UNICEF Pacific Consultancy: Dietary intake assessment in Isabel, Western, and Guadalcanal Provinces, Solomon Islands, 75 working days over 5 months

Overview

Consultant to conduct dietary intake assessments in schools and surrounding communities in Isabel, Western, and Guadalcanal provinces, Solomon Islands. The findings will contribute to revising school nutrition guidelines, meal plans, recipes, and nutrition education materials.

Tasks Summary

• Undertake mapping of locally available food, including cultural diversity, dietary patterns, availability variations, and pricing.
• Collect quantified 24-hour recall data for dietary intake assessment, including body size measurements and food prices.
• Organize and clean collected data for analysis and modelling.
• Provide ad-hoc support to the data analysis team and engage with stakeholders for feedback and validation.
• Collect data on common food preparation methods and compile local recipes.
• Review nutritional value of recipes and recommend modifications for optimal dietary intakes.
• Pre-test and draft modified recipes and meal plans, and finalize a proposed set of full-day meal and snack plans.
• Map socio-cultural barriers and enablers to the consumption of local nutritious foods among learners.
• Investigate influencers on food-related preferences and cultural norms.
• Contribute to reviewing existing school-based IEC materials and nutrition-related guidelines.
• Support the development of nutrition content for school curricula and extracurricular guidelines.
• Contribute to developing relevant content for potential school nutrition guidelines.

Experience Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in nutrition-related work.
• Experience in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing dietary intake assessments and linear programming-based analyses for developing food-based recommendations.
• Work experience serving in a developing country is required.
• Work experience in the Pacific Islands region is an asset.
• Experience working in UNICEF or a UN system agency is an asset.

Qualification Requirements

• A Master’s degree in Nutrition, Food Science, Dietetics, Public Health, or other relevant disciplines required.
• PhD will be an added advantage.

Other Details

Languages Required: • Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

Languages Preferred: • Knowledge of a local language would be an asset.

Contract Duration: 75 working days over 5 months

Work Modality:

Remuneration: • Daily fees – based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference • Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment as required, as well as any in country travel within Solomon Islands - minimum 2 trips per each to the following three provinces (Isabelle, Western, Guadalcanal) for data collection are expected). • Living allowance for international consultant that will need to relocate to Solomon Islands, for the duration of in-country assignment • Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.