International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.
Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through
health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Coverage Monitoring Network project is an inter-agency initiative led by ACF, International Medical Corps, Save the Children, Concern Worldwide, and Helen Keller International. The project aims to increase and improve coverage monitoring globally and in particular across West, Central, Southern and Eastern Africa. It also aims to identify, analyse and share lessons learned to improve CMAM policy and practice across the areas with a high prevalence of acute malnutrition.
• Roll Out of Existing Tools: new coverage assessment tools are currently available (e.g. SQUEAC and SLEAC). The introduction of these tools has created an increase in demand by nutrition programmes at field level, and requests by donors and national partners (e.g. UNICEF, Ministries of Health) to use these tools to measure the impact of nutrition programmes. Resources must be made available to provide the technical support required to enable nutrition programmes to measure and monitor their coverage.
• Addressing the Human Resource Gap: the biggest challenge for the roll out of existing tools is the limited availability of experienced technical staff. Short-term capacity building initiative must focus on expanding the technical resource base whilst ensuring that long-term processes and systems are created to support coverage assessments. Additional human resources at regional and global level need to be created and made available to help enhance the capacity of organisations at national level.
• Exploring Cost-Effective Alternatives: there is an urgent need to reconsider the delivery of technical assistance in order to establish more cost-effective means of accessing the tools and knowledge required to monitor coverage. Current costs of coverage investigations, such as SQUEAC, are too high to enable nutrition organisations to mainstream it as a regular part of their monitoring and evaluation.
• Redefining information sharing: coverage monitoring investigations are dynamic and require innovative ways of sharing and looking at information. As coverage monitoring moves forward, practitioners and policy makers must have direct and timelier access to information about the practical experiences of measuring coverage, and emerging trends in nutrition programming.
• Monitoring Coverage to Influence Policy: a coordinated scale-up in coverage monitoring will provide a robust body of evidence on trends and factors systematically influencing nutrition (CMAM) programme performance. Monitoring trends in CMAM performance will enable nutrition organisations to influence the future of CMAM at three levels: 1) Locally, by using the evidence base to improve individual program performance; 2) Nationally, to advocate for more appropriate, context-specific nutrition policies, and; 3) Internationally, by using the challenges and lessons learned to refine and adapt CMAM and strengthen existing coverage monitoring tools and resources.
Through a team of five (5) Regional Coverage Advisors, the project will provide technical support to nutrition programmes in the design, implementation and analysis of coverage assessments. The project is currently scheduled to extend from July 1st 2012 to December 31st 2013.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Location: Various (RECOs will be home-based or at a location mutually agreed with the hosting organisation)
Travel: The position requires up to 60% travel within the allocated region
Reports to: Reports to the senior nutrition adviser in the host NGO and the CMN project manager based in ACF UK.
Key Objectives of the Role
• To build the capacity of nutrition programmes in the design, planning, implementation and documentation of coverage assessments
• To collate and analyse coverage-related information to improve nutrition policy and practice
• To increase inter-agency collaborations through the exchange of technical and programmatic information relating to nutrition programme design and implementation
Key Responsibilities
1. Identify coverage assessment needs amongst nutrition partners in their respective regions
• Establish contact with nutrition organisations (including NGOs, UN agencies and Ministries of Health) in their region
• Identify opportunities for the provision of technical support to regional organisations
• Finalise annual agenda of technical support needs in the region
2. Support nutrition programmes in the design and planning of coverage assessments
• Support nutrition programmes in the decision making process of why, when, where and how to carry out coverage assessments.
• Support programme partners in selecting the most appropriate coverage assessment tool (e.g. CSAS, SQUEAC, SLEAC, and S3M) for each programme.
• Assist nutrition programmes in planning coverage assessments, identifying appropriate timeframes and improving financial planning around coverage monitoring.
• Build the capacity within nutrition programmes to independently plan, implement and analyse coverage assessments, as a means of ensuring the impact of the project in the medium to long-term.
• Support the nutrition cluster (whenever present) in ensuring good coverage data is collected, collated and shared for decision making and programme monitoring.
3. Support nutrition programmes in the implementation, documentation and analysis of coverage assessments
• Assist nutrition programmes in the preparation for coverage assessments, including the identification, collection and collation of necessary data.
• Provide on-the-job training and support to nutrition programmes during coverage assessments
• Provide remote support to nutrition programmes during data analysis, the documentation of coverage results (e.g. report writing) and the development of programmatic and strategic recommendations for improving nutrition programme performance.
4. Identify key issues influencing (positively and negatively) the performance of nutrition programmes
• Identify themes, trends and factors through coverage monitoring
• Explore the implication of these issues on nutrition policy and practice, at a regional and global level
• Liaise with the Project Coordinator, other Regional Coverage Advisors, and other nutrition stakeholders for the dissemination of key findings.
• Attend national/regional Nutrition Cluster Meetings and share relevant themes, trends and other factors influencing nutrition policy and practice
5. Information Management Sharing
• Disseminate project outputs and experiences through the project website and through other relevant forums
• Regularly share information about the progress of the project with nutrition stakeholders (e.g. Field Exchange) ensuring that lessons learned are regularly and adequately documented at national, regional and global level
• Contribute to the development of project outputs including policy papers
Authority/Decision Making
The post holder will propose and make recommendations on the following areas of work:
• Activities readjustment
• Editing ToR for coverage technical support
• Definition of priorities and timetables within the remit of agreed strategy and annual plan’s objectives
Qualifications
• Typically educated to Master Degree in a field related to social sciences, public health nutrition, epidemiology or any other related discipline
Experience and Knowledge Required
• Demonstrable experience in the implementation and management of or provision of technical support to nutrition programmes (including Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition)
• Prior capacity building/training experience essential
• Excellent communication skills essential
• Prior experience in coverage assessments (e.g. CSAS, SQUEAC, SLEAC, S3M) an asset
• Prior evaluative experience an asset
• Ability to create solutions or responses to problems in an autonomous way
• Proven ability to work independently
• High level of English written and oral communication essential
• High level of other languages, including French, highly desirable
Competencies
• Initiative
• Planning, Organising and Coordinating
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Team Work and Cooperation
• Listening, Understanding and Responding
• Analytical thinking
• Strategic Orientation
• Problem Solving/Judgement
• Developing Others
•Proven ability to work independently
•High level of English written and oral communication essential
•High level of other languages, including French, highly desirable
Salary and Benefits:
The salary will be commensurate to the experience of the candidate and within the salary structure of the HQ.
Interest applicants should send a Cover Letter and up-to-date CV before June 15st, 2012 to Saul Guerrero (‘+’s.guerrero’+’@’+’actionagainsthunger.org’+’
s.guerrero(at)actionagainsthunger.org
) and cc Caroline Abla (‘+’cabla’+’@’+’internationalmedicalcorps.org’+’
cabla(at)internationalmedicalcorps.org
)