The SPRING Project in Nigeria is looking for a nutrition consultant that specializes in the context of HIV/AIDS guidance and training for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) ages 0-17 years. We are looking for an international or Nigerian local consultant to complete this work. If an international consultant is selected, work can be done remotely, with some travel to Nigeria. This consultancy will take place between February - May/June, 2016.
BACKGROUND:
The SPRING Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by USAID. SPRING’s overarching vision is to reduce undernutrition, prevent stunting, and work with women and children on reducing anemia. By providing state-of-the-art technical support, SPRING aims to strengthen country efforts to scale up high-impact nutrition practices and policies to improve maternal and child nutrition outcomes. SPRING's experienced implementation team consists of experts from JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc., Helen Keller International, The International Food Policy Research Institute, Save the Children, and The Manoff Group.
To date, SPRING has been funded in Nigeria entirely with PEPFAR funding, which focuses on those living with and affected by HIV. SPRING has been working since 2012 on rolling out the nationally adapted infant and young child feeding (IYCF) training package, working with NGOs that work with orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). The project works through two PEPFAR-funded mechanisms—the Umbrella Grants Mechanism, made up of the Nigerian CSOs SMILE and STEER, and the Local Partners for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, made up of the CSOs ARFH, HIFASS, and WEWE. For the current fiscal year, SPRING has been asked by STEER and WEWE to assist them with additional programming linking nutrition to their OVC target audience.
CURRENT STATUS OF ACTIVITY:
World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued a national guideline on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in the context of HIV/AIDS. The project has begun collecting existing local and international materials and training packages related to nutrition and HIV used by the CSOs to be reviewed by the consultant. Additional data gathering and production of a training package suitable for use by the CSOs for the communities they serve will be needed. The completed training package will be used to train a cadre of approximately 125 master trainers from government and CSO staff across five Nigerian states and the package will remain available for the CSOs to use in the future to train additional master trainers.
OBJECTIVES OF CONSULTANCY:
The purpose of this activity is to provide materials and training on nutrition in the context of HIV/AIDS that will cover guidance for working with OVCs aged 0-17 years and relevant information for community volunteers and civil society organizations. The consultant will work closely with SPRING/Home Office technical providers, SPRING/Nigeria staff, and an existing artistic team (a graphic designer and illustrator) to adapt and design a training package that ensures integrity, appropriateness of materials for the Nigerian context and intended audience, and visual consistency with other SPRING/Nigeria products.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONSULTANT:
The consultant will be tasked with leading the adaptation and development of the training materials and assisting with the design and execution of a master training.
-Review materials already collected from the CSOs and international sources for their ability to be adapted for the target audience in Nigeria.
-Locate additional source material as appropriate.
-Collaborate with SPRING and the STEER and WEWE CSOs to lead the development of a training package of a course for 3-5 days.
-Lead pre-testing of the training materials and adapt them as necessary.
-Train 5 SPRING staff as master trainers.