World Food Program

Position: International Consultant - Emergency Nutrition Coordinator

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Mekelle, Ethiopia

Posted date: 17 minutes ago

Application Deadline: Feb, 8/2022 (14 days left)

ABOUT WFP

Assisting 91.4 million people in around 83 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. On any given day, WFP has 5,000 trucks, 20 ships, and 92 planes on the move, delivering food and other assistance to those in most need. Every year, we distribute more than 15 billion rations at an estimated average cost per ration of US$ 0.31. These numbers lie at the roots of WFP’s unparalleled reputation as an emergency responder, one that gets the job done quickly at scale in the most difficult environments. WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid, and special operations.

WFP Ethiopia is working with the government and other humanitarian partners to strengthen the resilience of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable population and to chart a more prosperous and sustainable future for the next generation. The Country Office also supports programs that use food assistance to empower women, transform areas affected by climate change and keep children in school. It aims to contribute to Ethiopia’s five-year development agenda, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), through which the Government combats food insecurity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

A year since the conflict in Tigray broke out, the region continues to face a serious humanitarian crisis. About 1.8M people are reported as displaced (IOM, December 10th, 2021) – with newly reported displacement linked to the recent active conflict in the Western zone and bordering areas of Afar and Amhara regions and tensions in some of the Northern border locations with Eritrea. Despite the cessation of active conflict within most of the region since July 2021, its continued isolation from the rest of the country is resulting in a shortage of food and non-food supplies, including critical medicines and medical supplies. A lack of communications, a functional banking system, and loss of employment mean that regional government institutions, organizing structures, and services have also not gained full functionality. These factors hamper the overall economic, social, and market systems thus aggravating and compounding the dire food and nutrition situation in the region.

Against this backdrop, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to an estimated 5.2M people in need remains severely constrained. According to OCHA (December 9, 2021), only 13% of the required humanitarian supplies have been delivered to the region in 6 months ie July-December 2021, while lack of fuel is hindering the provision of basic services, including health & nutrition, water, and sanitation, electricity interruption, limited transportation, and limited access to livelihoods and markets.

A missed planting season (May/July 2021) for most, combined with high costs of food due to non-functional markets and low affordability also means the majority of the population does not have access to age-appropriate diverse and nutritious diets. This dire food security situation combined with disrupted health, nutrition, and WASH services, has increased the risk of malnutrition, especially for children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). MUAC screening data reported by the nutrition cluster (November 2021) and from WFP’s supported nutrition interventions shows acute malnutrition among children is above 15%, while on average, 60% of screened mothers are found to be acutely malnourished.

WFP is supporting the implementation of the Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP) and the Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programme (BSFP) as key nutrition-specific programs, to contribute to the treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition among children below five years and pregnant and lactating women (PLW) in Tigray region. Since February, the interventions have reached 874,000 children and mothers (target:1.4M) across 71 woredas. The interventions are delivered through NGO cooperating partners, supported by WFP operational teams: one each based in Mekelle SO and Shire FO. WFP also works in partnership with other nutrition stakeholders including, the regional health bureau (RHB), UNICEF WHO, and NGOs within the various cluster mechanisms.

The scope of WFP’s Tigray nutrition emergency response is such that a nutrition coordinator is needed to provide overall leadership and oversight to the nutrition response. The nutrition coordinator’s roles will encompass four broad areas: Participation in nutrition response design and planning of required resources – including proposing/recommending improvements (when needed); Supervision and coordination of team members to maintain the nutrition action plan on track; Ensuring and monitoring the implementation of WFP and national nutrition policies and guidelines across the response; and Representing WFP nutrition to both internal (WFP units) and external stakeholders, including managing communication-related to the nutrition response.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Work with the AO head of the program, CO nutrition unit to contribute to Tigray nutrition response design and planning
2. Represent WFP in regional nutrition meetings and initiatives to contribute to strategic and technical discussions, communicate information on WFP interventions, exchange experiences, advocate for nutrition interventions and identify areas of potential collaboration.
3. Liaise with internal units (monitoring, resource mobilization, supply chain, Ops, PI, etc..) to ensure effective support to the implementation and monitoring/evaluation of the nutrition response
4. Provide operational oversight technical support and guidance to the nutrition team to ensure efficient and effective nutrition response
5. Manage the nutrition team, supporting individual work planning, mentoring, and coaching as required to enhance performance
6. Strategically engage UNICEF and the regional government to identify areas for potential collaboration and overall strengthening the Tigray emergency nutrition response
7. Support the timely and accurate communication of nutrition information to meet the various reporting requirements
8. Support the monitoring and evaluation of WFP activities, provide technical analysis, and interpretation, and develop new indicators and guidance.
9. Perform other duties as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT

A comprehensive report of the overall program implementation outlining successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutrition, Food Technology, Medicine, or another relevant field.

Experience: A minimum of 8 years of experience in design for nutrition-specific (IMAM/CMAM, BSFP) and nutrition-sensitive programs/nutrition prevention programming or approaches (direct or with national governments).

• Experience building strategic partnerships with multiple stakeholders to raise awareness on nutrition-related issues. 
• Experience managing multi-functional teams
• Experience working in emergencies and development contexts in multiple countries 
• Experience working with the UN is an added advantage.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of global nutrition and global humanitarian architecture including the cluster approach.
• Conceptual knowledge of public health and nutrition in emergencies.
• Skills in nutrition situation analysis and evidence assessment
• Good communication and interpersonal skills capable of maintaining strong relationships
• Team management and leadership skills
• Good organizational and multi-tasking skills
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Able to work and meet deadlines under stress Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Microsoft Proficient.

How to Apply

CLICK HERE

Languages: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English.