Vacancies

Home-based: Global Nutrition Cluster Strategic Plan Development Consultant (160 working days; with travel as needed) - Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS)

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Job no: 573536

Contract type: Consultant

Duty Station: Geneva

Level: Consultancy

Location: Switzerland

Categories: Nutrition, Emergency, Knowledge Management, Health and Nutrition, Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, dedication.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

This consultancy is to review the GNC’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and to develop the next GNC strategy for 2026-2030, through a locally informed approach. A key strategic shift for the GNC is to become ‘as local as possible and as international as necessary’. In 2024, the GNC launched its GNC Localisation Roadmap for 2024-2025. The intention is to apply the actions under this Roadmap in the articulation of the next GNC strategy. The GNC envisions that the strategy development process will be informed by consultations with local and national actors, and that the new strategy will result in a changed ‘ways of working’ which will ensure that the GNC is progressive on the global localisation agenda.

Background

The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) is one of the 11 humanitarian clusters established in 2006, operated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) following the Humanitarian Reform and further defined by the Transformative Agenda. At the global level, the GNC supports the cluster approach by strengthening system-wide preparedness and coordination of response capacity in humanitarian crises, providing clear leadership and accountability. At the country level, the GNC supports coordination mechanisms to strengthen partnerships and improve the predictability and accountability of humanitarian action by improving prioritization and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian organizations.

The GNC is led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as the cluster lead agency (CLA) and has two membership categories, including 50 members and four standing observers working in the Nutrition in Emergency sector across international organizations, UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations, academic institutes, and donors. The GNC consists of Programmatic and Coordination Teams, both driving the GNC’s Strategic Plan in close collaboration with the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), which provides strategic oversight and guidance to the GNC.

GNC’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025

In 2022, the GNC launched the Strategic Plan 2022–2025, which set out the direction for collective commitment around joint action to be achieved through a common vision, mission, and objectives supported by shared values. The GNC strategy for 2022-2025 underscores the continued commitment by all GNC partners and UNICEF as the Cluster Lead Agency to ensure quality, rights-based, and context-specific nutrition programming and coordination informed by evidence and innovation.

Vision: By the end of 2025, the nutritional status of the most vulnerable people is protected in countries at risk of or with ongoing situations of fragility.

Mission: The GNC collective exists to safeguard and improve the nutritional status of crisis-affected populations by enabling coordination mechanisms to achieve timely, quality, and appropriate nutrition response to effectively meet the needs of people affected by humanitarian crises.

Strategic Objectives:

• People – To support countries, UNICEF as a Cluster Lead Agency, and nutrition partners at subnational, national, regional, and global levels to ensure they are adequately staffed and skilled to prepare for, respond to, and recover from situations of fragility.
• Operational & Technical Support – To provide adequate NiE coordination, IM, and programme operational and technical support to ensure that decisions at all levels are guided by timely, sound technical advice while documenting experiences and generating new evidence.
• Enabling Environment – To be a driver of change for improved collaboration, partnerships, and innovation on nutrition to prepare for, respond to, and recover from shocks to the nutrition situation at the global, regional, national, and subnational level; and to create a supportive financial and policy environment for strengthened technical and coordination capacity for nutrition in situations of fragility.

Scope of work

Review the implementation of the GNC’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, including:

• Planning, preparation, and facilitation of a workshop with the GNC Leadership Teams (Coordination and Programme) and SAG to discuss the methodology for the review of the 2022-2025 strategic plan and to discuss the methodology for the development of the 2026-2030 strategic plan.
• Conducting a review of progress in strategy implementation (January 2022 until December 2025).
• Evaluating the key contributions by GNC partners and coordination mechanisms in its implementation.
• Documenting best practices and key lessons learned in its implementation.

Develop the GNC’s next Strategic Plan 2026-2030, with a focus on localization, including:

• Engaging with local and national actors to ensure their meaningful participation and leadership.
• Incorporating the principles outlined in the GNC Localisation Roadmap 2024-2025.
• Facilitating consultations and workshops to gather input from a broad range of stakeholders; including leveraging the 2025 GNC Global Event to garner global and country level inputs.
• Assessing the global landscape, contextual shifts and changes to be considered.
• Developing a robust strategy that also enhances the capacity and leadership of local actors in nutrition coordination.

Methodology

The selected methodology to be chosen will be proposed by and agreed upon with the consultant through the development of an inception report. The methodology will consider mixed data collection methods and will consist of the below at a minimum. In addition, innovative data collection methods are encouraged to ensure local and national actor participation and leadership, and to garner feedback from affected populations.

• Briefing: The consultant will have briefings with colleagues from the GNC’s Coordination Team, Programme Leadership Team, Operations Team, Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), Global Cluster Coordination Section (GCCS), Global Cluster Coordination Group (GCCG), GCCS Localisation Focal Point, the GNC Anti-Racism and Localisation Working Group, and UNICEF AAP focal point.
• Desk Review: The consultant will review all relevant cluster documentation at global and country levels, including recent evaluations, reviews and other (UNICEF-led) cluster strategies.
• Key Informant Interviews: Conduct interviews with the GNC’s Coordination Team, Programme Leadership Team, SAG, Operations team, GNC WGs, donors, GNC partners, other UNICEF-led clusters, and key members from inter-cluster/sector collaboration groups. It is estimated that 40-50 interviews will be conducted.
• Stakeholder Survey: An online survey/s will be shared with all GNC members and Nutrition Cluster/Sector coordination mechanisms.
• Webinars and Workshops: Conduct webinars and workshops to include participation of key groups, present initial findings and gather stakeholder input.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / MilestoneDeliverables / OutputsTimeline / DeadlineFormative workshop

By 31 October 2024

Inception Report

By 31 January 2025

Review of the implementation of the GNC’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025

By 30 March 2025

GNC 2026-2030 Strategic Plan

By 30 September 2025

Estimated Duration of the Contract

160 working days between October 2024 and September 2025

The Consultant will be home-based.

As part of this assignment, some international travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 160 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as this will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• University degree, preferably at an advanced level (Master's or higher), in a subject area relevant to humanitarian, development, international relations, research, public health or related field.
• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible work experience and expertise in the humanitarian and development sector in strategy development and planning, coordination and partnerships, monitoring, evaluation and research. Strong operational knowledge of the cluster system and the IASC is desirable.
• A first University degree with 7 years of related work experience and expertise, in lieu of a masters, is acceptable.
• Proven experience and knowledge in carrying out evaluations and reviews, particularly for the Nutrition sector is considered an asset.
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with proven experience in design of data collection tools and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. Experience using NVivo, SPSS or similar software is required.
• Experience in localisation and promoting Local and National actor participation and leadership is required.
• Experience working for a local or national actor desirable.
• Good communications and facilitation/presentation skills, with proven experience of planning for and conducting webinars and workshop, online and in-person.
• Ability to write clearly and present complex strategies into synthesized reports and findings.
• Ability to manage the available time and resources and to work to tight deadlines, with minimal supervision.
• Written and spoken fluency in English. Other languages, particularly French, Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic, are strongly desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV, a Cover Letter, and two (2) samples of similar work as attachments and/or hyperlinks to online documents in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

Advertised: W. Europe Daylight Time

Deadline: W. Europe Daylight Time