1. Background 

In July 2022, in response to the global food and nutrition crisis, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced unprecedented funding for the rapid scale-up of acute malnutrition treatment services. This historic $200 million financial contribution is intended to enable 13 countries - including Sudan – to increase treatment coverage in record time. Together with USAID and UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Action Against Hunger and Save the Children are leading the ‘Delivery Systems for Scale’ project – which provides technical and coordination support in direct alignment with USAID supplemental funding.

In order to ensure that the USAID/UNICEF partnership is well-positioned to meet scale targets in Sudan, the project seeks to hire a consultant to fill a new, fixed-term Delivery Advisor role.

2. Purpose & Scope

The Delivery Advisor (DA) will support UNICEF in reviewing its plans for bringing treatment of uncomplicated SAM cases to scale. This is a seconded role to UNICEF Sudan Country Office. The primary functions of this role are expected to include:

• Providing strategic and subject matter expertise to UNICEF to develop and refine plans for scale of uncomplicated SAM treatment;
• Identifying challenges and sticking points in UNICEF’s scale ambitions where innovations and simplifications may be helpful;
• Facilitating decision-making by synthesizing evidence and framing trade-offs; and,
• Consolidate tools, evidence, plans and other country-specific resources.

The successful candidate will also be responsible for ensuring alignment and collaboration across multiple agencies and partners (e.g., nutrition sector coordination groups, WFP, WHO, FMOH, INGOs and other partners).

3. Priority Activities and Outputs

ACTIVITY 

DELIVERABLE DAYS Develop an inception report outlining: a detailed activity workplan highlighting draft review periods and circulation groups, detailed content outline for each required deliverable, and a list of options for the technical focus areas of the case study.    1. Inception report 5

Conduct a rapid mapping of existing plans and tools for scaling treatment of uncomplicated SAM cases in Sudan. Mapping will be accomplished using a combination of agency briefings, tools, strategies, plans and other secondary resources.

Compile all resources into a centralized SharePoint folder of Sudan-specific tools and documents.

2a. Synthesis report

 

 

2b. Resources binder

2

 

 

 

3

Support UNICEF in facilitating collaboration across stakeholders to finalize UNICEF’s wasting acceleration plan for Sudan.

 

Assess how current processes and resources map against this roadmap, identifying a list of gaps to be addressed in a prioritized Action Plan and estimated resource requirements.

3a. Final wasting acceleration plan

 

3b. Action Plan intended for use by UNICEF Sudan Country Office as a working document to guide future plans

17 

 

 

 

 

3

Support UNICEF in leading the development of a Strategy Note with corresponding advocacy messages on new emerging needs for management of child wasting in Sudan (see Annex 1 below). To develop this Note, the consultant will facilitate collaboration and inputs across key partners (e.g., WFP, UNICEF, WHO, nutrition sector coordination team, FMOH and other partners).

4. Strategy Note with advocacy messages 10

Consolidate and document recent learning in the form of a short Case Study.

5. Case study  5

4. Deliverables

By the end of June 2023, the Delivery Advisor will provide:

• An Inception Report;
• A Synthesis Report of available scale-related tools and resources in Sudan;
• An accessible folder – on SharePoint – consolidating all available, Sudan-specific tools and resources useful for future scaling efforts;
• The final UNICEF Sudan Wasting Acceleration Plan, with associated Action Plan,
• A Strategy Note with corresponding advocacy messages highlighting the new, emergent needs in the management of child wasting in Sudan; and,
• A case study documenting recent learning in Sudan.

5. Contract Arrangements

As mentioned, this is a seconded role based within UNICEF Sudan Country Office. This consultancy will be based in Khartoum, Sudan for the duration of the contracting period.

The consultant will be expected to complete work over a period of 45 days, with final deliverables submitted no later than June 30, 2023. Payment will be made upon final approval of all required deliverables.

6. To Apply

Recruitment for this position will be expedited.

Interested candidates should submit:

• A brief, 1-2 page technical proposal outlining the candidate’s own understanding of the required scope of work;
• An updated CV that clearly spells out his/her/their qualifications and experience in alignment with the scope of work;
• A financial proposal showing expected daily rates / fees;
• Examples of similar work completed in past years; and,
• At least 2 reference contacts related to the aforementioned examples.

Applications should be sent by email to Ellyn.Yakowenko@rescue.org with Racheal.Kintu@rescue.org in copy. 

Materials will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to early applicants that meet the essential qualifications listed below. We encourage interested candidates to submit their materials as soon as possible.

7. Successful Candidate Profile

Essential requirements for this Delivery Advisor role include:

• Advanced degree in nutrition, public health, or a related field, with at least seven years of relevant work experience.
• Strong technical skills in community-based management of acute malnutrition, including treatment of uncomplicated SAM cases, with specific expertise and experience in the context of Sudan
• Demonstrated ability to translate research and evidence into practice and policy shifts
• Knowledge of relevant SAM treatment protocols, plans and strategies in Sudan.
• Knowledge of the latest research, best practices, and emerging trends in acute malnutrition treatment, especially simplified approaches
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both English and Arabic, with demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical information to a variety of audiences, including donors, government officials, and community members.
• A deep commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice, including sensitivity to the needs and perspectives of marginalized populations, and experience working with diverse communities in Sudan or similar contexts.
• Prior experience working directly with stakeholders in Sudan, including UNICEF, WFP, WHO, National Ministry of Health and civil society organizations. 

Desirable characteristics include:

• In-depth knowledge of the social, cultural, and economic factors that contribute to high rates of acute malnutrition in Sudan, and strategies for addressing these factors through community engagement, behavior change, and policy advocacy.
• Proven experience designing and implementing large-scale acute malnutrition treatment programs in Sudan or similar contexts, including expertise in project management, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation.

ANNEX 1: New emerging needs in implementation/management of wasting scale up in Sudan

• Increased resources (funding) needs associated with increased 2023 targets, planned scale up for treatment of wasting, mapping of the needs and prioritization.
• Increased service for treatment of wasting and monitoring needs due to the suspension and break in pipeline for TSFP and prevention of MAM activities as well as break/interruption in services that is likely to impact demand for services from the communities
• Increased needs for scaling up new SAM with medical complication sites and improvement of the quality of services the existing ones as well as supporting referral systems. This is particularly concerning as more mass screening for early detection will lead to increased admissions and referrals for SAM with medical complication that might overwhelm the existing facilities or not able to get to the SC if it is too far.
• Technical assistance to support evidence generation to support advocacy and programming technical adjustment as needed.
• Increased need for advocacy for resources to cope with new emerging needs above

*The 13 high-burden countries include: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen.