Consultancy: Infant and Young Child Nutrition - Nutrition Section, PD - Requisition# 505507

To provide communication support for the BAI launch, including the global press call and the two country level events.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Background & Rationale

UNICEF and WHO are co-leading a Global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative (BAI), a partnership currently comprised of 20 prominent international agencies and non-governmental organizations. The need for a global breastfeeding advocacy push stems from the concerning fact that despite the remarkable scientific evidence on the myriad benefits of breastfeeding, there has been limited progress in the last twenty years to significantly raise breastfeeding rates at global level. Globally, less than half of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed (fed only breastmilk, with no additional foods or liquid, including water, as per recommended guidelines). Recent evidence in The Lancet confirms the critical importance of breastfeeding. Better breastfeeding practices could save 823,000 children and 20,000 mothers each year, in addition to generating economic savings of US $300 billion.

The BAI has four main advocacy goals:

1) Raise the visibility of breastfeeding as a foundation of child survival, health and development, and as beneficial for maternal health;

2) Secure new financial resources for national breastfeeding programs and supportive policies;

3) Strengthen political commitment for this issue;

4) Ultimately contribute to building a social movement in which breastfeeding is the social norm, and all mothers and families are empowered and supported to breastfeed.

The BAI has made significant contributions to advance the breastfeeding advocacy agenda, including the development of a comprehensive communication plan; the development of a collective call to action reflecting seven policy actions that need to be undertaken to achieve the global breastfeeding target set by member states of the World Health Assembly to raise the global average rate of exclusive breastfeeding in

the first six months to at least 50 per cent by 2025, the successful leveraging of significant advocacy opportunities, and the creation and dissemination of key advocacy materials including advocacy briefs focused on breastfeeding and gender equality and early childhood development.

The BAI will be launched in August to engage stakeholders on the critical importance of investing in supporting women to breastfeed.  The launch will take place during World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), an annual event observed in almost every country across the globe to promote the universal value of breastfeeding and an opportune moment to capitalize on the global conversations highlighting the importance of breastfeeding.  The launch will announce the BAI as the leading global partnership on breastfeeding advocacy to new audiences, feature the unveiling of a new brand identity for the BAI and the release of two critical new pieces of research:

1. An investment case for breastfeeding, building upon the World Bank global nutrition target investment framework, and including new country level data about the costs of not breastfeeding; and
2. A scorecard assessing country-level progress on reaching the seven policy recommendations outlined in the BAI Call to Action to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. 

UNICEF IYCN Unit, on behalf of the BAI, is leading the launch of the BAI in order to raise media attention for the critical importance of investing in breastfeeding and to highlight the BAI as a powerful coalition of partners committed to advancing this agenda. 

Specific objectives of the launch are to generate media attention in order to:

• Raise awareness of the investment case for breastfeeding and where countries stand in supporting women to breastfeed
• Call on governments and donors to increase political commitments and/or financial investments for breastfeeding
• Showcase country commitments to breastfeeding programmes/policies and stories of success
• Raise attention to the BAI as the leading global partnership for breastfeeding advocacy and resources. 

UNICEF, WHO and key BAI partners will organize a global press call (“virtual press conference”) on July 27, 2017 to announce the establishment of the BAI and brief journalists on the new research, which will be released under embargo until August 1. The strategy is to drive press coverage on August 1st, the first day of World Breastfeeding Week. An accompanying digital activation will take place on August 1 to engage wider audiences on the need to support women to breastfeed and invest in breastfeeding.  Two accompanying stakeholder events will take place in Nigeria (on August 1) and Indonesia (on August 7) to highlight the release of the new research and country specific data, and implications for those countries. 

1. Purpose:

To provide communication support for the BAI launch, including the global press call and the two country level events.

Specific assignments are as follows: 

• Draft 3 blog posts on launch events and new research
• Draft story for UNICEF internal website on BAI launch and World Breastfeeding Week
• Provide strategic advice on digital activation and social media support for launch events, liaising with UNICEF, WHO and partner digital teams and follow up social media support
• Provide administrative support for launch events, tied to World Breastfeeding Week, including maintaining contact lists of speakers and participants
• Draft website content post-launch about the events and research
• Compile and draft summary report of launch events for dissemination to partners 

2. Expected results:
3. Time frame: Estimated Starting date: 10 July 2017; End date: 8 September 2017
4. Working conditions: Remotely; also require frequent visits and working to UNICEF NYHQ and attending the global press call on July 27, 2017.
5. Supervision: The consultant will report to Irum Taqi, Programme Specialist (Advocacy)
6. Deliverables and payment schedule: 

7. Key competences, technical background, and experience required:

1. Academic qualification and required level of education:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least 1 year of communication experience.

2. Experience required

• Understanding of strategic communications
• Ability to write clearly and persuasively
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel

3. Languages needed

English

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

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 organisation.