Call for consultancy on nutrition accountability framework and ecosystem

• Publication date : 2024/03/20
• Deadline for submission of offers : 2024/04/08 COB
• Contact for submission : ttoulas@actioncontrelafaim.com
• Entity : Action Against Hunger France
• Duration of the contract : 35 days
• Subject : Call for consultancy on nutrition accountability framework and ecosystem
• Publication Reference : FR-PA-DEP-202403
• Background:
  • In 2025, France will host the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, an international event where governments, donors, foundations, international organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector will make political and financial commitments to end malnutrition. Civil Society organizations are calling for the Summit to be organized with strong civil society involvement and for the commitments made to consider the priorities of the most vulnerable while effectively addressing the root causes of malnutrition.
  • Accountability for political and financial commitments relating to nutrition has been a key issue since the first N4G Summit in London (2013). Accountability also raises a number of challenges: it requires revitalizing political will, sustainable resources, tools, UNs framework and guidance to enable states, private companies and any other stakeholders to be held accountable. There are existing frameworks, civil society initiatives, monitoring tools and discussion forums that already contribute to accountability efforts However, difficulties remain in monitoring the effects of political and financial commitments in countries, especially for the most vulnerable populations. The global accountability framework for nutrition should allow civil society to hold Governments into account, and encourage transparent monitoring of progress.
  • Action Contre la Faim, Nutrition International, Concern Worldwide UK, Save the Children and the Scaling Up for Nutrition Civil Society Network (SUN CSN), are planning to support and continue the work on accountability, by creating an “Accountability Task Force” (ATF). The ATF will look at the gap and the needs for better accountability, produce recommendations for France, and for the international community, informed by the work of the consultant and conduct an extensive consultation process.
• Key objectives
  • ATF requested the consultant to carry out a major preliminary analysis of accountability in the area of nutrition. The consultant’s task will be first to define rigorously what is covered by accountability, then to identify existing accountability frameworks and tools to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Above all, the core of the consultant’s work will be to determine what civil society needs and what it is lacking to enable it to monitor and evaluate political and financial nutrition commitments. Finally, the consultant will have to identify the barriers and needs to ensure that governments can provide effective, complete and transparent accountability.
  • The consultant’s mission has two key objectives :
  • Define and take stock of the accountability ecosystem
    • What is the scope of accountability ?
    • What are the different accountability frameworks for nutrition (official declarations, resolutions, commitments, tools, laws, UN frameworks…)?
    • What are the different tools for ensuring accountability (monitoring and evaluation tools, open source websites, practical toolboxes, major workshops…)?
    • What is the CSO involvement / role in the accountability ecosystem ?
    • Highlight the relevance, strengths and weaknesses of the various accountability frameworks and tools
  • Identify the gaps and needs to ensure accountability
    • Identify civil society gaps and needs to enable them to monitor political and financial commitments
    • Identify commitment makers’ gaps and needs to be effectively accountable
    • Propose and develop 3 to 4 major recommendations for improvement that will enable the commitment-makers to be accountable and the CSO to hold the commitment-makers to account.
• Timeline
  • The consultancy is foreseen to last 35 full working days (ideally from April 8th to May 24th).
  • The distribution of working days is still flexible, but the study needs to be completed ideally by the beginning of May 2024.
• Study and consultant language
  • The consultant must be fluent in English and French. Spanish and Arabic are valuable skills. The intermediary deliverables and the final study have to be drafted in English and submitted to the ATF for approval.
• Documents to be submitted when applying
  • Applicants should submit by no later than April 3rd included the following documents:
  • Detailed curriculum vitae in English
  • 1 or 2 pages explaining in English how your experiences are relevant to the consultancy’s mandate and providing some initial points on how you would approach the analysis
  • An interview might be conducted after the reception of the application.
• Consultant profile
  • At least 5 years of experience in the non-profit sector, preferably in humanitarian aid or development cooperation;
  • At least 3 years of experience in the international nutrition sector and an extensive knowledge of nutrition sector and international accountability policy;
  • Having successfully completed at least 2 consulting mandates for NGOs on relevant issues over the last 2 years;
  • Fluency in English and French.
• Salary conditions
  • Salary conditions to be discussed during the interview.
• Contact:
• Thomas Toulas, Advocacy officer in charge of mobilizing civil society for the N4G summit & Coordinator of the Accountability Task Force, Action Contre la Faim

All documents should be sent to ttoulas@actioncontrelafaim.org