National Mother Infant and Young Children Nutrition (MIYCN) Consultant
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Job no: 581930
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Kabul
Level: Consultancy
Location: Afghanistan
Categories: Nutrition
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, Help!
How can you make a difference?
The reach and scope of nutrition service delivery for women and children in Afghanistan have expanded significantly over the past two years. UNICEF's nutrition programs, including Maternal, Infant, and young Child Nutrition (MIYCN), Community Based Nutrition Program (CBNP), Multi Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS), Micronutrient Powder (MNP), Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, have been scaled up across all 34 provinces. This rapid expansion underscores the critical need for national-level expertise to ensure effective program reporting, monitoring, and quality assurance.
UNICEF is supporting national MIYCN and caring practices as one of the major components of nutrition program targeting maternal Nutrition which refers to the nutrition of women during adolescence, pregnancy, and lactation, as it affects their health and the health of their foetus and/or infant, through their childbearing and nurturing roles, furthermore, the program is focusing on infant and young child feeding practices.
The consultant will report directly to UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist at ACO contributing to the continuous improvement of program outcomes and data-driven interventions.
Scope of Work:
Provide technical support for MIYCN programming, including guideline development, service quality improvement, partner mapping, and capacity building training to strengthen nutrition outcomes at national and subnational levels.
Major Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide technical support to MIYCN program across all players
- Provide technical support on development of the MIYCN guidelines for relevant strategies.
- Provide technical support to improve the quality of growth monitoring and promotion throughout the country
- Provide technical support implementation of nutrition interventions under BPHS/EPHS both at the facility and community level and prioritize nutrition activities which should be implemented by SPs under HER
- Support mapping of MIYCN and nutrition partners.
- Provide technical support to Maternal, infant and young child nutrition technical working group and follow up of the agreed action points and organize and conduct MIYCN taskforce meetings on the need bases and actively participate in MIYCN related events/conferences and coordination with the relevant sectorial ministries.
- Conduct nutrition counselors’ performance review on a quarterly basis and review the ToR of NCs and midwife on need basis.
- Ensure proper implementation of regulation of Breast milk substitute and support conducting the BMS national committee meetings.
- Provide of monthly activities report to line manager.
- Support development and dissemination of new operational guidelines and tools and ensuring the required coordination.
- Conduct training and mentoring for front-line workers,
- Technical support to run gap analysis across all 34 provinces and follow up of the nutrition indicators (MIYCN) at national and provincial level.
Work Assignments Overview | Deliverables/Outputs | Delivery deadline |
Initiation & Planning | MIYCN coordination mechanism established; strategic-level guidance framework developed; national and provincial linkages strengthened; annual MIYCN coordination calendar developed. |
July 10th, 2025 (12 working days) |
Stakeholder Mapping & Partner Engagement | MIYCN TWG meetings received technical oversight; MIYCN guidelines revision process initiated ; roadmap aligned with national strategy and updated map shared; taskforce meetings supported as needed and minutes of the meeting submitted. | August 10th, 2025 (11 working days) |
Gap Analysis & Technical Support | Nutrition indicators reviewed and MIYCN program monitored in targeted areas, bottlenecks documented, and report submitted; quarterly performance of counselors assessed; monitoring framework applied across provinces |
Sep 10th, 2025 (11 working days) |
Protocol Finalization | TORs of nutrition counselors and midwives reviewed; revisions submitted; finalized MIYCN components integrated into national strategy and guidelines and revision of the MIYCN guideline supported. |
Oct 12th, 2025 (12 working days) |
Rollout Preparation | MIYCN events facilitated; the workshops reports submitted; MIYCN and community nutrition training materials finalized; support provided for implementation of the training and growth monitoring and promotion activities |
November 13th, 2025 (8 working days) |
Coordination of the roll out and Implementation | BPHS/EPHS MIYCN activities reviewed; prioritized actions defined for HER implementers and coordinated; implementation oversight initiated. RMNCH, CAH, HPD meetings attended; partnership matrix updated and shared. |
November 13th, 2025 (8 working days) |
Coordination of the roll out and Implementation | BPHS/EPHS MIYCN activities reviewed; prioritized actions defined for HER implementers and coordinated; implementation oversight initiated. RMNCH, CAH, HPD meetings attended; partnership matrix updated and shared |
Dec 14th, 2025 (8 working days) |
Field Oversight & Quality Assurance | BMS regulation monitored; BMS national committee supported; regular monitoring and supportive supervisions of the counselor, midwives and obstetricians conducted in priority provinces and report submitted; communication mechanism established & maintained with UNICEF nutrition staff in the field offices for quality implementation of the program at the field level. |
Jan 10th, 2026 (8 working days) |
Mid-term Performance Review | Mid-year review completed; program efficiency measures proposed; resource mapping for development partners finalized; MIYCN implementation support documented. |
Feb 12th, 2026 (8 working days) |
Strengthening Coordination and Tools | MIYCN materials integrated into national tools; technical inputs documented; MoUs reviewed and followed up. |
April 12th, 2026 (9 working days) |
Final Field Oversight & Planning |
Endline field supervision conducted; lessons learned captured; handover package prepared |
May 13th, 2026 (9 working days) |
Consolidation & Reporting | Final report and presentation delivered; monthly activity reports compiled and submitted; presentation to UNICEF/MoPH delivered; documentation package completed |
June 20th, 2026 (9 working days) |
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- A bachelor university degree in Data science/statistics or computer science, Database development, SQL server.
- A Minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the design, implementation, and coordination of nutrition programs in humanitarian or emergency settings, working experience managing or coordinating MIYCN services at national or sub-national levels is an advantage.
- Proven experience in revision of protocols/guidelines, and implementation of nutrition in emergencies (NiE) programming, including MIYCN Mapping framework analysis.
- Strong background in program performance monitoring, data analysis, and supporting technical working groups or task forces.
- Solid understanding of WHO global guidelines on breastfeeding promotion and ability to translate technical recommendations into national programmatic guidance.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate TWGs and multiple stakeholders (UN agencies, donors, NGOs, government counterparts).
- Experience in designing, reviewing, and evaluating annual work plans, operational frameworks, and key performance indicators for nutrition service delivery.
- Proficiency in nutrition supply estimation and planning, including quarterly forecasting and verification of commodities
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Familiarity with BPHS and non-BPHS systems, and practical experience in oversight and quality assurance of implementers across different service models.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
How to apply:
- Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with an all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template here:
Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
- Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.
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.
Advertised: Afghanistan Standard Time
Deadline: Afghanistan Standard Time