Vacancy: International nutritionist specialist for EU funded project “Improvement of Mother and Child Health Services in Uzbekistan- II Phase” (IMCHS) Background: UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and the European Union (EU) are implementing a Project on “Improvement of Mother and Child Health Services in Uzbekistan” phase II. The Overall Objective of the Phase II of the project is: to contribute to the human development in Uzbekistan with special emphasis on mother and Child Health care (MDG 4 and 5). The Project’s Specific Objective is to support the Ministry of Health to increase the quality of mother and child health services and to increase the capacity of families to make informed choices about health and nutrition. Despite some improvement of nutrition status, 15% of 0-5 children in Uzbekistan are still stunted. According to the Child Poverty Study, 52 per cent of children from poor families do not consume proteins at least once a day, as compared to 28 per cent in wealthy families. In Uzbekistan, tea is introduced to children at an early age: a recent study, from Karakalpstan in 2011, found that 60 per cent of mothers and family members give liquids, including tea to under six month old children. In addition to the fact that tea has been found to reduce iron absorption from a meal by 62 per cent compared with water, this clearly contravenes the WHO guidelines of exclusive breastfeeding until the age of six months. Meanwhile, another particular problem in Karakalpakstan is the fact that about 60 per cent of children are given animal fat before the age of six months, as it widely believed in society that this is needed given the particularly hot and dry climate in the area. So, one of the reasons of the high prevalence of suboptimal nutrition in the country is related to poor family practices due to poor counseling on mother and child health, nutrition and hygiene. On the other hand, nutrition is not fully integrated into pre-service curricula and medical colleges. The recent study of pre and post diploma medical curricula (UNICEF, 2012), showed that mother and child health training modules are not packaged and consequently linked to each other, which finally negatively impacts on quality of health services and maternal health itself. Thus, within the project, nutrition component aims at strengthening capacity at national level, through including nutrition into pre-service curricula for medical education, and capacity development of health professionals. Nutritional education will be implemented at nationwide level, while community activities will be piloted in Fergana oblast and Republic of Karakalpakstan. Nutrition will be thus included into community health package for empowering families to adopt healthy behaviors (nutrition, hygiene, danger signs, child stimulation) and apply positive/adequate child care practices. Overall Goals and Objectives: To provide technical support and guidance to the project team and project partners on nutrition component of the IMCHS phase II project. III. Scope of work: The specific objectives of this consultancy include: 1. Development of specific indicators for assessing nutrition practices at the community level. 2. The incumbent will be responsible for reviewing the draft Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey, supervise its implementation and analyze its results. This will allow to get an overview on the existing community system and experience on household food production, availability, consumption, distribution patterns, hygiene and sanitation; 3. Development of community -based nutrition and parenting education model on the basis of findings of KAP survey with participation of national partners, local authorities and WHO; 4. Contribution to development of comprehensive national MNCH strategy, specifically on nutrition; 5. Technical assistance to MoH working groups and related partners on integration of nutrition and Infant Young Child Feeding (IYCF) subjects into pre- and post- service curriculum, as well as on integration of community IYCF program within Community – Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (C-IMIC) training package; 6. Guidance, supervision and support of community-based nutrition interventions; 7. Integration of nutrition component into community health package to be delivered through the PLA approach; 8. Documentation of the project experience on nutrition and develop scaling up strategy; 9. Periodic monitoring, field visits and adjustments; 10. Designing final evaluation of the model as per the lessons learned from piloting; 11. Perform other tasks pertinent with the project's scope. Qualifications/or specialized knowledge/experience required: • Postgraduate University degree in nutrition. Initial academic background can also be a University degree in one of the areas: Public Health & Nutrition, Health Sciences, Public Health & Nutrition Policy and Management, Family and Community Health & Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, Health & Nutrition Education, Health & Nutrition Promotion and Disease Prevention, or other relevant discipline(s); • Solid analytical, result based planning and report writing skills; • At least 10 years of progressive professional experiences in the field of nutrition and IYCF at community level; • Good knowledge of UNICEF and WHO recommended tools and methodologies in field of IYCF; • Demonstrated experiences in organizing and conducting nutrition training activities • Proven knowledge on the new born and child survival packages; • Experience of work with MoH or Health Institutes and partners in field of IYCF; • Wide working experience with communities on nutrition and IYCF; • Proven experience in needs assessments, developing indicators, capacity building, advocacy and policy development; • Good knowledge of community health/nutrition education, including through PLA approach; • Good communication skills in English; • Working experience in former Soviet Union will be an asset • Knowledge of Russian will be asset. Contract supervisor: The specialist will work directly with the IMCH project staff, report to the Team Leader and consult with the Chief of Health section. The timetable for nutrition specialist as follows: • 10 months contract over the period of three years, as follows: five (5) months in 2013, three (3) months in 2014 and two (2) months in 2015. • Out of total of 10 months, two (2) months are home based and eight (8) months in Uzbekistan. • The contract is envisaged to start in April 2013 until June 2015. The field mission will include visits to the following localities: • Tashkent and selected regions within the Country • Two visits to Uzbekistan per year. Deliverables: For 2013: • List of indicators for assessing of nutrition and IYCF practices; • KAP survey' s results; Analysis of cultural, social-economic and behavioral, feeding practices in the pilot communities (methodology to be agreed with partners); • Recommendations to comprehensive national MNCH strategy; • Recommendations for incorporation of nutrition and IYCF into pre- and post- service curriculum; • Number of trained national trainers on IYCF; • Monitoring visits reports; • Reviewed C-IMCI training package; • Finalized nutrition part of health community package. For 2014: • Monitoring visits reports on implementation of pilot regions; • Documented community -based nutrition interventions; For 2015: • Documented community -based nutrition interventions; • Monitoring visits reports; • Scale up strategy based on community pilots • The final report on consultancy Estimated Cost of Consultancy: The monthly rate of professional fees will be applied in accordance with the complexity of the TOR and the level of the expertise required, which is estimated at P3 level. UNICEF will pay for the Consultant’s travel to and from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) as well as for travel within Uzbekistan, as per UNICEF rules. Professional fees will be paid on the successful completion of specific tasks and the satisfactory approval of deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. How to apply: If you have experience of working in a similar capacity and want to make an active and lasting contribution to build a better world for children and match the profile outlined, submit a cover letter, indicating vacancy notice (VN) post title, detailed curriculum vitae in English, and a duly completed, signed and scanned United Nations Personal History to the following email: tshirvanova@unicef.org by COB 22 April 2013. Only candidates meeting the essential requirements will be considered. Short-listed candidates meeting the essential requirements will be called for interview. UNICEF is equal opportunity employer for men and women.