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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Cash and Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts Consultant

Station: Nutrition Section – Programme Group – NYHQ

Duration: 1 March 2024 – 28 February 2025

Home/ office Based: REMOTE

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. 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

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The GNC Technical Alliance (the Alliance) is a technical assistance platform that responds to national, and regional requests, by leveraging and building on existing nutrition resources, capacities, initiatives, and coordination structures. Launched in December 2020, the Alliance was developed to address the gap for nutrition technical needs in a humanitarian context. The Alliance is led by UNICEF Programme Group jointly with Save the Children as the NGO co-lead. Following the external evaluation completed in Q1 2023, there is a process underway to integrate the work of the Alliance more closely with the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) and create greater efficiencies to deliver the core services and technical support of the GNC. As part of this evolution, a new GNC Operations Team has been created composed of global and country facing operation functions to support the overall operations of the GNC, which includes Coordination, Information Management and NiE Technical. Within the Operations Team, thematic advisors hosted by ACF-Ca and other organizations, are situated for providing technical support to countries and regions. Thematic advisors provide support to Global Thematic Working Groups (GTWGs), which currently are Wasting, Infant Feeding in Emergencies, Nutrition Information Systems, Nutrition and Cash Assistance, and the Management of the Nutritionally Vulnerable Infant (MAMI). The GTWGs provide the fora for transparent technical debate, examination of evidence, and subsequent development of timely consensus-driven interim guidance or resources in response to key technical gaps identified.

UNICEF takes a systems approach to child nutrition, including through the social protection system.  Over the last 2 years, UNICEF has been its Programme Guidance on “Building Synergies between Child Nutrition and Social Protection to address malnutrition and child poverty” based on learning and analysis of existing practice, including in fragile and humanitarian contexts. As part of its implementation expanding beyond the +40 countries, the intention is to establish and strengthen a community of practice across all COs that is more inclusive of fragile and humanitarian contexts.  UNICEF also intends to strengthen practice and learning in these fragile and humanitarian contexts including for shock responsive cash for the prevention of malnutrition and contribute more substantively to a leadership role as part of GNC and CWG.

The consultant, will provide technical support as part of implementing UNICEF Guidance on nutrition and Child protection, document case-studies and facilitate learning across Country Offices as part of knowledge management and actively contribute to Core Group

The Cash and Nutrition Consultant will be supervised by Nutrition Specialist – Emergencies at UNICEF-PG in close collaboration with the Senior Adviser for Social Protection and Nutrition and the HCT team in Social Policy and Social Protection.

Scope of Work:

The main purpose of this consultancy is to provide support to UNICEF countries and regions, and the GNC on cash and nutrition programming in humanitarian contexts. The consultant will work closely with the UNICEF-PG nutrition section, UNICEF-PG Social Policy Team and humanitarian focal points and the GNC Cash and nutrition working group chairs.

The following expected results include:

• Undertake in-depth technical assistance deployments, as requested by countries and regions through the GNC.
• Provision of backstopping technical support to GNC cash and nutrition deployments undertaken by other personnel.
• Contribution to the development of guidance, briefs, case studies and learning events on cash and nutrition in humanitarian contexts, as prioritized by the GTWG.
• Collation of technical priorities and capacity strengthening approaches.

Strengthen and build synergies between child nutrition and social protection, in collaboration with the Senior Adviser for Nutrition and Social Protection/ SP HCT team to:

• Provide technical support cash/nutrition to 21 countries aligned to UNICEF guidance
• Incrementally build nutrition responsive humanitarian capacity within UNICEF in collaboration with partners
• Document 3 case-studies and facilitate learning based on knowledge management
• Contribute to building a Community of Practice within UNICEF that incorporates a strong humanitarian cash/nutrition component

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Deployment missions to HCT/nutrition teams in up to 3 countries (up to 12 weeks) aligned to UNICEF Programme Guidance and CVA for nutrition guidance. The deployment will include:

1.       development of contextualized draft operational guidelines

2.       design and facilitation of validation workshop

3.       delivery of training for in-country partners based on identified capacity building needs

Specific output: Three deployment reports summarizing progress against detailed TOR

By 31 May, by 31 Oct and by 31 Dec 2024

Deliverable 2: Backstopping support provided to other HCT/nutrition advisers deployed through GNC in up to 3 countries, including:

1.       review of TOR, strategic guidance,

2.       delivery of training for in-country partners based on identified capacity building needs.

Specific output: Up to three reports summarizing backstopping support

By 30 June 2024, by 30 Nov 2024 and by 31 Jan 2025

Deliverable 3: Respond to up to 20 questions from country and regional practitioners about CVA and nutrition from the GNC request system.

Specific output: 95% of all questions answered.

By 30 July 2024 and by 31 Jan 2025

Deliverable 4: Deliver 3 post deployment webinars to Cash GTWG GNC Cluster members.

Specific output: Three webinars completed.

By 31 Dec 2024

Deliverable 5: Drafting of three learning outputs (e.g. briefs or case studies on cash and nutrition in humanitarian contexts, as agreed with UNICEF and Cash GTWG

Specific output: Three learning briefs completed.

By 30 March 2025

Deliverable 6: Develop recommendations on programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, partnerships, and capacity strengthening at country level for three UNICEF Country Offices. Specific output: Three country level plans are developed.

By 30 June 2024, by 30 Nov 2024 and by 31 Jan 2025

Deliverable 7: Facilitate 1 webinar, aligned to UNICEF Guidance on humanitarian cash/nutrition.

Specific output: Webinar facilitated.

By 30 Sept 2024

Deliverable 8: Document 3 case-studies on HCT/nutrition to inform UNICEF learning.

Specific output: Completion of three case studies.

By 30 June 2024, by 30 Nov 2024 and by 31 Jan 2025

Deliverable 9: 10 UNICEF Community of Practice (CoP) for cash and nutrition meeting are attended and technical contributions are provided.

Specific output: Summary of technical contributions and recommendations for strengthening CoP. By 28 Feb 2025

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelors or equivalent qualification in nutrition, public health, social protection or related field.

Work experience:

• Minimum of 8 years experience in cash and social protection
• Minimum of 8 years experience in humanitarian programming

Competencies/Knowledge:

• Nutrition expertise and experience an asset
• Familiarity with nutrition responsive social protection/cash programmes
• Flexibility, initiative, and good judgment.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders
• Ability to work in a team environment to achieve common goals
• Strong writing and communication skills
• A high level of competence MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other software such as SharePoint

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include/ reflect:
  • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (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 offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment

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:  Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.