Nutrition Specialist – Climate Change & Food Security

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.

Context

The impact of climate change is already visible in Kenya. The changes in rainfall patterns are causing floods, droughts, and desertification. Climate-related economic shocks push communities towards negative coping mechanisms. UNICEF Kenya would like to engage the services of UNV to promote UNICEF’s agenda and its actions to contribute to preventing chid malnutrition amid the climate crisis. Working closely with the climate task force, the UNV will support the Nutrition section to mainstream climate action into its various programmes and will build the capacity of the nutrition section staff in the area of climate change and food security. This is aimed at improving children’s access to nutritious and sustainable diets, prevention and lifesaving nutrition services and healthy food environments and food and nutrition practices. The actions target populations affected by the climate crisis nationally, and especially vulnerable communities to ensure protection of children’s rights to food and nutrition, women and young people and leaving no one behind.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Nutrition Specialist Governance and System strengthening, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1.Support the functioning of the UNICEF climate change taskforce. 2.Enhance climate change integration/mainstreaming in nutrition programmes including nutrition policies, strategies and guidelines under development. 3.Develop capacity of the nutrition section to analyze and interpret the linkages of nutrition and climate change. 4.Support in setting up of a volunteer network for climate change in collaboration with UNICEF global and regional teams with a focus on mainstreaming nutrition in this initiative. 5.Support the national and local government to identify climate change risks, vulnerabilities and capacities to inform nutrition preparedness and response plans to climate shocks. 6.Strengthen the coordination and monitoring of the nutrition response to climate shocks, within and across sectors, and among partners to ensure that no child is left behind. 7.Support building back better through the development of climate shock-responsive nutrition policies, programmes and systems, supported by lessons learned and knowledge. 8.Contribute to advocacy efforts towards climate action in nutrition including development of an advocacy brief on climate actions in nutrition. 9.Contribute information and reporting on nutrition section actions on climate change. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: •Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); •Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country. •Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities. •Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc. •Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers. •Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.