Head of Somalia Nutrition Programme

Somalia has been suffering from conflict and lack of a functioning government since past 20 years. Currently this chronically highly precarious country has been severely hit by an enormous scale of drought. Across Somalia, 3.7 million of its total 9 million Somali populations have been affected by the drought and are living in humanitarian crisis. On 20th July 2011, UN has declared famine in parts of Southern Somalia. The drought situation has deteriorated to famine in Bakool agro-pastoral livelihood zones and all areas of Lower Shabelle. Other southern areas are expected to worsen in August-September as food insecurity deteriorates. 2.8 million of the drought affected populations are concentrated in eight southern regions and as many as 1.85 million children are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. This represents 85 per cent increase since mid-2010, and an increase of over 85 per cent, or 1 million people, since January 2011. The recent estimate shows that over 29,000 under five children have died in past 90 days in the drought affected population. The following malnutrition and mortality findings released recently by FSNAU FEWSNET on 4th August from the surveys it conducted illustrate the exceptionally high levels of acute malnutrition and mortality. The surveys conducted in Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions and the IDP settlements in Afgoye and Mogadishu showed: • 35.3 percent GAM and 17.1 percent SAM in Middle Shabelle Agropastoral, • 39.4 percent GAM and 15.3 percent SAM in Mogadishu (IDPs), • 40.4 percent GAM and 17.2 percent SAM in Afgoye (IDPs) • 42.2 percent GAM and 15.8 percent SAM in Hiran Agropastoral. These results all indicate deterioration from previous analysis (6 months earlier) when GAM was estimated at ~25 percent. Similarly, the mortality results from the same surveys indicate that under five death rates in all 7 surveys were >4 deaths/10,000/day, reaching as high as 15/10,000/day among Mogadishu IDPS. The crude deaths rates have exceeded the threshold for a famine declaration in 3 of the 7 surveys: • 2.3/10,000/day in Middle Shabelle Agropastoral, • 4.33/10,000/day among Afgoye IDPs and • 4.37/10,000/day among Mogadishu IDPs. In the remaining four surveys, crude mortality was above the alert level of 1/10,000/day. This clearly indicates a very urgent need for nutrition interventions for saving children’s lives.

Current and Future Save the Children Nutrition Programming: Save the Children established its emergency nutrition programme in Hiran in May 2009 and currently runs 45 Outpatient Treatment Programme (OTP) in the five districts of Hiran. Each district is served by a mobile team comprised of one nurse, three nutrition workers and one community mobiliser visiting each site on a weekly basis. Previously there was targeted supplementary feeding but this ceased approximately 1 year ago due to pressure from the Al Shebaab.

The ECHO funding for the nutrition activities in Hiran will end on the 31st August 2011. A subsequent proposal for E4.3 million has recently been submitted. This proposal aims to increase the number of OTP sites to 50, restart TSFP activities and integrate some infant and young child feeding activities, as well as provide cash as part of the FSL programming in Central South Somalia: Galgadud , Hiran and Lower Juba Regions and Northern Somalia: Puntland – Nugal and Bari Regions. In addition UNICEF, WFP and ERF funding are currently in place to undertake OTP, TSFP in Galgadud (Abduwaq, Balan Bale, and Hirale) until at least November 2011 (when the ERF expires). OTP teams have been recruited and trained but activities need to begin.

Overall the emergency nutrition programme aims to scale up from a current nutrition caseload of 12,033 (Hiran, Bosasso and Garroway) to approximately 236,795 direct nutrition beneficiaries through OTP, TSFP, BSFP and IFE including in new areas (See the Somalia Emergency Strategy).

As well as the scale up there is also a need to address recent criticism from ECHO about Save the Children’s implementation and reporting in the region, including that of Somalia. Questions have also been raised by UNICEF and WFP as to the reliability and quality of the data and information being provided. As the Hiran programme has ECHO funding and the Galgadud programmes has UNICEF/WFP funding it is therefore essential that a quality programme is undertaken in order to both ensure that the beneficiaries receive the programming that they require but also to ensure that these donors support Save the Children in scaling up of other emergency programmes as well as provide funding in the future.

Job Purpose

To manage the nutrition activities in Somaliland, Puntland, and South Central Somalia. To ensure that all the components of the nutrition programme are functioning properly, providing care of quality to all the patients/beneficiaries through respecting protocols and principles of good practice. Initially because to the current emergency and also due to the necessity to deliver quality programmes both for the donors and the beneficiaries the main functions of the Head of Nutrition for Somalia in the next 6 months is to: firstly to consolidate the current Save the Children nutrition activities, and secondly to ensure the scale-up of nutrition programming is in line with national and international guidance on best practice.

Key Accountabilities • Ensure strong oversight of the nutrition programme. • Ensure that requirements for a declared emergency are met. E.g. Revise the nutrition element of the Somalia Emergency Strategy. Develop and update the Somalia Emergency Nutrition Implementation Plan. As the programme moves into the next phases develop longer term nutrition strategy for 24 months and longer. • Ensure ‘emergency tools’ and systems are kept updated with nutrition information e.g. the assessment grid, the Nutrition Cluster 4 W’s, the output tracker, the funding tracker, etc • Responsible for programming including: Manage, assess, design, plan, implement, and evaluate complex, integrated nutrition programmes with a treatment and preventative component. • Ensure that ‘nutrition’ is adequately represented as part of any assessment of possible new programming areas, to ensure that the data obtained can make planning decisions. • Ensure the nutrition programmes meet national and international standards e.g. SPHERE, Operational Guidance on IFE, Somalia Management of Acute Malnutrition Guidelines. • Develop a technically strong nutrition team, including recruitment (when necessary) and management of the Nutrition Technical Leads and others. • Manage client and counterpart relationships and ensure proper coordination of activities. Serve as a Save the Children nutrition representative to, and collaborate and coordinate with, local communities, Nutrition Cluster, UN agencies, donors, international NGOs, local NGOs, etc. • Provide nutrition-related technical assistance to Save the Children staff and other collaborating agencies such as community-based organizations, and local NGOs etc. • Participate in nutritional assessment planning, implementation, analysis, interpretation and reporting, as required. • Ensure and undertake regular programme reviews along with Technical Leads and in collaboration with the appropriate donor, to ensure lessons are learnt and timely actions taken. • Assist in developing formal and informal training materials to build local capacity in nutrition. • Ensure systems are in place between nutrition and other operational areas e.g. logistics, to ensure that food stock and nutritional equipment are in place. • Contribute to overseeing the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for nutrition programme activities in collaboration with Save the Children M&E staff and in line with the Cluster • Compose statistical and narrative nutrition programme and other reports. Ensure reporting and project activities meet the donor, partner, local and internal compliance regulations. • Liaise with other implementing partners and local authorities to maximize collaboration and ensure proper coordination of activities • To areas where possible make frequent sites visits to ensure programme activities are being implemented appropriately and on schedule. • Ensure that key documents and programme information is centrally saved and available to SMT, programme staff and partners. • Attend the Save the Children Close of Business and Operations Meetings to ensure that Nutrition issues are highlighted. Ensure that the information is cascaded to the rest of the team. • Have regular communications with Save the Children programme staff in Somalia. • Attend SMT meetings and others as required in order to coordinate and integrate activities with area managers, other sectors and operations • Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed above are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all inclusive.

Application Procedures:

All interested candidates please forward your CV with application letters to: vacancies@scsom.org and the application deadline is on 10th Sept 2011