Consultancy Title: Consultations on Nutrition Monitoring Framework for School-age children and Adolescents Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Child Nutrition and Development,  Programme Division NYHQ

Duration: March 3, 2025 to March 31, 2026

Home/ Office Based: Home-based/REMOTE

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For over 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

UNICEF’s current Strategic Plan (SP 2022-2025) places attention on a life cycle approach to improving the nutritional outcomes of school-age children and adolescents. However, gaps remain in the evidence, data and information related to this population. Without data on the current nutritional status of children (5–9 years) and adolescents (10–19 years), and a better understanding of the evidence, determinants and causal factors that influence their nutritional status, it is challenging to prioritize actions and advocate for funding to support improved nutrition in these age groups.

UNICEF is leading efforts to improve the monitoring of the nutritional status of school age children and adolescents. To this end, it has established a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on school-age and adolescent nutrition metrics (SAANM-TAG) to develop a draft monitoring framework for school-aged and adolescent nutrition. In consultation with the SAANM-TAG, UNICEF has already developed a draft framework including a set of potential core indicators for global monitoring, as well as additional indicators for country-level monitoring. This proposed set of indicators will undergo discussion with governments/national statistical offices, youth constituencies, as well as additional selected experts and expert groups.

The primary purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate and provide support to UNICEF staff in conducting the consultations for finalizing the set of core and additional indicators and preparing a narrative report presenting the framework along with the metadata for each indicator. The consultant will work with the Child Nutrition and Development Section and Data & Analytics Section’s Nutrition Unit.

 1. Support the preparation, delivery, and follow up of consultations with countries/national statistical offices, youth groups, additional experts and groups. Each one of these consultations may take a different format, but will likely take place online either through surveys, emails, and/or webinars.

2. Support with the revision and finalization of the monitoring framework based on feedback received through the consultations.

3. Write the monitoring framework narrative, including the indicator metadata, to be published as a UNICEF report.

4. Support the dissemination of the global nutrition monitoring framework for school-age children and adolescent through the preparation of a policy brief, presentations, and webinars.

Deliverables/Outputs Delivery deadline

1. Support the preparation, delivery, and follow-up of consultations

– A brief report detailing the process and outcomes of consultations with youth groups June 30, 2025

– A brief report detailing the process and outcomes of consultations with additional experts and expert groups

June 30, 2025

– A brief report detailing the process and outcomes of consultations with governments

– July 31, 2025

2. Support with the revision and finalization of the monitoring framework based on feedback received

– Finalized monitoring framework (i.e. list of core and additional indicators) based on feedback from consultations

September 30, 2025

3. Support the preparation and delivery of an event for the launch and endorsement of the monitoring framework

– Brief report with outcomes of the event

November 31, 2025

4. Prepare the monitoring framework narrative

– Monitoring framework narrative (including development, and revisions) January

31, 2026

– Metadata and metadata sheets for core indicators

March 31, 2026

5. Dissemination

– Policy brief and final slide desk

December 31, 2025

Travel International (if applicable)

– Travel to a Sub-Saharan African country, for up to 3 days – Related to activity #3: Support the delivery of an event for the launch and endorsement of the monitoring framework

November 2025 (tentative)

An advanced university degree (PhD) in Nutrition or Public Health, or related disciplines

– The consultant should have a minimum of five years of experience working in school-age children and adolescent nutrition initiatives.

– Strong quantitative, analytical and writing skills are a must. Fluency in English is essential.

– Experience in developing global monitoring frameworks is preferred. Experience in the analysis of nutrition data in this age group (anthropometric, dietary, etc.) and the determinants of malnutrition is also preferred.  Prior experience in developing indicators of nutritional status, dietary intake, etc., is also preferred.

*Listed requirements will be used for technical evaluation in the competitive process.

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

– Upload copy of academic credentials

– Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

o the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.

o travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.

o Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.

o Indicate your availability

– Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

– At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

– Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

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

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 jobs-near-me.org 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.

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.