Nutrition Officer

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, nutrition, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.


Purpose for the job:

The UNV Nutrition Officer provides technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the nutrition programmes/projects within the Country Programme, from development planning to delivery of results. In doing so, the incumbent implements a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme implementation, programme progress monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of results.

1. Support to programme development and planning

 Contribute to the analysis of nutrition needs and areas for intervention, and submission of recommendations for priorities and interventions.
 Conduct and update the situation analysis for the nutrition sector for the development, design and management of nutrition related programmes/projects. Review research and report on development trends (e.g. political social, economic, nutrition, health) for higher management use to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery of results.
 Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions; preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM), and monitoring and evaluation of results.
 Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

 Work closely and collaboratively with Health and Nutrition Officer/Programme Specialist and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues. Provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision-making. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
 Support the improvement of online nutrition database reports and development nutrition programme database including timeliness and completeness.
 Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, conduct monthly review and analysis of the nutrition online database, present the findings with the IPs and government to assess programmes/projects and to report on required action and interventions at the higher level of programme management decisions.
 Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for outpost and field office to keep them informed of programme progress.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

 Conduct regular programme field visits and monitoring, and exchange information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support. Take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

 Provide technical and operational support t, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices on nutrition-related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.


4. Networking and partnership building

• Support the cluster coordination team in preparing (arranging venue, confirming attendance of partners etc.) for regular coordination meetings.
• Document the meetings of Sub National clusters and Provincial Nutrition Committees.
• One on one follow up with partners on cluster identified priorities that require partner input.
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with nutrition sector government counterparts and regional stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve programme goals on maternal and child nutrition.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

 Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.

 Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

• Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.

• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.



Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.