Nutrition International www.nutritionintl.org (formerly Micronutrient Initiative) is an international Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to ensuring that the world's most vulnerable -especially women and children in developing countries - get the vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive. With headquarters in Ottawa, Canada Nutrition International maintains regional offices in New Delhi, India and Nairobi that manage country offices in Asia and Africa.

POSITION PROFILE

Background

Technical Assistance for Nutrition (TAN) is a project supported by UK aid from the UK government, and seeks to improve the capacity of countries who have joined the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement to design, deliver, and track the progress of nutrition programs and to generate, learn from and adopt knowledge of what works. NI is contributing to TAN by coordinating the provision of technical assistance (TA) to help national SUN Focal Points (SUN FPs) in select countries to overcome gaps in capacity for the design and delivery of multi-sectoral national nutrition plans, tapping into its global hub to source and deploy the expertise needed.

Under-nutrition is a major public health concern in Bangladesh, severely limiting the development of individuals and the country. Though there has been a significant progress in tackling undernutrition, still 36.1% of the children under five years of age are stunted, 14.3% are wasted and 32.6% are underweight.

Access to adequate nutrition as a basic human right is enshrined in the Constitution of Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is committed to invest in nutrition, and has been developing various policies and policy instruments integrating food security and nutrition. The National Nutrition Policy (NNP) endorsed in October 2015 provides the necessary direction to implement and strengthen strategies and actions to improve the nutritional status of the population. Aligning with the objectives of the NNP and expressing the country’s continued commitment to combat malnutrition in all its forms, the second National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN2) 2016-2025 has been formulated with identified priority strategic actions. The NPAN2 is in continuation of the nutrition actions planned under NPAN1 of 1997 and has recently been approved by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The multi-stakeholder platform, with representation from government departments, UN agencies, donor network, SUN CSA group and business community, has steered the development of the NPAN2.

The NNP 2015 and NPAN2 also emphasize the need for strengthening of multi-sectoral, multi-level collaboration and coordination under revitalized Bangladesh National Nutrition Council (BNNC) chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister, which will be responsible for nutrition governance, policy coordination and leadership.

Currently, with endorsement of the NNP 2015 and the high priority accorded to the BNNC, there has been rigorous efforts by the GoB for revitalization and restructuring of the BNNC, which has been reformed with Hon’ble Minister of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) as the vice-chair and 35 other members from all relevant ministries. Space for BNNC has been reserved within the premise of Institute of Public Health (IPH) with plans underway to staff the BNNC with qualified human resources and allocation of adequate and sustained financial support to carry out the planned functions. Also, the GoB plans to establish five core nutrition platforms under the BNNC, namely nutrition-specific, nutrition-sensitive, monitoring & evaluation (M&E), advocacy and communication, and capacity building, to strengthen the agency to steer and guide nutrition decisions and actions in the country. Under TAN, NI is also currently supporting revitalization and restructuring of the BNNC through a long-term TA provider.

The successful implementation of NPAN2 necessitates an enabling environment with strengthened multi-sectoral coordination at national and sub-national levels for nutrition planning, delivery and tracking. With BNNC steering the national level coordination, efforts are ongoing to strengthen the sub-national level coordination through establishment of District Multi-sectoral Nutrition Coordination Committees (DNCCs) in 64 districts and Upazila Multi-sectoral Nutrition Coordination Committees (UNCCs) in 493 sub-districts/upazilas.

In this context, the SUN FP of Bangladesh has sought TA from NI under the TAN project to support the BNNC to guide the operationalization of NPAN2 at national and sub-national levels through strengthened multi-sectoral coordination.

Objectives

Overall objective

Support operationalization of nutrition actions planned under NPAN2 through the BNNC utilizing existing multi-stakeholder platform

Specific objectives

1. Provide technical support to key sectoral partners for planning, resource mobilization and delivery of prioritized nutrition actions at national level
2. Strengthen effective planning and implementation of nutrition priorities at sub-national level
3. Enhance coordination among core nutrition platforms planned under the BNNC for better synergy for nutrition actions
   

Expectations

This TA is expected to bring a significant contribution to the capacity of the BNNC to provide leadership and guidance for operationalization of prioritized nutrition actions at different levels. The consultant will lead the technical assistance team envisaged under the BNNC.

It is expected that this consultancy will lead to the following results:

1. Sectoral annual plans with nutrition actions integrated, finalized in alignment with NPAN2 and agreed upon by key stakeholders
2. Formal coordination mechanism elaborated, established and followed among core nutrition platforms under BNNC at national and sub-national level
3. Improved coordination at sub-national level for multi-sectoral nutrition programme planning, delivery and monitoring
   Nutrition International is committed to gender equality. Consultant is required to indicate how s/he will ensure that gender equality considerations are included in the provision of TA.

Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to undertake the following activities and produce the listed deliverables.

Under objective 1: Provide technical support to key sectoral partners for planning, resource mobilization and delivery of prioritized nutrition actions at national level

Activity 1 - Support the dissemination of key components of NPAN2 among relevant national level sectoral partners and stakeholders

Deliverable:

• Dissemination workshop conducted at national level, and report submitted

Activity 2 - Support finalization/approval of detailed national level workplan under NPAN2

Deliverables:

• Planning meetings held with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and development partners
  
• Detailed national level workplan finalized/approved

Activity 3 - Assist and guide key sectoral partners for prioritization of nutrition actions planned under NPAN2 and their integration into sectoral annual work plans

Deliverables:

• Sectoral nutrition focal points identified, and list shared
• Sectoral consultations held to guide identification of annual priorities and formulation of work plans
  
• Technical review of work plans completed
  
• Sectoral annual work plans finalized

Activity 4 – Assist BNNC and sectoral partners for revision/finalization of resource mobilization plan and in mobilizing resources for implementation of activities planned under NPAN2 through BNNC

Deliverable:
 BNNC and Sectoral resource mobilization plans revised/finalized

Under objective 2: Strengthen effective planning and implementation of nutrition priorities at sub-national level

Activity 5 - Identify and document key highlights from NPAN2 to guide DNCCs and UNCCs for planning of nutrition actions

Deliverable:
 Sub-national level consultations held, key highlights from NPAN2 shared with DNCCs and UNCCs and reports prepared as per work plan

Activity 6 - Support DNCCs in district level nutrition programming in conformity with NPAN2

Deliverable:
 Regional/sub-national level workshops conducted to guide DNCCs on planning of district level plans with priority nutrition actions integrated, and report shared
 Technical review completed for finalization of district nutrition actions

Under objective 3: Enhance coordination among core nutrition platforms planned under BNNC for better synergy for nutrition actions

Activity 7 - Establish mechanism for coordination among core nutrition platforms planned under BNNC

Deliverable:
 Coordination mechanism established and supported

Activity 8 - Facilitate and participate in periodic planning and review meetings of nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive platforms respectively

Deliverable:
 Nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive platforms’ meetings facilitated and updates shared

Other relevant tasks needed by the BNNC/MoHFW to support the advancements of the stated objectives, as agreed to by NI may be incorporated in the due course of the assignment.

The consultant providing this TA will work in close collaboration with the BNNC, MoHFW and NI, and with other relevant in-country key stakeholders.

Duty Station/Location

This is a full-time consultancy for a period of 20 months. The consultant will be embedded with the BNNC office for the duration of the assignment and expected to visit NI Country Office regularly to apprise the Country Director and team of the progress made.

The consultant is expected to undertake some domestic travel within the country. All travels required under this consultancy will be provided for by NI and/or BNNC/GoB.

Timeline
This support to the BNNC would be for a period of 20 months from 01st June 2018 to 31st January 2020.

Management and Reporting/Coordination mechanism

1. The consultant will directly report to the Additional Secretary, MoHFW who is also the Government Federal SUN Focal Point, and work closely with Joint Secretary, MoHFW. The consultant will also work closely with Secretary and other officials of BNNC and MoHFW, and NI team members.
2. The BNNC will facilitate the operational linkages with all the other relevant sectors and stakeholders under this TA.
3. The consultant is expected to work in close coordination and harmony with other consultants/development partners working with the BNNC and MoHFW.
4. NI will provide the funding for the assignment, and payment will be subject to performance and reaching deliverables as agreed upon at the moment of contract signing.
5. NI will provide technical input into the assignment and is responsible for assuring the quality of the work being delivered by the consultant.

Profile/qualifications of Consultant
The consultant will be selected following a competitive recruitment process. The expected profile of the consultant has been presented below.

Education:

• Post-graduate level qualification in Nutrition/Food and Nutrition/Community Nutrition/Public Health Nutrition/Public Health/Public Policy/Development Policy/Development Studies/Public Administration/ any other related field(s)
• Qualification in Nutrition would be an advantage

Language Skills:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is mandatory
• Fluency in written and spoken Bengali is mandatory

Experience:

• At least 10 years of relevant technical experience in the fields of nutrition/public health/food security and programme planning and implementation in developing countries especially South Asia, more importantly in Bangladesh
• Excellent working knowledge of Government of Bangladesh food/nutrition and health portfolios, policies and programmes
• Direct programming and/or policy development experience in integration of nutrition into relevant sectors such as social protection/education/food/agriculture/water and sanitation, etc. and public health
• Similar experience of formulating national policies/plans and rolling out of the same across partner ministries/agencies
• Strong evidence of writing reports/papers to be an asset
• Experience of providing strategic policy advice to national and sub-national governments
• Experience in strengthening the capacity of ministries/governments/development partners in being able to sustain interventions
• Proven experience of engaging with relevant stakeholders including development partners, and managing and working with multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral working groups in national and/or sub-national settings
• Demonstrated ability to deliver quality results within strict deadlines

Application Process

Interested candidates are invited to submit their up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) and cover letter by email to TechnicalAssistance@NutritionIntl.org before 18th March 2018.

Kindly mention ‘BGD-03 - NPAN2 operationalization’ in the subject line of the email.

Nutrition International (NI) is committed to the fundamental principles of equal employment opportunity. Women are encouraged to apply.

NI is a non-smoking work environment