Panama: NUTRITION IN EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION, PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE IN LAC.
Organization: UN Children’s Fund
Country: Panama
Closing date: 01 Mar 2017
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. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most disaster–prone regions in the world. Increasingly vulnerable to the effects of a range of natural hazards, climate change and armed conflict and violence, imminent threats to human lives and individual wellbeing are of increasing concern.
There is an estimation of 53 million people living in food insecure households further underlining the deep rooted social and economic disparities in the region[1]. The most vulnerable population groups to malnutrition, as well as to the impact of disasters and emergency situations, are the rural and urban poor, those who belong to indigenous and afro-descendants’ groups, have low educational levels and limited access to health services and inadequate water and sanitation.
UNICEF is a key global actor in Nutrition both in development and emergency contexts. As part of development programs UNICEF supports the capacity development of national governments and other key stakeholders to achieve Nutrition security for the most vulnerable groups. In emergency situations, UNICEF has identified the Nutrition sector as a key priority in its «Core Commitments for Children» (CCCs) in Humanitarian Action, and is committed to support the prevention and care for malnutrition of affected and displaced populations, with particular focus on children and women. Under the provisions of the Humanitarian Reform, promoted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), UNICEF has been designated as agency leader of the Nutrition Cluster with the responsibility to coordinate the humanitarian response at times of emergencies, to deliver a more efficient and effective response to the affected communities, as well as coordinate preparedness actions for capacity strengthening of all involved actors.
In 2016, UNICEF’s Latin America and Caribbean Office (LACRO) developed or consolidated several innovative approaches, including:
– In collaboration with the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) and UNICEF’s programme Division (PD) in New York, LACRO is supporting «Regional Nutrition Cluster» approach, which in addition to the regular programmatic support to UNICEF Country offices (COs), support regional and national sectoral coordination and NiE preparedness and response capacity building, through a multi-stakeholder «Group for Nutrition Resilience» (GRIN), operating through three sub-regional groups.
– LACRO has developed a tool for the standardized definition and monitoring of regional and national NiE preparedness and response capacity (GRIN Matrix), using as a base the values of the dimensions of the INFORM model with the addition of nutrition-specific indicators. The tool and the approach has been adopted by WASH and Education sectors in LACRO and is being evaluated by UNICEF in other regions.
– By using primarily telematics communication LACRO has able to engage, in an effective and efficient way, key stakeholders in 30 countries, even where UNICEF has limited or no in-country technical capacity, creating a model of Programmatic Hub for NiE, which may be extended in future to all nutrition programmatic components.
– Innovative capacity building and information sharing approaches, include an online document depository in collaboration with REDLAC and a Facebook page, in addition to global webinars, quarterly sub-regional webinars, and country-focused workshops for national stakeholders.
LACRO is also contributing to the development of a combined protocol for the management of both moderate and severe acute malnutrition which is being piloted in Ecuador, Bolivia and Haiti and considered by other countries in the region.
-Evidence generation is also a priority for LACRO and in 2016 a resilience-focused analysis of the WASH and Nutrition response to the drought in the Corredor Seco of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, was conducted, to identify key opportunities for greater alignment of development and humanitarian efforts and building the resilience of vulnerable populations.
The reduction of risk of malnutrition at times of emergencies is grounded in ongoing preventive measures to improve the nutritional status of children, adolescent girls and women of reproductive age, combining Nutrition specific interventions across the life-cycle, with Nutrition Sensitive interventions in other sectors like Health, Water and Sanitation and Food Security among others.
LACRO is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical support to consolidate the above initiatives and develop new approaches to strengthen the capacities of UNICEF programme staff in countries, national counterparts and partners in reducing the risk of malnutrition and improve emergency preparedness and response capacity.
[1] Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL)/Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF), Desagios. Boletin de la infancia y adolescencia sobre el avance de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio, N°2, Santiago de Chile, abril de 2006
Purpose of the Assignment
To support regional initiatives in the area of Nutrition in the LAC region, with an emphasis on Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) and capacity development of National counterparts, UNICEF staff and other stakeholders for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and emergency preparedness and response.
Assignment Tasks
Under the supervision of the Regional Nutrition Specialist and in collaboration with the Regional WASH Specialist, the Regional Health Advisor and the emergency unit, the Nutrition in Emergencies consultant will focus on:
Expected Deliverables
QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONTRACT AND PROPOSAL
Seven months’ consultancy, from 1st April to 31st October 2017 with possibility for extension based on performance and availability of funds.
Reporting Responsibilities/supervision
The consultant will be supervised by the Regional Nutrition Specialist in UNICEF LACRO.
CONSULTANTS WORK PLACE
The hired consultant will work primary from UNICEF LACRO in Panama City but may be requested to travel at short notice for surge missions for emergency response if required. If travel is required, travel costs will be covered by UNICEF and DSAs will apply as per corporate guidance.
HONORARIA & FEES:
Applicants are requested to submit an economic proposal for the consultancy.
CLOSING DATE:
The deadline to receive applications is COB 28th February, 2017.
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UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=503040