Local Consultant: Sub-national Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (11.5 Months)

Masbate | Legazpi

Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
Location: Masbate | Legazpi
Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
Occupational Groups:
- Nutrition
- Project and Programme Management
Closing Date: Closed

The Government of the Philippines has put in place the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) which adopts a multi-sectoral nutrition approach to deliver a coordinated package of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions, and to improve key behaviours and practices known to reduce stunting across 235 municipalities of the country. The project aims to address malnutrition by establishing geographic convergence, investing in supply-side and demand-side interventions, incentivising the achievement of nutrition results at the Local Government Unit (LGU) level, and emphasising equity to improve the country's overall nutrition and health outcomes.

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, a fair chance

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support primarily local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will take into account capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

It has a field office in Cotabato City, the second largest city in Mindanao, southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative centre of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoon storms.

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

How can you make a difference in the following areas?

(1) subnational consultant based in Legazpi, Albay

(1) subnational consultant based in Masbate

(2) subnational consultants based in Tacloban

The project has three components:

Component 1: led by the Department of Health (DOH) and aims to strengthen nutrition and primary health services through Performance-Based Grants (PBGs), health system enhancements, and capacity-building support for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Component 2: led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) focuses on community-based nutrition service delivery and multisectoral nutrition convergence. It promotes essential family practices and supports interventions for improved access to water, sanitation, hygiene services, social protection, early childhood care and social protection.

Component 3: jointly co-led by DOH and DSWD, focuses on institutional strengthening, monitoring, evaluation, and communication. This includes planning and implementing high impact interventions, project management, and establishing guidelines and frameworks for

monitoring and evaluation practices.

The technical assistance focusing on three key outputs:

1) Project Evaluation covering 235 municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

2) Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) targeting 235 municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

3) Third Party Verification of Performance Based Grants (PBG) to application and Local Fiduciary Systems on PMNP in 235 municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Purpose:

The purpose of the Sub-national PMNP Consultants is to support UNICEF Programme Officers (M&E Officer, SBC Officer, and Nutrition Officer) based in Manila, in coordinating, planning, and reporting with the Regional DOH, Project Management Offices (RPMO), and UNICEF Institutional Contractors in the operations and implementation of PMNP activities. The consultants will report outputs and

activities under the UNICEF-DOH partnership agreement and ensure close coordination and collaboration of implementation with the ongoing PMNP and other nutrition activities in the 235 municipalities. Institutional Contractors will implement the UNICEF TA and will focus on 1) Project Evaluation (Impact Evaluation (IE) and landscape analysis/nutrition assessment (LANA), 2) Social and Behavior Change (SBC), and 3) Third-party verification (TPV) of performance-based grants (PBGs).

Specifically:

The Sub-national PMNP Consultants will work closely with UNICEF Staff based in Manila and coordinate implementation with other UNICEF staff and consultants based in their respective target regions, provinces, and municipalities. At the sub-national level, the consultant/s will also engage with Regional and provincial (LGUs down to barangays) stakeholders including CSO partners through coordinating, planning, and reporting functions.

From a larger perspective, the consultant/s will contribute to fulfilling PMNP objectives aligned with the Country Programme for Children 2024 2028 (CPC 9) in the target LGUs.

Scope of work:

Under the supervision of the officers, the consultant is required to perform the following tasks:

1. Support UNICEF Programme Officers through planning and coordination of UNICEF Technical Assistance (TA) on PMNP across the 235 target municipalities.

a. Coordinate implementation schedules of UNICEF TA activities with the Regional PMNP Project Management Offices (RPMOs), Centers for Health Development (CHDs), NNC, DSWD and other relevant PMNP Officials.

b. Assess, identify, and report to UNICEF Programme Officers issues and concerns raised by the RPMO and the PMNP Municipalities in the implementation of UNICEF TA in their respective regions.

c. Report to Programme Officers positive and negative feedback raised by UNICEF Stakeholders in implementing PMNP Outputs and Activities.

2. Support organization and participate in sub-national PMNP coordination and collaboration mechanisms with regional, government stakeholders and partner CSOs in the target municipalities of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This will include but is not limited to PMNP subnational Technical Working Group Meetings.

3. Support UNICEF Programme Officers in planning, coordinating, reporting, and setting up meetings such as Program Implementation Review with government partners and other relevant stakeholders.

4. Identify and document human interest stories and best practices for PMNP.

5. Perform other tasks aligned with the UNICEF-DOH PMNP partnership agreement.

Deliverables

- Report following a template that shows timelined implementation plan for UNICEF PMNP TA packages agreed with the Regional Project Manager Management Office (RPMO).

- Meeting minutes between UNICEF PMNP Consultants and RPMO.

- Monthly report that details the progress of implementation, data, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned.

- Weekly/bi-weekly field updates.

- Monthly report that details the discussions in the meetings (i.e., progress of implementation, data, achievements, challenges,

and lessons learned).

- Weekly/bi-weekly field updates.

- Report from the Program Implementation Review (including the list of participants).

- Human-interest stories with high-resolution photos.

- Documentation of best practices and lessons learned.

Qualifications and Competencies of Successful Consultant:

Bachelor's degree in any of the following areas: nutrition, public health, statistics, information management, development studies, or a relevant field.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills Required:

Three-Five years of technical experience in health and nutrition programming and management, supported by strong references.
Ability to convene and engage multi-stakeholders to achieve project and deliverables and contribution to PMNP objectives.
Strong analytical and presentation (oral and written) skills, including using essential computer software packages.
Ability to meet deadlines and work with minimal day-today supervision.
Candidates with local knowledge and experience in the regional assignments are encouraged to apply.
Relevant field experience and previous work experience in the UN are highly desirable.
Excellent knowledge of English.
Excellent writing and analytical skills.
Master's Degree on related field, an advantage.

Critical Competencies:

Technical

Familiarity to health and nutrition programming both national and local level especially on health and nutrition planning mechanisms (e.g. PPAN, LNAPs, etc.).
Experienced in handling and analysing spreadsheet data.
Proven expertise in engaging and convening national government agencies (DOH, NNC and other NGOs) in the regional level.
Experienced working with local government units, particularly on health and nutrition programs.
Working with UN agencies and other development partners is an advantage.
Good communication skills in both English and local dialect.
Willingness to support the achievement of nutrition outcomes in the area of responsibility.

HOW TO APPLY

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by 28 July 2024. Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal under Job Number: 573758 will be considered.

All candidates are requested to submit a COVER LETTER, and the duly filled P11 Form which can be downloaded from our website at P11 Form.docx (sharepoint.com) indicating three (3) previous supervisors. Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate and area to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted.

Remarks:

Terms of reference may be shared upon request.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

"UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations, 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."

This vacancy is now closed.