Nutrition Officer – Hargeisa

Vacancy Announcement No. VA/828335

Job Title: NUTRITION OFFICER

Contract Type/Grade: Consultant, Level II

Duty Station: Hargeisa, Somaliland

Contract Duration: 11 Months (initial)

Date of Issue: 12th July 2023

Closing Date: 27th July 2023

Background of the Assignment

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. WFP Hargeisa’s Area Office provides food assistance to about 750,000 vulnerable populations in Somaliland, on a monthly basis through various interventions that include emergency Relief, Nutrition, Home-grown School Meals Programme, Safety Net, Climate-Smart Food Systems and Livelihoods.

The Somaliland state has suffered four consecutive failed rainy seasons and is currently experiencing its worst drought in four decades, a climate shock exacerbated by periodic conflict in some regions. The nutrition situation continues to worsen with women and children bearing the brunt.

Job Purpose

WFP is currently supporting the implementation of life-saving nutrition activities aimed at the treatment and prevention of malnutrition in children under five years (CU5), pregnant and lactating women (PLW), mainly through targeted supplementary feeding programme (TSFP) that

integrates elements of Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) around maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN). The programme is implemented in partnership with the Somaliland Ministry of Health Development (MoHD) and both National and International Non-Governmental Organisations (I/NGOs).

The role of the Nutrition Officer is instrumental in providing technical support to the implementation of the nutrition activities in Somaliland, engaging and building partnerships with WFP partners and stakeholders, and directly supervising the nutrition team, mentoring and building their capacity. The incumbent will contribute to policy development to improve programme quality, efficiency, and effectiveness to meet nutritional food assistance needs in Somaliland.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Programme at the Area Office, and the technical guidance of the Head of Nutrition Technical Unit at the Country Office, the Nutrition Officer will mainly focus on coordination of the nutrition response and capacity strengthening of line Ministry, WFP’s area office and cooperating partners’ staff.

What will you do? (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority)

• Provide technical advice to the Area Office’s nutrition team on programme and policy issues including assessment and analysis, activities, and transfer modalities for nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programming in line with WFP standards and processes.
• In coordination with the Nutrition Technical Unit, provide support in programme design and implementation of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions as well as resource mobilization efforts.
• Provide technical support and carry out regular field visits to the project sites as appropriate and assist in improving implementation of nutrition programme activities, policy engagement and prepare reports outlining findings, recommendations, and improvement action plans.
• Provide support to operational partnerships, including inter-agency collaboration, to ensure a strong multi-sectoral response to nutrition in both emergency and non-emergency settings.
• Support timely reporting and learning, contributing to a knowledge base that informs the decision-making of WFP and other stakeholders.
• Work closely with cooperating partners to improve coverage of implementation and quality of nutrition programme including identifying gaps and strengthening their capacity. Support the monitoring and evaluation of WFP nutrition activities, provide technical analysis and interpretation by working closely with the Ministry of Health Development, Country Office, Nutrition and PMLE team.
• Represent WFP at national, regional, and international meetings to contribute to technical discussions, exchange experiences, advocate for nutrition interventions and identify areas of potential collaboration that include participation in the cluster and associated thematic working groups.
• Lead the development and implementation of a roadmap for institutional capacity strengthening of the Somaliland Ministry of Health Development (MoHD) to transition to direct government implementation of nutrition service delivery.
• Contribute to emergency preparedness actions, providing recommendations on contingency planning, risk analysis and early warning related to nutrition risks.
• Any other duties as required.