Recruitment of an international consultant to support the Government of Cameroon to undertake a costing of its multisectoral nutrition implementation plan.

Consultant to undertake a costing of the Cameroon's multisectoral nutrition plan

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Background

Over the past 25 years, Cameroon has made little progress in reducing undernutrition. The prevalence of stunting increased from 24.4% in 1991 to 32% in 2014. Likewise, the prevalence of wasting in children under 5 increased from 3% in 1991 to 5.2% in 2014, while the proportion of underweight children increased from 13.6% to 14.8% during the same period (Figure 1). Micronutrient deficiencies are also of concern. The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among children under 5 is 39%, and it is 18% among pregnant women. Anaemia is common among pregnant women and children, affecting nearly 40% and 58% of them, respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of iron-deficiency anaemia ranges from 12% to 47.4% among children and from 9% to 19.4% among women. At the same time, the country is experiencing a nutrition transition fuelled by a rapid urbanisation and changes in diet and lifestyle patterns, with an increasing number of children who are overweight, obese or suffering from diet-related chronic diseases. Nearly 7% of children under 5 in Cameroon are overweight.

Until recently, these different forms of malnutrition have been tackled in a fragmented way in Cameroon and, as a result, very little progress has been made. Going forward, there is a need for a more focused approach that addresses malnutrition in a comprehensive way and improve coverage of key nutrition interventions. One of the barriers preventing children and mothers from receiving key nutrition interventions in Cameroon is a weak multi-sectoral nutrition system at national and decentralized levels. Going forward, there is a need to improve nutrition governance and unite stakeholders united around a common results framework. The development of a costed multi-sectoral nutrition implementation plan is a step in that direction. The Government of Cameroon has already taken steps to develop a multisectoral plan. A full-fledged multisectoral implementation plan has been developed thanks to the technical and financial support provided by UNICEF. However, this plan does not include costing or scheduling. Consequently, the Nutrition Section proposes to recruit a consultant to support the government to undertake a costing of its multisectoral nutrition implementation plan.

 Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to support the Government of Cameroon to estimate costs to carry out the national multisectoral implementation plan for nutrition that has just been developed. A special emphasis will be put on estimating the cost of monitoring progress towards the national nutrition targets.

This work will be carried out through costing analyses and discussions with key government organizations, in particular the Ministry of Health (MINSANTE) and the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MINEPAT) as well as UN organizations and other partners involved in nutrition.

Assignment Tasks and Expected Deliverables

The activities to be taken up and completed during the course of the assignment are summarized in the table below:

A detailed description of the specific deliverables that are expected during the assignment is presented in the table below:

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

1. Education: Advanced university degree in Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition, Epidemiology or any other relevant field
2. Work experience: Minimum 15 years of experience in the design and management of nutrition programs
3. Competencies: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; Strong analytical skills Sound judgement and initiative; Strong communication and writing skills
4. Languages: French written and oral fluency, with a good knowledge of English

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Conditions of work

The consultancy duration will be for 3 months. The consultancy will be based in Yaounde. No office space or equipment will be provided from UNICEF and will be the sole responsibility of the consultant.

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Nutrition Section Chief and the overall supervision of the M&E Section Chief. He/she will be expected to work closely with the Nutrition Specialist for CMAM and the Nutrition officer for Micronutrients and Infant and Young Child Feeding. The level of collaboration expected from the consultation is outlined in the table below:

 Proposal submission

Applications shall be submitted to UNICEF Cameroon before the deadline containing the following required documentation:

1. Technical Proposal: Consultant shall prepare a proposal in response to the ToR, ensuring that the purpose, objectives, scope, criteria and deliverables of the assessment are addressed. Draft work plan and timeline for the assessment should be included. The Technical Proposal shall also include updated CV and Personal History Forms (P11) of the consultant, and copies of 2 assessments performed previously by the consultant.
2. Financial Proposal: Offer with cost breakdown: Consultancy fees, travel costs, Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) other costs. The Financial Proposal shall be submitted in a separate file, clearly named Financial Proposal.

A two stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the applications received in accordance to the below criteria, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Submitted applications will be assessed using Cumulative Analysis Method. Technical proposals should attain a minimum of 50 points to qualify and to be considered:

a) Technical proposals (Maximum technical score: 70 points)

Overall Response: Maximum 10 points                                              

• Understanding of scope, objectives and completeness and coherence of response           
• Overall match between the ToR requirements and proposal

Proposed Methodology and Approach: Maximum 20 points                         

• Quality of proposed approach/methodology
• Quality of proposed Implementation Plan, i.e. how the consultant will undertake each task, and maintenance of project schedules;

Technical Capacity: Maximum 40 points                                               

• Range and depth of experience with similar assessments
• Knowledge of the latest developments in the field of nutrition
• Strong analytical skills and qualitative and/or quantitative statistical data processing applications
• Excellent communication, report writing and presentation skills

   b) Financial Proposal (Maximum Financial Score: 30 points)

 The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 50 points in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.