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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, health and nutrition

UNICEF Skopje is looking for Senior National Consultant that will provide in-country technical support to Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Regional Office selected entity on Assessment of School Nutrition Policies, Interventions and Programmes, and Marketing of Unhealthy Food to Children in North Macedonia. The technical support for the selected consultant will include: assess healthy food environments in primary and secondary schools, provide policy recommendations on improving the environments; review and revise the policy proposals for introduction of healthy school meals/snacks in primary and secondary schools and enhancing nutrition outcomes for school-children, developed within an UNICEF analysis on introduction of the European Child Guarantee in the country; provide technical support to the Ministry of Health and or Ministry of Education in North Macedonia for the drafting of school food policy briefs and advocacy materials for improving the school food environment.

In 2024, UNICEF North Macedonia, supported by UNICEF NYHQ and the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, used Systems Thinking approach to support the development of a systems map addressing overweight and obesity within North Macedonia.  

To address overweight and obesity, UNICEF is supporting governments across the ECA region to introduce and strengthen key policies and legislation including taxes on sugary drinks, controls on the marketing of unhealthy food and drink, front-of-pack nutrition labelling on packaged foods and school-based policies related to provision of healthy meals. To support governments in developing comprehensive policies for school-age children, UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia proposes to use the Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool (NEAT-s) for schools to assess school nutrition policies, interventions, and programmes to generate evidence for government to inform their policy and for monitoring purposes. 

To support country level assessments within countries, UNICEF ECA Regional Office has contracted an academic institution that shall be the overarching technical lead and coordinator for the school nutrition environment assessment. The contracted institution will design a detailed methodology for the school nutrition assessment and use the tool developed by UNICEF East Asia Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) and will work with individual countries to contextualize and adapt the tool. The in-country consultant/s shall be trained by the ECAR contracted institution, and they will be supported to administer the school environment assessment tool in the country.

How can you make a difference? 

To implement this task, UNICEF North Macedonia seeks to contract Senior National consultant that should work in close collaboration with Health and Nutrition Officer and complete the following tasks:

- Under the guidance of international contractor, lead and coordinate the process of assessment of school healthy food environments and healthy school meals/snacks and provide policy recommendations on improving the environments in a selected number of primary and secondary schools within the eight[1] statistical planning regions of the country, taking into consideration the size of the school, urban/rural, and the language of instruction.  

- Lead and coordinate provision of technical support to the Ministry of Health and or Ministry of Education and Science in North Macedonia for drafting of school food policy briefs and advocacy materials for improving the school food environment.  

Specifically, the Senior Consultant should:

1. Lead the adaptation of the NEAT-s

In collaboration with the international institutional contractor, lead the consultations with key stakeholders and adapt the NEAT-s to the country context⁶. The NEAT-s will be translated into Macedonian and Albanian language.   

The adaptation will pertain to the:

• First domain of the NEAT-s – Nutritious foods in schools, including free school meals/snacks – based on nutritional standards and guidelines for school meals/snacks, as well as use of local supply chains (including private and public sectors) for school meals/snacks
• Second domain of the NEATs  –  healthy school food and physical activity environments – and more specifically, the need to reduce advertising/sponsorship of unhealthy foods and drinks or branding in and around schools (and other forms of food industry presence and influence), the need to increase the availability of only healthy food and drinks for sale in vending machines, tuck-shops and private vendors in and around schools.

2. Lead and coordinate literature review and ethical approval  

In collaboration with UNICEF country office, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Education and Science, lead the review of a recent UNICEF analysis on introduction of the European Child Guarantee in the country, which contains some insights on the school food environments and introduction of nutritious food in schools. The analysis was conducted based on survey of 60 municipalities, survey of parents and survey of school staff in additional 23 municipalities. The consultant/s will also review the relevant legal framework on foods in schools and school food environments. Based on the existing data the consultant will propose additional data points that may need to be collected and will propose the modalities to collect such data (e.g. interviews, survey, administrative data collection, etc.) identification and selection of schools to participate in the school nutrition environment assessment. Prepare and support relevant ethics approval processes within country and all other processes required to recruit schools.

3. Participate in capacity development on NEAT-s and data collection  

Coordinate capacity building and training on use of the NEAT-s tool that will be provided by the lead Institution contracted by ECARO. In-country consultants are expected to participate in training and capacity development activities to learn how to use the tool, how to conduct the data collection and how to clean and analyse data. Lead and coordinate junior consultants to carry out the data collection phase of the assignment. 

4. Lead data analysis and report writing 

Led the process of writing the country specific report and production of policy briefs and data visualization under the guidance of the ECARO contracted institution and in coordination with the junior consultants. 

5. Stakeholder consultation workshop 

Lead the stakeholder consultations and coordinate the junior consultants in arranging and facilitation of stakeholder consultation workshop to present the findings of the school nutrition environment assessment (domains 1 and 2 mentioned above), and discuss key policy recommendations, including recommendations on potential amendments to the legal framework on foods in schools and school food environments.  

6. Final report  

Lead writing the final report that will cover the process undertaken to complete the assessment including any lessons learned and recommendations for how to scale up the use the NEAT-s in the country and how to advocate for the agreed policy recommendations.  

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[1] Vardar, Eastern, Southwestern, Southeastern, Pelagonija, Polog, Northeastern and Skopje

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

- Degree in health, public health or nutrition, law. Master's or PhD degree is an asset.
- At least 15 years' work experience working at an advanced level in public health/nutrition policy and/or education, including research and policy development. 
- Prior experience conducting school-based research or assessments. 
- Extensive knowledge of school nutrition environments. 
- Knowledge of the nutrition challenges and nutrition policy environment in North Macedonia. 
- Fluent in Macedonian and English and excellent writing skills. Knowledge of Albanian language is an asset.   

How to apply: 

To apply please upload your most recent Motivation letter, most recent CV and submit the financial proposal for this assignment. The financial proposal should indicate gross daily fee in Macedonian Denars.

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.