Latest Recruitment at UNICEF

Responsibilities of the Consultant

• As mentioned in section 4, individual consultants will be expected to review evaluation products by providing constructive comments and rating against each outlined criterion, include specific comments/queries in the document and be available for a 30min follow-up calls in case of needed clarifications. Each evaluation product will be the object of at least one (1) up to three (3) reviews, in case of unsatisfactory rating. Herebelow, a description of major tasks expected from the individual consultants:
• Review of draft Evaluation ToRs : the consultants will be tasked to review and ensure that ToRs are in line with UNEG standards and are sufficiently exhaustive to i) understand the requested scope of work,
• align with the integration of Equity, Gender, Human Rights and Disability inclusion standards and policies.
• Review of Inception Reports(IR): the consultants will be tasked to review and ensure that they are in line with GEROS and UNEG standards and i) are methodologically sound to enable the evaluation to meet the utilization needs and meet Equity, Gender, Human Rights and Disability inclusion standards ii) are duly taking into account ethical considerations, including child and youth-friendly aspects and ii) are fulfilling basic requirements for ethical approval submission.
• Review of mature Draft Evaluation Reports (DER) : the consultants will be tasked to review the reports to ensure that they are satisfactorily meeting GEROS requirements and any other corporate requirements (such as the report structure, the branding, etc..) and suggest any improvements to ensure that the best achievable rating can be obtained, whilst meeting the initial evaluation objectives ( in terms of content and information needs)

Responsibilities of UNICEF

• UNICEF will ensure supervision of consultants through a minimum of two calls per year to identify any need for improvements and communicate any intervening adjustments made on templates, as a result of the annual analysis or any organizational changes resulting from the 2023 Evaluation Policy and Global Evaluation Report Oversight System (GEROS).
• UNICEF will share all necessary guidelines, documentation and templates to support the consultants in their Quality Assurance duties.

DELIVERABLES

• Completed Review Matrix for Terms of Reference (up to a maximum of three reviews per evaluation)
• Completed Review Matrix for Inception Reports (up to a maximum of three reviews per evaluation)
• Completed Review Matrix for Draft Evaluation Reports (up to a maximum of three reviews per evaluation)
• For ESARO, the total number of evaluation products to be reviewed for this LTA is expected to be consistent with the total number of evaluations that are planned each year – approximately 20 evaluations (each requiring a minimum of one review and a maximum of three reviews) per year. This will be shared across the roster of consultants participating in the LTA.
• Noting that other UNICEF offices will also have access to the facility and may establish their own contracts against the regional LTAs, this will trigger a higher number of reviews per consultant.
• The LTA holder will carry out reviews in a maximum of three (3) working days for a ToR, and a maximum of five (5) working days for an inception or mature draft report and send it to the requester, copying the designated ESA Regional Focal Point as the contract manager. CO or RO Requester may request an optional 30-minute follow-up meeting in order to discuss and clarify the nature of comments shared by the reviewer, as needed.
• The duration of the LTA is 36 months from the LTA agreement date (expected to be in March/April 2025). The selected consultants will work remotely, using their own equipment.

LTA holders are required to meet the following requirements:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s) in Evaluation, or another discipline relevant to the work of UNICEF with strong background in evaluation.
• Eight years or more of experience in managing, designing and/or implementing evaluation and research projects with/for UN agencies (particularly with UNICEF) or other international partners,
• covering a wide range of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods and/or
• covering experimental, quasi- and non-experimental evaluation designs, using participatory, case study, longitudinal as well as rapid approaches. Experience with impact evaluations is considered as an advantage.
• At least 3 years’ experience and capacity in providing quality and/ or oversight of evaluation and research processes and outputs such as ToRs, as well as inception and mature draft reports, preferably with UN agencies. This is a requirement.
• Core expertise and a deep understanding of evaluation quality and ethical issues in UNICEF areas of interventions, and more particularly for evaluations involving children, adolescents and youth as well vulnerable groups of population, including people living with disabilities.
• A proven track record in specific sectoral areas of interest to the UNICEF Mandate (child protection, HIV- AIDS, education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, social inclusion, adolescence, social policy, Communication for Development, climate change, innovations, gender equality) within development and humanitarian contexts.
• Familiarity with UN agencies’ evaluation quality and ethical standards for ToRs, Inception reports and evaluation reports. Experience with applying UNICEF Quality Standards will be an added advantage.

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The specific objectives are to 

• Assess and document the synergy between WASH and nutrition strategies and services using the WASH-Nutrition maturity matrix framework, identifying gaps, opportunities, and integration levels across sectors like health, food and agriculture, and climate resilience (development and humanitarian contexts) in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
• Review relevant research, evaluation, and monitoring results on WASH-nutrition synergies in the past five years to consolidate findings, identify opportunities for scalable solutions and inform knowledge products.
• Document implementation of Multi-Water Use Systems (MUWS) which include food security objectives and explore opportunities for scaling these solutions to improve child-focused food security and diets.
• Develop strategic recommendations and knowledge products for advancing and strengthening synergies between nutrition and WASH in both development and humanitarian contexts and in the context of climate change programming and financing.

Details/reference to AWP areas covered

This consultancy will contribute towards strengthening organizational knowledge on UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa region on sanitation systems and the development of knowledge products including innovative approaches and good practices in scaling up nutrition. 

Activities and Tasks  

Under the direction of the WASH and Nutrition specialists and in close coordination with other members and technical specialists of the Nutrition and WASH Teams, the expert will:

 Assess the extent of collaboration and synergy between WASH and nutrition:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of current WASH and nutrition strategies and programs in selected countries using the WASH-Nutrition maturity matrix framework.
• Assess the integration of WASH and nutrition across sectors like health, food and agriculture, and climate resilience.
• Review early childhood, maternal nutrition, and ECD services, at both facility and community levels to assess the integration of WASH promotion into these services, with a focus on how water, sanitation, and hygiene contribute to improving child nutrition and health.
• Document promising practices: Identify and document successful practices from Government, NGOs, UN agencies, and local partners that have integrated WASH and nutrition interventions effectively.
• Assess the investment potential and scalability of these practices across different contexts and settings.
• Triangulate information with the mapping of community nutrition interventions and development of minimum package being undertaken by another institution.
• Identify opportunities for nutrition and WASDH integration in the context of climate action and financing.
• Draft report and recommendations

Review relevant research, evaluation, and monitoring results on WASH-nutrition synergies in the past five years to consolidate findings, identify opportunities for scalable solutions, and inform knowledge products.

• Gather and consolidate operational research, monitoring, and evaluation results on WASH-Nutrition integration from the past five years in the region.
• Analyze the results to identify key findings and trends that will guide future integration efforts.
• Draft chapter of report on synthesis of results

 Assess and document existing practices on multi-water use systems (MUWS) for children’s food security and develop guidance on MUWS for improving nutritious food availability:

• Map existing Multi-Water Use Systems (MUWS) in the selected countries to assess their contribution to child food security objectives. 
• Review successful MUWS models and best practices, focusing on their role in improving children’s food security and nutrition, with the aim of using these practices and models to inform the development of policy briefs and a guide for linking MUWS and productions of nutrient-dense foods for children.
• Define a costed minimum package of child-focused food security elements that should accompany water systems to optimize both water and nutrition outcomes.
• Draft a short guide on integration of MUWS and production of nutrient-dense foods for children

Develop and disseminate knowledge products:

• Develop knowledge products to disseminate the findings of the assessment:  
• 1 summary synthesis report for objectives 1 and 2
• 1 policy brief for objectives 1 and 2
• 1 short guide on integration of MUWS and production of nutrient-dense foods for children
• 1 slide deck for all objectives
• Present key insights, actionable recommendations, and lessons learned to stakeholders, including national governments, UNICEF regional and country offices, development partners, and implementing organizations.

Work relationships

• The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Regional WASH Advisor, who will provide guidance on the regional component and coordinate the work with various UNICEF country offices for both regional and country components of the consultancy.
• The consultant will collaborate with the ESARO Regional Nutrition Advisor, ESARO WASH Specialist, Nutrition Specialist - NIE, and other specialists in WASH, Nutrition, and Climate.
• The Regional WASH Specialist will monitor the consultant’s progress through brief updates, reviews, and feedback, in collaboration with the Nutrition colleagues.
• ESARO staff will assist the consultant with contacts for the ten country offices and with follow up where necessary 
• A final consultancy performance review will be conducted upon receipt of all deliverables by the consultant, with input from the respective country offices and finalized by ESARO.

Education and work experience  

• An advanced University degree in Nutrition, Public Health, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, earth and environmental sciences, natural sciences, climate change adaptation, geography, or r a related field.
• At least 8 years of experience in WASH and/or nutrition programs.
• Proven experience in conducting assessments, reviews, and research in the fields of WASH and nutrition.      
• Experience using maturity matrix frameworks or similar evaluation tools.
• Familiarity with the intersection of WASH and nutrition in development programs
• A professional work experience in the UN or other international organizations, national governments or the private sector is an asset. 
• Knowledge and proven analytical skills and experience in experience in project development, drafting, implementation, monitoring, reporting and verification in fields related to WASH and/or Nutrition.
• Background/familiarity to approaches for development, implementation, and management of multi-sectoral nutrition program approaches including linkage with health, WASH, social protection, and food security programming.
• Ability to design mapping, landscape analyses, programme reviews etc. and apply knowledge from contemporary research in the field of nutrition/WASH and translate this into programming strategies for different contexts. Knowledge of climate action and financing an asset 
• Fluency in English (verbal and written). knowledge of another UN language an asset.