Kenya: Consultant to conduct a regional nutrition analysis in East and Southern Africa

Title of AssignmentConsultant to conduct a regional nutrition analysis in East and Southern AfricaSection NutritionLocation Remote with travel to Nairobi and selected East and Southern Africa countriesDuration 4.5 monthsStart date From:01/11/2015 To:15/03/2016

Background and Justification

There are an estimated 27.7 million stunted children under five in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA); an unacceptably high figure. In particular there are 10 high burden countries in the region wherein the burden of maternal and child malnutrition continues to remain unacceptably high. Regionally, progress is being made; especially with regards reduction in stunting prevalence over the last two decades. Stunting among under-five children in the region has fallen from 52 per cent in 1990 to 39 percent in 2013^[1]. Underweight rates also declined from 28 to 18 percent over the same period.According to the most recent estimates, the regional wasting prevalence averages 6.9% in the region (4.9 million children under 5 years) but in several ESA countries, severe and global acute malnutrition often and regularly exceed rates above WHO’s thresholds signaling a public health emergency.

Over the span of the last 4-7 years, the prevalence of stunting has reduced in about 7 countries in ESA, however the rate of reduction is sub-optimal and despite this progress, high levels of children under nutrition persist in the region.

Whilst regional averages for stunting are available, there are gaps in country-specific data. The absence of updated regional nutrition situation and programme outlook that could accurately inform programming in ESA, is a missed opportunity as more and more countries are scaling up their nutrition actions to reduce stunting. A recent nutrition information system developed by UNICEF called NutriDash has confirmed that several countries in ESA are facing nutrition information gaps. Furthermore in the last ESA Regional Management Team meeting (April 2015), it was recommend that country offices need to work with governments to update the nutrition situation whether from surveys or from the routine data so as to timely inform on the nutrition situation of children and guide programme implementation.

ESA Region (ESAR) is prone to frequent low to large scale humanitarian situation that include recurring food and nutrition crisis. The complex nature of crisis demands coordinated action and a holistic approach from emergency preparadness, response to recovery and this includes country level nutrition information systems capable of providing timely informations systems for early action. The extent to which systems are in place, functionning, known by stakeholders and decision makers need to be assessed. Moreover the inter-connectivity of nutrition information systems with other information systems such as food security need to be explored and synergetic opportunities explored further.

Given that the nutrition section of UNICEF’s regional Eastern and Southern Africa office is responsible for providing quality assurance and oversight in the planning, implementation and monitoring of nutrition programmes, it is important to ensure that adequate, detailed and quality data analyses of the nutrition situation, across various country typologies in the region is conducted, documented and regularly updated. Such documentation can assist in identifying those countries that are facing challenges in nutrition programming, can assist in advocating and building a case for resource mobilization for the countries. Given the regional priority 2: Reduce stunting it will be important to have a thorough overview of the current regional situation pertaining to stunting, key focus areas for ESA and overall nutritional status in the 21 countries of the region.

The consultant will collate evidence to reinforce nutrition programming and nutrition awareness raising; provide in depth information on nutrition situation and trends in the region, including in the contexts of emergencies, food prices, overall socio-economic situation, climate change and progress towards stunting reduction in the 21 ESAR countries. Based on the regional and country nutrition information profile strengths and weaknesses, the consultant would develop based on the country typology, improved and integrated nutrition information systems. Whilst there are only a handful of countries that have, in recent times updated their nutrition information, this can prove to be highly valuable to have a fully updated analysis of nutritional status data as a regional state of the art review of the Nutrition situation in the region.

Scope of Work

Goal and Objective:Under the supervision of the Regional Advisor – Nutrition, the consultant will review nutrition information data, undertake detailed regional analysis of child nutrition status data and develop an ESA regional nutrition information database.

1)Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:

This consultancy will support the AWP Nutrition GRP under Objective 1.4. under the outcome: Enhanced regional level intergovernmental and institutional partnerships commitment to innovate, generate evidence and leverage resources. Further the consultancy will apply to Nutrition DE under 2.4.7 Technical assistance: 11 CO’s provided with analytical and technical support on scaling up CMAM programmes and 8 CO’s on nutrition surveillance

2)Activities and Tasks:

Specific activities to be completed to achieve the objectives:

· Within 1 week of signature of a contract, develop and present an inception report with details on the consultancy plans, key milestones and timeline

· Undertake a desk review of existing nutrition information system related documents including regional and country level NIS reviews, plans, surveys, interventions reports, datasets (including NUTRIDASH) and coverage data

· Document and analyse the nutrition situation of children and women (status and trends, key vulnerabilities) in ESA countries including sub-regional groupings of countries (Horn of Africa, Southern Africa)

· Undertake country visits and or calls when necessary to fill information gaps

· Review the status of nutrition information systems (NIS) and components specifically the methods, source of information, quality control measures in place, and the systems strengths, weaknesses

· Engage with Regional partners (IGAD, NEPAD, FNSWG) on linkages/integration of nutrition information analysis and other sectors such as food security, etc.

· Define in consultation with relevant stakeholders, opportunities for NIS improvement in ESA including action plan for either regional efforts and or individual country supports

· Based on the typology of NIS in ESA countries, design in consultation with country and regional stakeholders “a proof of concept” on nutrition information systems by country typology and regionally

· Prepare regular consultancy progress updates, draft and final versions of the key consultancy deliverables, (reports, powerpoints)

3)Work relationships:

a. The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Regional Advisor – Nutrition, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office.

b. He/she will be expected to support the analysis of the nutrition situation in ESAR

c. The consultant will travel to Nairobi within one week of signing of the contract to develop a detailed work plan and discuss with the Nutrition team (inception phase).

d. Performance reviews will be undertaken by the Regional Advisor – Nutrition on a monthly basis through formal submissions of deliverables, their reviews, feed-back to the consultant. Telephone (SKYPE) updates could also be used in between the monthly progress review.

e. Visits to countries in the region will be conducted as and when necessary.

f. End consultancy performance review will be conducted after receipt of all deliverables.

g. Performance indicators for evaluation of results: (i) Timeliness of draft and final report submissions; (ii) Quality of analysis and reports.

4)Deliverables/Proposed timeline and schedule of payment:

DeliverablesDuration

(Estimated # of week or months) Schedule of payment 1. Inception report outlining the consultancy plan, methods, key milestones and timelines 1 week 2. Situation analysis on the state of children nutrition situation, nutrition information systems and nutrition programming in East and Southern Africa (report and power point) 1 month 25 % payment upon submission and acceptance of inception report and advanced draft situation analysis report 3. Cross-sectional analysis and report on barriers and bottlenecks to scale-up/ strengthenning of Nutrition information systems in ESA and selected interventions (Report and power point) 0.5 month 20% payment upon submission and acceptance of report on barriers and bottlenecks related to NIS, SAM, IDD 4. Proof of concept Note(s) to guide the strenghtening of country nutrition information system based on the typology of NIS observed in ESA 1 month 20% upon the submission of a guide on strengthening NIS 5. Regional database/repository on child nutrition status/trends and programme coverage for use by the Regional office and SOP for its regular update 3 weeks 6. Support the regional office with collecting and analyzing data and information for regional documents and/ reports 1 month 35% upon submission and demonstration of the use of the regional database and information repository on child nutrition

upon submission and acceptance of analytic report

Payment Schedule

Interim payments are linked to deliverables Payment is upon satisfactory completion of deliverables.

Desired technical background and experience

1. Master’s Degree or equivalent in Nutrition, Public Health/Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Medicine or related field


2. At least eight years of experience at country, regional or global level with nutrition and health programmes, especially data management thereof


3. Experience in working with nutrition programming data


4. Familiarity with UNICEF is a plus


5. Proven analytical skills


6. Strong writing skills


7. Ability to work in a multicultural environment


8. Fluency in English is required.

Desired Competencies

1. Communication – Ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and in writing; effectively presenting thoughts and ideas in a clear, concise, and readily understood manner. Listen to and acknowledges others’ perspectives and views.


2. Builds, maintains, and leverages a diverse network of contacts, strategic partnerships and alliances with donors, as well as other UN Agencies, NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, international financial institutions, media and civil society.


3. Team Leadership – Energizes, inspires, and develops others by creating a shared vision, demonstrates model performance and professionalism, and recognizes and rewards results. Cooperates and works effectively with others in the pursuit of common goals respecting different gender, culture, opinions, values, perspectives, ideas, skills, expertise, knowledge, and experiences


4. Judgement – Able to make effective, realistic, and impactful decisions based on limited information and time, logical inferences, experiences, and the consideration of implications, alternatives, and consequences.


5. Flexibility – Works effectively on multiple assignments simultaneously in an emergency setting and adapts to changing demands and circumstances; adaptable and ready to travel with little or short notice.


6. Managing stress – Performs effectively in unstable, uncertain, or potentially dangerous environments while maintaining physical and mental health.

Administrative issues

The consultancy is based remotely with travel to ESARO and travel to selected country (ies) in ESA

The consultancy duration will be for 4.5 months effective 1^st November 2015 to 15^th March 2016

Conditions

The consultancy is based remotely. No office space or equipment will be provided from UNICEF and will be the sole responsibility of the consultant, except when the consultant is in Nairobi on mission for the inception report and for any other consultations pre-approved by ESARO RA Nutrition.

All travel is by most economical fare and reimbursement as per UNICEF policy.

As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.

Risks

Risks include emergencies and crises that might affect some or all of the focus countries and regions during the duration of the consultancy that will affect the implementation of the grant and its reporting. Some country offices may not be able to easily share data without prior government agreement and this may delay the outputs from the consultancy. Personal hardship on the part of the consultant may also constrain timely and good quality outputs from the consultant. The contract with the consultant will specify terms in which a termination of contract will be necessary, if the work will be compromised.

[1] United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, The World Bank. UNICEFWHO-

World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. 2013.