Purpose of the Consultancy
A key priority of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding globally through policy guidance and technical assistance to countries. The Department of Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) is engaged in a number of projects to advance work in this area.
Building upon the WHO Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding as well as key priorities of the Global Breastfeeding Collective, the Food and Nutrition Actions in Health Systems (AHS) Unit of NFS is currently prioritizing projects on:
- The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. WHO works in collaboration with external partner organizations to support countries in the adoption, implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of the Code. Guidance on interpretation of Code provisions, advocacy tools, and technical assistance are all needed.
- Implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. New guidance released in 2018 proposed new directions for the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative to scale-up the adoption of the Ten Steps to all facilities and to ensure the sustainability of the policies and practices.
- Provision of breastfeeding counselling to all pregnant and postpartum women. Based on new guidelines published in 2018, implementation guidance, advocacy materials, toolkits, and monitoring indicators are all needed.
- Guidelines on complementary feeding. WHO is developing new guidelines on appropriate feeding of infants and young children 6-23 months of age to ensure healthy growth and development.
Work to be performed
More specifically, tasks will consist of:
The Consultant, Infant and Young Child Feeding, in close collaboration with technical staff from the AHS Unit/NFS Department, will:
- Assist in the preparation of systematic reviews and nutrient models to drive decision-making by the Guideline Development Group on complementary feeding of infants and young children 6-23 months of age
- Revise the Model Chapter on Breastfeeding for medical textbooks in collaboration with others
- Develop internal monitoring tools for maternity facilities on the implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
- Support the work of the Expert Panel on Breastfeeding Counselling in completing an implementation guidance document
- Develop policy briefs/information notes on key issues related to the Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
- Support revision of the online course on the Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
- Provide technical assistance to countries on infant and young child feeding issues as requested.
Specific requirements
Qualifications required:
Education
Essential: Advanced university degree in epidemiology, nutrition and dietetics, maternal and child health, or health-related area.
Desirable: Post-graduate training in epidemiology, nursing, lactation management, public health, or clinical nutrition a plus.
Experience
Essential: At least 7 years of experience in health sciences or public health.
Desirable: Specific experience in breastfeeding programme delivery or patient care.
Languages
Excellent knowledge of English and an additional WHO official language.
Additional information
Work for this consultancy may be completed remotely, although future extensions may require relocation to Geneva, Switzerland.
Financial agreement
USD 7,500-9,000 per month depending on qualifications.
Dates and Duty Station
The consultant is intended to start on 15 August 2020 and will run initially for six months with the possibility of extension. The consultant is expected to be based in Geneva, Switzerland (TBC). There may be a possibility to work remotely for part of this assignment given the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions
How to apply
Interested candidates must submit their CV or an updated WHO profile in PDF to nutrition@who.int no later than 7 August 2020. To create a WHO profile, please go to https://www.who.int/careers/. Please include “CONSULTANT INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING” in the subject matter of your email application.
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level.
WHO is committed to workforce diversity. Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
WHO has a smoke‐free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.