Programme Specialist

Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030 aims to prevent maternal and child malnutrition in all its forms across the life cycle and ensure the early detection and treatment of children suffering from life-threatening malnutrition. Our Strategy calls for a systems approach to improving maternal and child nutrition by supporting the delivery of nutrition-specific actions through five key systems: the food system and the health, water and sanitation, education and social protection systems. These are the five systems with the greatest potential to protect and promote nutritious diets, essential nutrition services, and positive nutrition practices that support optimal nutrition for all children, adolescents and women, in all contexts: development, fragile and humanitarian.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Senior Adviser, Financing for Child Nutrition & Development, the Programme Specialist will strengthen UNICEF’s efforts to increase domestic resources and support prioritisation of sustainable financing policies for nutrition at a global, regional and local level.  

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

Resource Mobilization

• Support UNICEF’s Regional and Country Offices in developing and implementing engagement strategies for the sustainable mobilization of domestic resources for the early prevention, detection and treatment of child wasting in alignment with national public policy agendas and priorities and social protection services.
• Support the Senior Adviser, Financing for Child Nutrition and Development in engaging global and regional financing institutions (e.g. World Bank, African Development Bank) to establish strategic collaboration arrangements with the Child Nutrition Fund.
• In collaboration with the Senior Advisers for Financing for Child Nutrition and Development and Food Systems for Children, lead the scoping of opportunities to introduce taxation of Ultra-Processed Foods and/or Sugar-Sweetened Beverages as a source of domestic funding to support services and programmes to improve children’s nutrition and diets in early life.

Nutrition Advocacy & Communication

• Support the Senior Adviser, Financing for Nutrition and Child Development and the Division of Global Communication and Advocacy (DGCA) in the development of advocacy strategies and material to support the positioning of the Child Nutrition Fund in all relevant processes at global, regional, and country level.
• Lead the development of the Child Nutrition Fund Annual Report and its internal and external dissemination.
• In collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, support the analysis of annual financing information and the development and/or adaptation of advocacy strategies to reflect changes in financing trends.

Partnerships Management

• Collaborate with the Supply Division and other relevant stakeholders to provide technical support in adapting existing financial mechanisms to facilitate the matching of domestic contributions for essential services and supplies for child and maternal nutrition.
• In collaboration with PG Nutrition colleagues, identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration, coordination and communication between the Child Nutrition Fund and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
• Support the Senior Adviser, Financing for Nutrition and Child Development in engaging with foundations, bilateral donors, and other partners to coordinate the development of proposals, concept notes, and discussions to expand fundraising efforts for maternal and child nutrition.

The following minimum requirements:

• Master’s Degree in public health, economics, international development, or social sciences, or a directly related field.
• Minimum eight years of relevant work experience at national and international levels in nutrition, planning and management, with emphasis on strategic planning, financing and resource mobilization, influencing, monitoring and evaluation, and partnerships management. Excellent analytical skills.
• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/571298