South Sudan: Nutrition consultancy- Proposal development South Sudan

Plan International is a child- centred organisation working in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas. We focus on child rights, implementing programmes designed to enable communities to improve the lives of the most marginalised children by working with women, youth and civil society organisations.

Plan has been working in South Sudan since 2006 (before its independence in 2011) - helping poor children to access their rights to education, health, protection and economic security. Plan South Sudan and Plan UK have a strong relationship, having already secured European Commission (EC) funding.

The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) is part of the European Union funding mechanism which has been the second largest donor of humanitarian assistance since 2000. The EU provides around one third of all humanitarian financing to South Sudan to support life-saving programmes for an estimated 2 million people.

A specialist nutrition proposal development consultant is needed to respond to an ECHO call for proposals in South Sudan. The consultant will develop a professional and technically competent ECHO proposal for a nutrition focused programme. This will include carrying out and leading a needs assessment with the country office staff, including training staff on the developed needs assessment tools. In addition the consultant will conduct as a desk review of recent nutrition assessments and other humanitarian assessments related to South Sudan (and Jonglei in particular). Finally, the consultants will also drafting a final proposal to be submitted to ECHO. The proposal will also include budget, work plan and communication plan. In line with Plan’s priorities the proposal will need to be gender sensitive, risk informed and inclusive (disability, ethnicity, elderly, etc).

The assignment needs to be carried out over October into early November as proposal submission is required early November 2015. The expected start date of the assignment is ideally mid-October 2015.

Given the scope of the work it is expected that consultancy will be no more than 20 days, seven days for conducting the needs assessment, including developing tools and delivering training on those tools, then 13 days for the nutrition proposal and consultancy report.

What we’re looking for:

You will have significant experience in proposal development for emergency nutrition programmes, in particular with major institutional donors, preferably with previous experience with ECHO.

Knowledge and experience of child-centred programming will be an advantage. Similarly, experience of proposal development in East African region and in particular South Sudan, will also be advantageous.

Consultant specification

• At least 5 years’ experience in social research in relation to the humanitarian sector and nutrition

• Master’s degree and/or proven expertise in nutrition

• Track record of consultancy work in the areas of nutrition, need assessments, proposal development, grants management.

• Knowledge of nutrition, gender, food security.

• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills

• Experience in the collection and analysis of qualitative in-country primary research

•Fluent in English with a high standard of written English

KEY OUTPUTS

The consultancy should deliver the following outputs:

I. Needs Assessment Reportwhich includes developing tools with Plan South Sudan’s MEAL unit, carrying out training of tools and producing nutrition needs assessment.

II. Nutrition proposal (ECHO single form format- WORD document) which includes: work plan, Budget and Communication plan.

III. Consultancy report which includes recommendations for implementation

General tasks

• Develop, with Plan South Sudan M &E staff, tools for a needs assessment , provide training on the assessment tools
• Carry out a needs assessment with Plan South Sudan M & E staff
• Provide needs assessment report, ensuring it is gender sensitive, risk informed and inclusive (disability, ethnicity, elderly, etc.)
• Desk review of recent nutrition assessments and other humanitarian assessments related to South Sudan and Jonglei in particular.
• Meet key nutrition stakeholders in Juba and Akobo if possible, these include food security and nutrition cluster leads, Save the Children, Concern, ACF etc., and other actors working in Akobo.
• To work collaboratively with other Plan South Sudan departments to ensure the proposal is well coordinated, especially finance, procurement and logistics.
• To ensure the proposal is gender sensitive, risk informed and inclusive (disability, ethnicity, elderly, etc.)
• · Accountability with affected population should be included in the proposal, mainly through the inclusion of relevant and context specific feedback mechanisms.

XIII. APPLICATION PROCESS AND TIMELINE

The assignment is expected to be carried out during October/ early November. Given the tight time scale, please register expressions of interest with a CV, cover letter 11.00 UCT/GMT 13th October to Gloria.Donate@plan-uk.org

Given the scope of the work it is expected that consultancy will be no more than 20 days, seven days for conducting the needs assessment, including developing tools and delivering training on those tools, then 13 days for the nutrition proposal and consultancy report.

TIMEFRAME AND MILESTONES FOR PAYMENT

The assignment needs to be carried out over October into November, submission required early November 2015. The expected start date of the assignment is ideally mid-October 2015. Deliverables are ideally expected in the following timeline:

• Contract signed:30% payment
• 28th October –Needs assessment completed(including tools developed and assessment carried out with Plan South Sudan staff)
• 7^th November- First draft of the single form(budget, work plan and communication plan included) ready on the**: 40% payment.**
• 10^th November- Feedback and revision, along with consultancy report:30% payment.

Given the tight time scale, please register expressions of interest with a CV, cover letter 11.00 UCT/GMT 13th October to Gloria.Donate@plan-uk.org.