National Consultant for Nutrition Surveillance System

About World Health Organization

Job Summary

Nutrition is a fundamental determinant of health and development all through the lifespan of mankind. Afghanistan has persistent elevated levels of under nutrition mainly caused by poor health conditions, suboptimal maternal and child feeding and care practices, and food insecurity, compounded by high rates of poverty and illiteracy. These factors play a complex and interrelated role as contributing factors to the widespread of under nutrition.
According to National Nutrition Survey 2004 the nutrition indicators are alarming in Afghanistan. Among children 6-59 months Stunting is 60.5%; underweight is 33.7% and wasting is 8.7%. From micronutrients perspective, Iodine deficiency is 71.9%; iron deficiency is 71.5%; iron-deficiency anemia is 33.4%; zinc deficiency is 54-72% among children 6-59 months. Underweight (BMI<18.5) is 20.9% among non-pregnant women; iodine deficiency is 78.9% among pregnant women and 74.7% among non-pregnant women. 65.3% of pregnant women have iron deficiency. These figures simply tell us that the nutrition situation in Afghanistan, especially that of women and children is a serious public health concern.
Limitations of current surveillance activities include the poor reliability of collected data and the variability of data quality. It is difficult to obtain representative data especially at provincial level, as the surveys are disaggregating the data up to regional level. Security problems and other access constraints make it very difficult to conduct nationwide surveys, and the situation in different areas of the country is rapidly changing. Therefore it is important to focus on obtaining good trend data that will trigger appropriate intervention through the establishment of a effective surveillance systems.
Nutrition surveillance can be organized at differentlevels: national, regional, provincial or community levels. It might cover specific geographical zones or population groups. It could also focus on specific types of malnutrition.

Duties & Responsibilities

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical and managerial support for the start of the above mentioned project through developing a detailed implementation plan and support for the establishment of effective coordination mechanism for project support.

Under the general guidance of Public Nutrition Directorate the consultant will:


Participate in the design and planning of surveillance system through active participation to Nutrition Surveillance System Task Force (the main coordinating body for project implementation).

Provide technical input in development of a detailed plan of action for establishing nutrition surveillance system for Afghanistan; ensure the inclusion of capacity building needs and necessary procurement

Develop SOPs for data collection, compilation, analysis and interpretation at different levels of the surveillance system.

Ensure effective data flow and collection according to SOPs, as well as that dissemination of analytic report on data in regular basis and feedback mechanism is in place.

Provide technical support for other experts among stakeholders have adequate knowledge on the procedures and mechanisms for data processing.

Ensure that developed training material and guidelines for data providers and data users are availed .

Supervise implementation and provide technical input in revision of the system for data collection, data flow, data processing and data utilization

Coordinate with the HMIS, DEWS and other relevant departments of the MoPH and development partners for triangulation of data, analysis and desimenation of the results for action

Organize review and lessons learned workshop with relevant stakeholders to whenever necessary

Monitoring of sentinel sites with provincial nutrition and provide adequate feedback.

Work closely with PNOs and counterparts in WHO and UNICEF and other stakeholders

Perform any other tasks as may required

Job Requirements

Qualification and Experiences:
Education:
Minimum: Medical Doctor or Master’s in Public Health (or equivalent) in nutrition,
Desirable: Specialization in nutrition and/or postgraduate studies in public health.

Work experience:
Minimum: five years professional working experience on food and nutrition or public health programs, and surveillance

Skills required for the assignment:
Language skills: written and spoken proficiency in English and local languages;
Excellent information technology skills, including word-processing, database applications, presentation software and internet is an asset.
Ability to work with data and have analytical and critical thinking skills.
Evidence of ability to think strategically; to express ideas clearly; to prepare and give presentations; to conduct training and workshop including the use of participatory approaches; to work both independently and in teams; to demonstrate a sense of self-assuredness combined with cultural and gender sensitivity.
A strong commitment to public health; an interest in adapting to varied physical and professional environments; and a desire to work with people with different language, national and cultural backgrounds.

Please note below:
Contract Type: Agreement Performance of Wrok (APW)
Duty Station: Ministry of Public Health (MoPH

Excellent information technology skills, including word-processing, database applications, presentation software and internet is an asset.

Submission Guideline

Submission Guideline:
Interested applicants (Afghan National) meeting the above qualifications are requested to submit their applications quoting this Vacancy Announcement Number (WHO/AFG/2013/15) along with their curriculum vitae, copy of civil and educational certificates and copy of National ID (Tazkira) to shamsm@afg.emro.who.int

Functional Area

Health/Medical

Countries

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