Consultant IYCF

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, non-political, non-sectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

Program Description (Background): International Medical Corps has a history of providing healthcare services and training in Ukraine that dates back to 1999. Over the past year, IMC has substantially expanded humanitarian interventions within Ukraine and neighboring countries in response to ongoing armed conflict sparked by the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The situation throughout Ukraine is deteriorating rapidly as the conflict intensifies, prompting a sharp increase in humanitarian needs as access to essential services and supplies are disrupted and more and more people flee their homes. In addition, millions of Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, including Moldova, Poland and Romania, increasing pressure on host governments as they work to provide shelter and essential services to the new arrivals.

International Medical Corps in Ukraine is implementing infant and young child feeding program, that focus on providing counselling services to pregnant women, lactating mothers on IYCF. As well supporting, mothers/caregivers with children aged 6-23 months, with additional complementary food. 

However, there is a lack of real-time information on the nutrition situation in Ukraine, and the IASC Nutrition cluster has determined gaps and priority information needs. There has been a significant contextual shift since the last assessments in 2015. Therefore, this necessitates an updated assessment of IYCF practices, humanitarian assistance access, and nutrition status among children 6-23 months, which will inform and sharp nutrition interventions. 

The position is based in Ukraine and may require in country travel based on security.

Candidates will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Measles and any other mandatory vaccine requirement (country dependent) prior to deployment. Reasonable accommodations will be considered on a case-by-case basis for exemptions to this requirement in accordance with applicable law.  Applicants should be aware that for certain positions involving emergency deployments, accommodations that involve remaining unvaccinated against COVID-19 may not be deemed reasonable. International Medical Corps will engage in the interactive process on an individualized basis in light of each particular role.

The IYCF assessment consultant is responsible to lead a mixed-methods assessment that includes a population-representative survey of current IYCF practices among caregivers of children 0-23 months of age, households’ access to humanitarian assistance, and nutrition status among war-affected families in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa oblasts in Ukraine. The target study population will include IDPs, returnees and families that remained in their original areas of residence.

Scope of Asssignment

• Develop and design the assessment protocol adhering to the general methodology proposed by IMC, factoring in access to humanitarian assistance, and nutrition status among children 6-23 months through mid-upper arm circumference screening. The technical IYCF protocol document must include a detailed description of the methodology (inclusive of sampling, data collection instruments, and analysis strategy) and activities/timeline.
• Train the IYCF, access to humanitarian assistance, and nutrition status among children 6-23 months assessment enumerators and supervisors, including field questionnaire testing.
• Assume overall responsibility for assessment implementation, including daily supervision of the IYCF supervisors and enumerators during data collection and daily quality assurance. 
• Ensure data cleaning and analysis using appropriate software.
• Prepare data analysis and draft report covering all results inclusive of IYCF, access to humanitarian assistance, and nutrition status among children 6-23 months, including descriptive tables and the R code or STATA do filefor review by IMC and CDC, ensuring comprehensiveness of analysis for all relevant indicators.
• Prepare final report, incorporating feedback from IMC and CDC from the draft report.
• Present the final report to Ukraine nutrition, IYCF technical working group for validation.

Assessment timeframe: Preparation of the survey methodology, validation of the survey methodology is expected to be finalized by end of March, data collection in April/May and final report by early June. 

 Deliverables:

• IYCF assessment inception report, reviewed by IMC, CDC and validated by Ukraine IYCF technical working group.
• Assessment team trained prior the data collection.
• IYCF assessment draft report completed, shared with IMC and CDC for review.
• Final assessment report incorporating the feedback provided and shared with key nutrition stakeholders in Ukraine.
• Full survey dataset (both raw and final) and analysis outputs including code file and tables 

Please refer to the Scope of Work above to view this Individual Consultancy details and requirements.

Code of Conduct
As applicable to this position, an individual must promote and encourage a culture of compliance and ethics throughout the organization and maintain a clear understanding of International Medical Corps and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards.

Safeguarding
It is all staff shared responsibility and obligation to safeguard and protect populations with whom we work, including adults who may be particularly vulnerable and children. This includes safeguarding from the following conduct by our staff or partners: sexual exploitation and abuse; exploitation, neglect, or abuse of children, adults at risk, or LGBTI individuals; and any form of trafficking in persons. Staff are also responsible for preventing violations to our Code of Conduct and Ethics, which may involve Conflicts of Interest, Fraud, Corruption or Harassment. If you see, hear or are made aware of any violations to the Code of Conduct and Ethics or Safeguarding Policy, you have an obligation to report.

Equal Opportunities
International Medical Corps is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran.