TA - Nutrition Specialist (Prog. Consortium Coordinator) - 364 Days AT UNICEF Abuja, NG

Job description

The Programme Consortium Coordinator is responsible for coordinating, facilitating, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of progress of the project to the UNICEF Chief of Nutrition, the Steering Committee and the donor.
The specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming process to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results in maternal, infant and child nutrition programs in Borno and Yobe states.

BACKGROUND

The protracted conflict in North East (NE) Nigeria has increased population vulnerability to displacement, disruption & loss of livelihood, malnutrition, food insecurity, inadequate health services and poor sanitation. The conflict has directly affected 14.8 million people, of which 7.4 million are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. According to the displacement tracking matrix (DTM) assessment conducted in December 2015, a total of 1,818,469 Internally Displaced Placed Persons (IDPs) have been created by the insurgency, with majority concentrated in the north eastern states. There are substantial efforts by the government to return IDPs to their areas of origin, there is no probable immediate end to the crisis, and it is not known when the displaced persons will be able to return to their “homes” or places of origin.

Borno and Yobe states are the most affected states in the North East by the Boko Haram (BH) crises with over 90% of the internally displaced people located in the two states living in the host community (DTM December 2015) [1] . The prevalence of global acute malnutrition in both states are very high at 11.5% and 10.9% respectively for Borno and Yobe thus requiring urgent humanitarian attention with the understanding that children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are nine times more likely to die than their healthy peers without SAM (Preliminary NNHS Results, 2015 and HNO, 2016). Evidence from the recent harvest indicates that populations in Borno and Yobe are facing deteriorating food and nutrition insecurity arising mainly from 3 consecutive years of below average harvests, limited income opportunities and relatively high food prices (Nigeria food security outlook December 2015) [2] .

As part of the integrated humanitarian response for conflict affected states, Action Against Hunger (AAH), UNICEF and WFP with funding support from the Department of International Development (DFID) will implement the “Integrated Basic Nutrition Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in Borno and Yobe” as a consortium partners.

The Program Is Expected To Commence In March 2016 For a Period Of 3 Years And Will Deliver The Following Outputs

The desired impact of the program is improved nutritional status of children under 5 and improved food security of vulnerable households in North Eastern Nigeria.

Government coordination - Strengthening of State and Federal capacity to coordinate, lead and deliver within the nutrition sector.

Nutrition services - Establishment of functional OTPs at LGA level public Health facilities to deliver effective treatment for not less than 38,000 severe acute malnourished children under five in the two states .

Malnutrition Prevention – Delivery of effective Infant and Young Child feeding interventions through Mother to mother support groups, counselling and the establishment of Care Groups as well as micronutrient deficiency control measures.

Food/Cash Assistance – Support for most vulnerable and food insecure households through food/cash assistance.

PURPOSE

The Programme Consortium Coordinator is responsible for coordinating, facilitating, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of progress of the project to the UNICEF Chief of Nutrition, the Steering Committee and the donor. The specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming process to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results in maternal, infant and child nutrition programs in Borno and Yobe states.

MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

She/ He will be responsible for the delivery of the core functions below

Management and Coordination of the Consortium

• Organize kick off meeting- including involvement from project, technical, finance, logistics and human resource departments as appropriate.
• Act as the secretariat of the steering committee by managing the meeting calendar and ensure that agendas and minutes are circulated in a timely manner. Communicate the relevant actions from the steering committee to the respective program managers.
• Participate in quarterly joint State Operations committee meetings to share information, review assessments and situational analysis and discuss common issues

• Carry out weekly catch ups with consortium key focal points in both states
• Ensure that rules and procedures are understood and respected by all partners, sharing information and conducting training if required on proposed systems and processes for consortium management
• Oversee and proactively engage in the implementation of key recommendations from donor, the consortium steering committee, and technical committee
• Coordinate technical and support team of consortium members as needed
• Develop harmonized workplan and ensure that implementation conforms to the proposed activities in the workplan for each partner and that of the consortium as a whole as per the final approved logical framework.
• Ensure that they allocate equal time and attention to both project locations trough the development of a detailed individual activity plan of the project implementation.

• Ensure that they position the response as part of the larger nutrition sector response strategy to the emergency in the NE
• Conduct field visits to project areas to support the implementation and document the observations and findings
  Manage and ensure timely reporting

• In collaboration with the program managers and the Knowledge management specialist ensure reporting for consortium members in a timely manner and according to agreed timelines with donor
• Responsible for compiling all partner reports into a consolidated report to provide to the donor
• Develop a reporting schedule and harmonized reporting templates that are agreed by consortium members and
• Ensure feedback on progress, monthly and quarterly reports from donor and the technical committee are communicated effectively to the program manager and the knowledge management specialist.
• Manage and update the common program consortium log frame if needed in consultation with donor and Steering Committee
• Collect and provide monthly financial and narrative reports from consortium members for internal reference and progress tracking.
• Collect and provide consolidated narrative and financial reports on progress on a quarterly, annually and final basis as per the donor requirements.
• In collaboration with the program manager ensure that the nutrition program reports are also channeled through the existing state and national health system reporting arrangements on a monthly basis.

Manage Communication Channels for Consortium Partners

• Represent the joint program externally and on its progress as needed to various coordinating bodies, and officials
• Put in place adequate practices and channels of communication and interaction between consortium members
• Attend the state levels and national nutrition sector coordination meeting.
• Proactively seek feedback and input from consortium partners on challenges or risks to funds and negative impacts on programme activities.
• Carry out regular communication and updates on consortium management, consortium partner performance and provide timely alerts of key challenges
  Consortium Monitoring and Evaluation

• Ensure compliance with all monitoring and evaluation policies are known and followed by each consortium partner
• Carry out programme monitoring visits to field and share good practices of the implementation across the two implementing states.
• Convene at least annual consortium technical coordination meetings to share good practice and lessons learnt
• Coordinate a final “lessons learned” workshop based on the findings of the final report

Minimum Qualifications And Competencies

Education

• Advanced university degree (MSc/PhD) in management or business administration, public health, epidemiology, health and nutrition, policy and/or management, or other related field.

Work Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in program/project development and management and/or coordination of partnerships and programs.
• Relevant experience in health/nutrition programs and projects and in UN system agency or international NGO.
• Experience in humanitarian response activity management will be an added advantage
  Language Proficiency
• Fluency in English required.
• Knowledge of the local language widely spoken in the North East region is an advantage

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