Consultancy to support to the Country Level Nutrition Cluster Coordination: part-time 5 months (home based)

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide nutrition cluster coordinators at country level with technical assistance, mentoring and training. The following expected results include detail on tasks to be undertaken, although the evolving nature of this work and the high level of experience and expertise of the consultant may mean that on the consultant’s or the GNC’s recommendation, tasks and deliverables outlined below could be modified or added, on mutual agreement.

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Purpose of the Position

The concept of global clusters was adopted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in September 2005 in recognition of the capacity gaps which often undermine the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance delivered to communities affected by emergencies. Cluster leads were identified for eleven areas of activity with UNICEF the designated global lead for three clusters including Nutrition. UNICEF is also a lead for working group on Gender Based Violence and Child Protection, both of which falls under the Protection Cluster. 

The aim of the global clusters is to “improve the predictability, timeliness and effectiveness of a comprehensive response to humanitarian crises” through strengthening partnerships between NGOs, international organizations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and UN agencies.  At country level it is anticipated that enhanced inter agency collaboration will improve the quality of response by encouraging better prioritization of available resources and greater clarity in defining the division of labor and the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian actors in the response.

At a global level, the Nutrition Cluster has made significant progress since 2006 in bringing together Nutrition partners to support a coherent emergency response. Operational support for effective cluster coordination is at the core of the Strategic Priority 1 of the 2017-2020 GNC Strategy and the 2017-2018 workplan. On the basis of past experience and learning from a range of humanitarian settings, one of the major areas of work outlined in the workplan is strengthening coordination of nutrition in emergencies interventions at field level. Along with maintaining, developing and using the existing GNC Rapid Response Team (RRT), this part of the workplan includes activities related to the following projected outcomes:

• Provide timely support to country clusters/sectors through GNC HelpDesk and GNC-CT deployments, including strategic support to HNO/HRP development
• Follow up with Cluster Coordination Performance Monitoring exercise at country level and provide necessary support if needed.

In 2014, the Global Nutrition Cluster initiated the evaluation of its support to the national nutrition coordination platforms which was completed in January 2015. Amongst the major recommendations proposed was the development of an operational support plan for the GNC-CT that engages national clusters in a systemic manner. In addition, identification of modalities for improved strategic engagement of GNC partners/SAG in support of national platforms was also proposed.

During 2012-2014 the GNC Rapid Response Team members were able to spend their non-deployment time establishing important supports for field based coordinators. However, factors such as an increased demand for deployments and the allocation of some non-deployment time to Stand By Partner (SBP) agency tasks (such as coordination training for SBP agency or roster staff) have since limited the extent to which RRT members can contribute to providing routine support field based coordination. Drawing on these lessons, in June 2015 the GNC-CT established a GNC HelpDesk that provided systematic and routine support required for field based coordinators, to complement the in-country deployments of the RRT.

Upon establishment of the HelpDesk a list of 36 countries with sector and cluster coordination structures in place and entitled for remote support was updated. Information was systematically sent to these countries, inviting them to participate to all calls and bring any issue to the HelpDesk when needs arise. Since its inception in June 2015, the GNC HelpDesk has managed to provide a real-time support to 33 nutrition clusters and sectors, with an average of 9 countries supported per month. The support provided can be divided in several areas from which some of main ones are: induction and mentoring of newly appointed NCCs and RRTs (9 persons), organization of remote orientation sessions on cluster approach for partners (129 persons trained), support to CCPM exercise (17 countries), support to HNO and HRP development (17 countries) and ad hoc support regarding cluster/sector coordination concerns (31 countries who have received from one time/easy to solve to more extensive supports).  The HelpDesk has also maintained a close contact with country cluster coordinators and IMOs through the organization of 11 monthly NCC calls, with an average of 13 participants from different countries per call. All activities undertaken and concerns observed during the HelpDesk support to countries were shared each month with the GNC-CT through the submission of monthly reports and attendance to all relevant calls at global level. The funding from the GNC HelpDesk came from UNICEF/GNC for the periods of June 2015 to April 2016 and August 2016 to July 2017 and from a GNC partner World Vision International from May to July 2016. The cluster coordinators and IMOs at country level greatly supported the establishment of the HelpDesk and during the 2015 GNC Annual Meeting expressed their desire to continue with such services.

The consultant will continue to maintain the GNC HelpDesk services to the country clusters and will draw on pre-existing relationship between the GNC-CT and many of the nutrition cluster coordinators currently working in emergency affected countries, as well as prior experience working as an RRT member and excellent relationships with the existing RRT and broader GNC membership, to achieve the results outlined below.

Duration: The consultancy is home-based. It is envisaged that the consult will work at least 10 working days in a month for the period of 01 August 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate 

• University degree in Nutrition, Public Health or relevant field;
• At least 8 years of experience in nutrition in emergencies programming or nutrition, food security programme management, including experience of coordination of nutrition responses in a range of settings including sudden onset natural disasters and conflict settings.
• Experience of facilitation of cluster coordination training to interagency groups.
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of mentoring in a professional setting
• Fluency in English and French
• Excellent understanding of the humanitarian architecture at global and field level and the IASC Transformative Agenda
• Familiarity with the work, working methods, and members of the GNC
• Proven ability to work independently and deliver results
• Excellent communication skills

Competencies of Successful Candidate

• Core Values 
• Commitment 
• Diversity and inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication  
• Working with people  
• Drive for results  

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 organisation.

To Apply: Please include a letter of interest, including your approach to the assignment and proposed fees (daily). Please note that the letter that doesn’t specify your fees will not be accepted. UN P-11 Personal History form duly completed and recent CV.

This consultancy is home-based and involves two to three travels to Geneva and location where GNC Annual Meetings will take place (dates to be determined). All travel expenses will be paid per UNICEF policy. The consultant will travel by the most direct and economical route in economy class. UNICEF will pay the daily subsistence allowance as per UN-approved rate. The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UNDSS Basic and Advanced Security certificates, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card. The dates for the travel will be determined in consultation with GNC-CT.