VAC-11873 Field Nutrition Monitor

• Sudan’s humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating, with parts of the country facing a progressively increasing risk of famine due to active conflict, drastic food price increase & below average agricultural production. According to the latest projection of Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) published in December 2023, approximately 17.7 million people in Sudan are likely to experience high acute food insecurity of crisis level (IPC Phase 3) or above through February 2024. According to FEWSNET’s February 2024 situation update, the below average food availability among the worst affected population is expected to push some areas into catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) during the upcoming lean season, specifically in parts of Khartoum & West Darfur. Given the prevailing situation, the IPC ratings will likely deteriorate substantially during the lean season (April – September), reaching alarming levels in the June – September period compared to the current situation or the same period in the previous years. This has devastating implications for the country’s estimated 3.6 million acutely malnourished children, 730,000 of whom are severely acutely malnourished.

• With the large scope of implementation & given the limited access for our clients staff to more than half of the country due to security constraints, this contract is aimed to improve the field presence through recruitment of field monitors under third party partners who will be vital in the implementation & monitoring of the nutrition activities outlined in the response plans. 

• The monitoring visits will be the fundamental part of the field monitors roles which will help to fast track & follow up the progress towards expected results & enhance the quality of the implementation of the activities of the SMOH & NGOs. The Monitors will support the whole process of the program cycle starting from the planning, follow up the implementation, identify the faps & ensuring the corrective actions are implemented.

• Due to the continued need to support & facilitate Field Offices (FO’s) to ensure more efficient delivery of nutrition services, the nutrition section is planning to recruit third party company who will provide HR services by recruitment & deployment of 20 nutrition field monitoring from the targeted states for a period of six months. The distribution of the monitors is outlined in the consecutive section. 

The purpose of the Nutrition Field Monitors is primarily to support programmatic visits / field monitoring visits for the implementing nutrition famine prevention response plans. Expected output include but are not limited to:

• It is expected that, Nutrition Field Monitors will contribute to achieve nutrition programme targets through scale up the quality and quantity of nutrition lifesaving & preventative services for women and children.

• Nutrition Field Monitors will ensure that nutrition program documents with NGOs & works plans with SMOH are implemented as planned.

The Nutrition Field Monitors will have a broad role, but his / her main role will be to provide a facilitative role in ensuring the delivery & monitoring of nutrition programs in various locations across the targeted localities & states. In addition, the role & tasks will be adapted as required based on the location & needs within a specific location. The functions below are summarizing the key tasks that will be carried out by the Monitors: 

Field monitoring & supervision:

• Conduct field monitoring visits to the service delivery sites at health facilities & mobile teams in line with the monthly field monitoring schedule. 

• Conduct monitoring visits to all the IDPs sites within the targeted localities & states. 

• Support the FO’s in conducting programmatic visits on the NGOs. 

• Support the implementation of the TPM & tracking the actions points. 

• Support preparation & implementation of donor’s field visits.

Planning, coordination & partnerships:

• Support the microplanning of the nutrition interventions at the locality & state levels in coordination with SMOH & NGOs. 

• Support the SMOH & NGOs in planning for the nutrition interventions in line with the scale up plans for the famine prevention plan. 

• Support FO to plan for & conduct regular review & progress meetings with IP’s (SMOH & NGO partners). 

• Support FO coordination efforts with other UN agencies & NGO’s in delivering coordinated services.

• Participate in subnational nutrition cluster & other coordination mechanism including the multisectoral coordination for the famine prevention response.

Nutrition information management, assessments & reporting:

• Support the FO nutrition staff to collect the monthly reports from the various service delivery platforms including but not limited to health facilities, mobile teams, campaigns & community platforms. 

• Support the planning & implementation of nutrition surveys at the targeted states including SMART surveys & rapid assessments of MUAC & IYCF – E among IDPs.

• Maintain monthly tracking excel database for the training activities including the list of trained workers & volunteers. 

• Maintain updated Excel sheets on the health facilities & the functionality of nutrition programs at each facility.

• Provide monthly analysis of the progress of nutrition indicators including the comparison with the previous periods & in comparison, with supply consumptions, ensuring that key bottlenecks are identified, discussed & resolved.

• Build the capacity of the information focal points at the SMOH at the states & locality levels. 

• Support the roll out and implementation of innovations for nutrition information including Rapid Pro & DHIS – 2.

• Participate in & support nutrition related program evaluations when needed. 

• Participate in inter clusters & inter agency needs assessments & community engagement subcommittee meetings whereas needed. 

Nutrition technical program support:

• Provide support across all nutrition program areas as required including CMAM, IYCF & micronutrient programs. 

• Support SMOH & NGOs partners on community mobilization activities & initiatives such as complementary feeding interventions, MCCT+ & world breast feeding week.

• Support SMOH & NGOs partners on the implementation of nutrition campaigns including the coordination & implementation of vitamin A supplementation with the vaccination activities. 

• Document any good practices developed as part of the implementation of nutrition projects including human interest stories & support visibility activities.

Nutrition supplies management:

• Support FO nutrition staff & the implementing partners in the proper planning & distribution of the nutrition supplies. 

• Provide monthly updates on nutrition supply stock levels at HFs, locality & state levels to ensure intact supply chain system & ensure the contingency stock at all levels. 

• Conduct at least one visit per month to the nutrition warehouses at each state. 

• Conduct at least one visit per quarter to the nutrition warehouses at the locality levels. 

• Conduct on the job training for the storekeepers on supply management including storage conditions.  

• Track the stockout status at the facility levels & implement the relevant actions to ensure zero stockout at all facilities. 

• Support the monitoring of supplies leakages, misuse & looting & timely reporting on such incidents with the details of the affected supplies, i.e., quantities, source, batch number, etc. 

Payments & financial support:

• Support FO nutrition staff on the follow up on nutrition related payments and the liquidation of the DCTs. 

• Assist the FO nutrition staff in the verification of direct payments, verification of beneficiary or payee lists & any other related tasks.

Below are the main reports that are required from the recruited monitors; however, additional technical reports may be needed:

• Monthly progress report outlined the progress against the key nutrition indicators, status of implementation of scale up plans & results achieved. 

• Monthly stock reports at HFs, locality & state levels. 

• A detailed monitoring reports for the field visits with the actions implemented. 

• Updated mapping of the functionality of nutrition sites at the facility, locality & state levels. 

• Monthly on the job training schedule & results. 

• Real time flagging of issues (e.g., nutrition supply stock outs, IDPs emerging needs, etc.).

• Final report at the end of the assignment.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in nutrition, public health, or a related technical field.

• Demonstrated experience in field monitoring especially rural & hard to reach areas.

• Excellent facilitation & training skills and ability to organize & implement training.

• Strong analytical skills, communication & negotiation skills.

• Knowledge of computer management skills including Microsoft Word, Excel & PowerPoint software.

• Experience in monitoring and implementation of nutrition surveys is an asset. 

• Experience in report writing in English.

• Minimum two years of progressive professional work experience in management of nutrition & health interventions including program monitoring within NGOs or Ministry of Health (MOH), particularly in humanitarian settings. 

• Minimum five years of professional experience in nutrition & health interventions including program monitoring.

• The recruited monitors should have the experience in working in the relevant states. 

• To the maximum possible extent, the recruited monitors should be living in the same states they will be working in. 

• Must be fluent in both Arabic & English.

Key competencies for the monitors:

• Commitment, diversity, inclusion & integrity.

• Communication, working with people, drive for results, planning and organizing skills.

This role has no team management responsibility.

Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for this role.