UNICEF : National consultant to strengthen legislative and regulatory measures to improve school food environments for better nutrition – Dushanbe

  • Location:
  • Salary:
    negotiable / YEAR
  • Job type:
    CONTRACTOR
  • Posted:
    1 month ago
  • Category:
    Healthcare, Legal Affairs
  • Deadline:
    26/11/2024

JOB DESCRIPTION

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Health and Nutrition 

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, advocacy, and 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 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 hhuman 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 triple burden of malnutrition has emerged as a worldwide concern, in which undernutrition, overweight and micronutrient deficiencies coexist in the same population, household and individual. Tajikistan is a young country with 61 per cent of the population under 30 years and 20 per cent in adolescence (10-19 years). Adolescence is a period of rapid growth and development and a critical time for the acquisition of health-related behaviours, such as food preferences and physical activity. School-age children and adolescents are nutritionally vulnerable due to increased energy and nutrient requirements for physical growth, cognitive development and menstruation (for girls). Tajik adolescents between 15-19 years also face multiple nutrition challenges, including thinness (16 per cent), overweight and obesity (10 per cent) and anaemia (33 per cent).

Globally, there is ample evidence that poor habits on eating and physical activity established during childhood and adolescence continue into adulthood and may contribute to nutrition-related chronic diseases in later life. In Tajikistan, however, there is a dearth of information on the nutritional status and practices of school-age children and adolescents. Further, in contrast to the strong focus on undernutrition particularly during the first 1,000 days of life, little attention has been paid to the nutritional status of school-age children and adolescents in Tajikistan, and few policies and programmes are targeting to address the triple burden in these age groups. Given the growing size of this segment of the population, their vulnerability to all forms of malnutrition and the intergenerational effects of malnutrition, these age groups should not be neglected in nutrition policies and programming to promote optimal nutrition.

School enrolment rate is high in Tajikistan. The majority of school-going children and adolescents spend large amount of their time at school, where they often have lunch and snacks during class breaks. Evidently, school is a key platform to influence the nutritional status and behaviours of children and adolescents. Previous research, however, suggested that poor dietary habits are common among Tajik adolescent girls, characterized by low consumption of vitamin A rich food and high consumption of fatty foods, sugary foods and beverages, with one in five not meeting the minimum dietary diversity. The level of knowledge on nutrition and healthy eating and demand for healthy foods and healthy school food environments more in general is unclear. Furthermore, unhealthy food and drink options are easily available and accessible in and around schools, such as from school canteens and street vendors, contributing to poor dietary intakes among these age groups. Moreover, a landscape analysis on adolescent nutrition conducted by UNICEF in 2024 revealed that the Education Code focuses mostly on children’s right to nutrition education in curriculum but lacks emphasis on their right to learn in a healthy school environment and to be protected from inappropriate marketing of unhealthy food. Furthermore, it demonstrated that the country lacks specific implementation tools (i.e. regulations, guidelines) to ensure children and adolescents are provided with nutrition education, have access to healthy food and drinks and are learning in healthy school food environments.

Against this backdrop, UNICEF Tajikistan aims to support the Government of Tajikistan in improving the school food environments for better nutrition among school-age children and adolescents by strengthening legislative and regulatory measures applied to schools. As part of this effort, UNICEF Tajikistan is looking for an individual consultant to strengthen the Education Code of Tajikistan and develop bylaws/regulations based on the Education Code with emphasis on making school food environments optimal for nutrition.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of the consultancy is to strengthen national legislative and regulatory measures with an aim to improve school food environments (availability of safe, nutritious food, restriction on marketing and promotion of unhealthy food and beverages, adequate space for physical activity) for better nutrition for school-age children and adolescents.

Duration: 50 working days between December 2024 – August 2025
Supervisor: Nutrition Officer, UNICEF Tajikistan

Key objectives
The overall objective of the consultancy is to improve the Education Code with articles related to school nutrition, focusing on the availability of safe, nutritious foods and safe drinking water, restriction on inappropriate marketing of unhealthy food, adequate space for physical activity and increasing nutrition literacy among students and school stakeholders. Specific objectives of the consultancy are as follows:
• To integrate key nutrition-related articles in the Education Code in consultation with UNICEF and relevant partners
• To take stock and review existing policies, strategies, programmes and guidelines related to school nutrition
• To develop bylaws (e.g. regulations, guidelines etc) based on the Education Code for smooth implementation of the Education Code in terms of nutrition
• To facilitate consultation workshops to discuss and review the proposed regulations and guidelines with critical stakeholders, including but not limited to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population and the Ministry of Education and Science
The consultant will work and consult closely with UNICEF’s nutrition and education teams and engage with key government stakeholders. Briefly, the assignment will consist of three key activities:
Activity 1: Review the draft Education Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, identify gaps in Code articles ensuring optimal nutrition and healthy school food environments, and propose Code articles
The consultant will conduct a review of the Education Code in relation to nutrition and school food environments. This may include availability of safe and nutrition food options and clean drinking water, restriction of marketing and promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages, restriction on sales of unhealthy food in and around schools, availability of adequate space for physical activity, and the child’s right to nutrition education for healthy growth and development. Based on this review, the consultant will propose new articles to the Code. Actual proposals will depend on what is and is not currently included in the Education Code as well as on consultations with stakeholders. Key stakeholders include (but not limited to) experts of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Ministry of Education and Science and parliamentarians. It will be crucial to consult them and engage them throughout the process for technical appropriateness, smooth review and approval. The consultant should also make use of the landscape analysis on adolescent nutrition conducted by UNICEF in 2024. The proposal to the Education Code needs to be submitted to the government for review and approval.
Activity 2: Review existing policies, strategies, guidelines and programmes in relation to school/adolescent nutrition and develop bylaws
that are still missing to operationalize the proposed articles of the Education Code
The consultant will collect these documents from UNICEF, relevant government ministries/agencies and other partners, review them and advise UNICEF on what types of bylaws (technical regulation, guideline, decree, etc) are required to support the implementation of the proposed articles of the Education Code. A landscape analysis on adolescent nutrition conducted by UNICEF in 2024 will also provide rich information on the current policy landscape for adolescent nutrition in particular. As deemed necessary, the consultant is also expected to consult with government and non-government stakeholders to understand the implementation status, gaps and challenges of the existing policies, strategies, guidelines and programmes in relation to school nutrition. The proposed bylaws need to be submitted to the relevant approval bodies for review and approval after stakeholder consultations (Activity 3).
Activity 3: Conduct a minimum of two stakeholder consultations to discuss the new bylaws with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population and the Ministry of Education and Science and other
After the review of existing documents and before the development of the bylaws, the consultant is expected to organize and facilitate a stakeholder consultation workshop to discuss the current gaps in legislative and regulatory measures in ensuring optimal school nutrition (particularly the school food environments) and the content of the bylaws to be proposed. This first workshop will become the basis of the consultant’s work for the development of the bylaw texts. S/he is also expected to organize another stakeholder consultation workshop once the bylaws are drafted to review with relevant stakeholders and address/accommodate relevant comments. Apart from these two workshops, the consultant should consult UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders and partners throughout the assignment.
Once the draft bylaws are ready, the consultant will submit them for official review and approval to the relevant authorities.
Tasks/Milestone: (in line with the scope elaborated in section-III) Deliverables/Outputs: Anticipated Timeline % of payment maximum up to 5 payments)
Review the Education Code of Tajikistan and incorporate articles in relation to school nutrition and school food environments • Texts in the Education Code related to nutrition for review by UNICEF before the Code submission to the government. 7 days 10%
Review existing policies, strategies, guidelines and programmes on school nutrition and draft necessary bylaws to improve school food environments and nutrition of school-age children and adolescents • Final draft bylaws in relevant forms (TBD) incorporating relevant stakeholder comments for review by UNICEF before submission to the relevant authorities.

• Draft official communications (e.g. official letters) to submit bylaws to relevant authorities

40 days (by April 30) 40%
Conduct stakeholder consultations to discuss the legislative and regulatory gaps in school nutrition and review draft bylaws • One consultation workshop conducted with relevant partners

• One review workshop conducted with relevant partners

• Meeting notes with all relevant comments from the workshops to be incorporated in the bylaws submitted to UNICEF Draft official communications (e.g. invitation letters) to the workshops to stakeholders

2 days (between November 1st 2024 and February 28th 2025) 40%
Proper documentation of the process • A short narrative report (max 5 pages) summarizing the process, challenges and recommendations for future actions beyond bylaw development 1 day (by June 30th, 2025) 10%
Total                                                                                                                                     50 days

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

  • Education: Advanced degree in Law, Public Policy, Public Health or other related social sciences fields
  • Work experience: At least 10 years of experience working closely with national government counterparts, in particular Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, parliament, and development partners in the areas of policy formulation for education, health, nutrition
  • Knowledge of legal systems and public policy mechanism in Tajikistan
  • Expertise and skills in writing laws and bylaws in Tajikistan
  • Good knowledge of health and education systems in Tajikistan
  • Languages: Fluency in Tajik and Russian
Qualified candidates are requested to submit:
1. Profile (CV)
2. Technical proposal describing approach/methodology to achieve the tasks of The ToR, workplan with concrete timeframes (Annex 2 EOI to be completed)
3. Financial proposal in TJS indicting fee per day (Annex 3) to be completed. Annex 2 and 3 at the following link
4. Two samples of previously delivered similar assignment.

Applications without technical and financial proposals will not be considered.

Applications must be received in the system by 26 November 2024 on UNICEF website.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit  here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks: 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree .o

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements