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Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

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For every child, Health!

What does a nutrition clinic in Afghanistan look like? | UNICEF

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Globally, over 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, exacerbating mortality from preventable diseases. Micronutrient deficiencies in Afghanistan present a severe public health crisis, as highlighted by the last available data (National Nutrition Survey 2013). Over 40% of women and children suffer from anemia, while 50% of children under five are vitamin A deficient, which is classified as a severe problem by WHO. Zinc and iodine deficiencies are also prevalent, and vitamin D deficiency affects nearly all women (95.5%) and children (81%). Compounding this, knowledge about micronutrients is alarmingly low, with only 38.7% of Afghans aware of vitamins, and 69.8% of mothers uninformed about vitamin A. Despite iodized salt awareness (64.2%), only 43.6% of households use adequately iodized salt, and just 38.1% consume fortified foods.

UNICEF leads efforts to combat this, but scaling up interventions—like supplementation and community-based programs—requires strengthened coordination, capacity building, and nationwide implementation

The consultancy on Micronutrient and Community Nutrition will provide technical support in design, monitoring and evaluation of the micronutrient supplementation and community nutrition initiatives. By leveraging evidence-based strategies and multisectoral collaboration.

Scope of Work:

The National Micronutrient and Community Nutrition Consultant will provide technical support to relevant working group, facilitating the relevant nutrition events,  to ensure quality implementation and coordination of micronutrient and CBNP programs, with a focus on Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS), Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS), Micronutrient Powders (MNP), Vitamin A, Universal Salt Iodization (USI), and Deworming, while providing field-level technical support for CBNP services.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Provide technical support to partners on MN/USI/Deworming/CBNP through visits and TWG meetings, and document outcomes.
2. Support monitoring and supervision of the WIFS, MMS, MNP, Vitamin A, and Deworming rollout, ensuring adherence to plans, timely reporting, and data quality.
3. Support development and revision/development of national MN and CBNP/Community IYCF guidelines.
4. Monitoring and supervising the BPHS/non-BPHS implementers’ performance, conduct field visits, strengthen national-provincial linkages, and ensure program supplies (MN kits, job aids, etc.) and capacity-building.
5. Support development of the MN/CBNP IEC materials, facilitate C-WIFS/MNP training (ToT, refreshers), and support community-level education.
6. Facilitate and review and follow up on CBNP-related MoUs for timely execution.
7. Salt Iodization: Coordinate with AISPA and IGN to ensure potassium iodate supply and program sustainability
8. Food Fortification: Provide technical support for fortification program scale-up.
9. Ensure compliance with WHO anemia guidelines and donor expectations.
10. Additional Tasks: Support other nutrition initiatives as assigned by UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist/Officer.

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

• A bachelor university degree in Data science/statistics or computer science, Database development, SQL server.
• A  Minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the design, implementation, and coordination of nutrition programs in humanitarian or emergency settings, working experience managing or coordinating micronutrient and fortification services at national or sub-national levels is an advantage.
• Proven experience in development and revision of protocols/guidelines, and implementation of community nutrition programming, including MNP and MMS analysis.
• Strong background in program performance monitoring, data analysis, and providing technical working groups or task forces.
• Solid understanding of WHO global guidelines on the prevention MMDs and community nutrition and ability to translate technical recommendations into national programmatic guidance.
• Demonstrated ability in coordianting multiple stakeholders (UN agencies, donors, NGOs, government counterparts).
• Experience in designing, reviewing, and evaluating annual work plans, operational frameworks, and key performance indicators for nutrition service delivery.
• Proficiency in nutrition supply (MNP, IFA, MMS, vit-A and DW) estimation and planning, including quarterly forecasting and verification of commodities.
• Familiarity with BPHS and non-BPHS systems, and practical experience in oversight and quality assurance of implementers across different service models.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract 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 and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors 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. 

How to apply:

• Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with an all-inclusive fee.  Please see the financial proposal template here:  Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
• Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.
• You may apply for the position through the provided link: https://jobs.unicef.org/en-us/job/581929/national-micronutrient-and-community-nutrition-consultant
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