written)

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The functional competencies required for this post are…

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, 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 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.

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.