State Coordinator- Nutrition (DWCD) - International Development Agency

1. POSITION VACANT: State Coordinator- Nutrition (DWCD), International Development Agency, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

2. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND:

Our client is a respected, International Development Agency, that works across the globe to promote children's survival, protection and development.

Project Background:

Madhya Pradesh has a high burden of stunting among children under 5 years of age; as per recent estimates from NFHS 4, 2015-16, stunting prevalence is 42%. Similarly, the underweight prevalence among children under 5 years is 42.8% and 25.8% children are wasted. By all three measures (underweight, stunting and wasting) of nutritional status, children in Madhya Pradesh have a poor nutritional status than children in most of the states. Also, the anemia prevalence among children 6-59 months is 68.9% and among women of 15-49 years is 52.5%, which highlights the fact that 3 children out of four and every second women is anemic.

Madhya Pradesh also has a high concentration of tribal population, which numbers to more than 15 million people. The indices are much worse in this subset of the population with nearly 50% of the Schedule Tribe children being stunted, 20% being wasted and 46% being underweight (RSOC 2013-14).

POSHAN Abhiyaan launched by GoI provides an excellent opportunity to address the nutrition issues in the state. All 51 districts of MP are being covered under POSHAN Abhiyaan and the need for facilitating convergence, effective planning and monitoring during the initial days is critical. DWCD at state is leading the process however needs lot of support to plan, implement and monitor convergent actions. Various development partners are trying to support at district and block level, however convening at the state level to bring in synergy in the support and facilitate convergence at ground is crucial. While development partners have started closely working with DWCD, coordination with the key government departments at state level remains a challenge. State also has few interventions supported through Atal Bal Mission, which again need to synchronize or merge with POSHAN Abhiyaan.

This consultancy is being proposed to provide techno-managerial, capacity building and monitoring support to strengthen the convergence under POSHAN Abhiyaan and also support in the rolling out of nutrition specific interventions under ICDS and through Atal Bal Poshan Mission.

3. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of Joint Director-POSHAN Abhiyaan, DWCD, and in coordination with the Third-Party Agency and technical coordination with Nutrition Specialist of the International Development Agency, the State Coordinator: Nutrition (DWCD), shall be responsible for provide technical and programmatic support to ICDS to facilitate convergent planning, implementation, monitoring and reviews at the state level involving key Govt dept and development partners. S/he shall provide technical assistance in planning, implementing and monitoring of high impact nutrition interventions and support in system strengthening and promotion of childhood nutrition, specifically to improve complementary food and feeding with special focus to the most vulnerable and unreached population groups.

Key Deliverables:

Key Tasks	Deliverables	Month
(1) Planning with a focus on equity ·         Support in convergent planning at district and state level under POSHAN Abhiyaan including social movement strategy ·         Support towards strengthening ABM initiatives in synchronization with POSHAN Abhiyaan ·         Facilitate planning and implementation of interventions to promote complementary foods and feeding within the framework of ICDS implementation ·         Facilitate integration / strengthening of ECD interventions in the existing ICDS implementation	·         Convergent plan with one results matrix developed for the state under POSHAN Abhiyaan ·         Jan Andolan / Social Movement strategy document for the state ·         ABM plan developed in sync with POSHAN Abhiyaan ·         Plan for improving complementary foods and feeding and ECD component within existing program opportunities is developed and endorsed	40% (July to Dec 2018)
(2) Capacity Building ·         Support in preparation of implementation guidelines for improved complementary food and feeding under different platforms like Suposhan , Mangal Diwas ·         Support for capacity building of AWTCs	·         Guidelines and government orders on Suposhan, Mangal Diwas with focus on improved complementary feeding and ECD ·         Training plan and resource material for the AWTC instructor training	30% (July to Dec 2018)
(3) Monitoring and coordination and partnerships ·         Support concurrent monitoring/ Supportive Supervision in the field ·         Support in quality assurance of growth monitoring, supplementary nutrition programme IYCN, across the state ·         Facilitate convergent review quarterly with involvement of key dept and development partners ·         Conduct mapping of institutions for technical support to POSHAN Abhiyaan and facilitate involvement for monitoring of the programs ·         Participation and represent, as required in state/district workshops, advocacy consultations, review and convergence meetings	·           ·           ·         Consolidated Supportive supervision and Field Monitoring checklists (one consolidated report every month based on filed visits) ·         Minutes of Meeting for convergent review under POSHAN Abhiyaan ·         Monthly POSHAN Abhiyaan update ·         Mapping document for institutes and SWOT analysis	30% (January to June 2018)

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

Qualification:
Applicants must be Master’s in Food and Nutrition/Sociology/ Anthropology/ Child Development/ Social Work/ Public Health.

Experience:
Minimum five years of work experience in nutrition projects and flagship programs like ICDS and NHM is essential especially pertaining to maternal health, child development and nutrition and emergency nutrition.

Skills and Competencies:
(1) Experience of working with UN agencies, or international organizations will be an added advantage;
(2) Understanding of social mobilization and behavior change communication;
(3) Good analytical, negotiation and communication (oral and written) skills;
(4) Computer literate and conversant with MS Office and its application, internet, e-mail (advance knowledge of interface);
(5) Knowledge/familiarity with the national flagship programme (NRHM, ICDS and others) and experience of working with Government;
(6) Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary environment and to establish harmonious and effective working relationships with governmental, non-governmental and civil society organizations;
(7) Knowledge of English essential, working knowledge of Hindi would be an added advantage.

5. NATURE OF ENGAGEMENT:

The SCN shall be hired on a consultancy contract through Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd. (SAMS), a respected HR Agency.

6. PROFESSIONAL FEES:

Professional fees of the selected candidate shall be Rs. 98,000/- per month for the period of the consultancy assignment. (Note: Subsistence, Mobility and Contingency support shall be separately provided, to address field travel and related costs incurred by the SCN).

7. LOCATION: Bhopal with need base travel to field.

8. DURATION: The consultancy assignment will be effective from the date of joining till December 31, 2018.

9. REFERENCE: SCN

10. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Senior Consultant
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone Nos.: 011- 2684 2162; 4165 3612
Email: scn@sams.co.in

11. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Eligible candidates interested in this position are requested to apply to scn@sams.co.in with a cover letter, discussing their interest in and suitability for the position, along with an updated resume, giving details of three references, current cost to organization and expected compensation, by or before July 15, 2018.