BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote-sensing. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, which allows particularly IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.
We are currently looking for a REACH Nutrition Assessment Officer to support our team in Nigeria.
Position: REACH Nutrition Assessment Officer
Contract duration: 6 months
Location: Maiduguri, Nigeria
Start Date: ASAP
COUNTRY PROFILE
In North East Nigeria (NEN), the ongoing crisis continues to have a profound impact on the population, leading to displacement both within and out of the region and high rates of unmet needs among internally displaced persons. The conflict additionally exacerbates prior unmet needs among non-displaced and host communities. While the primary driver of the conflict remains violent conflict, including ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province), JAS (Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad) and associated armed opposition groups (AOGs), other underlying factors, such as climate change, poverty, and disease outbreaks, exacerbate need and further complicate aid delivery.
Against the backdrop of this protracted crisis, the humanitarian situation in Northeast Nigeria remains one of the world’s most severe. Out of the Northeast’s Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) state’s total population of 13 million people, an estimated 7.9 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.[1] Borno state remains the epicentre of the crisis, containing over 80% of the region’s over 2 million internally displaced persons.[2] Major incidents throughout 2019 have led to continued mass displacements and severely affected the provision of humanitarian assistance in the region.
The sudden influx of arrivals added strain to the existing infrastructure of the humanitarian community, resulting in high rates of unmet needs, overcrowding in camps, and exposure to protection risks for vulnerable groups. The congestion status of the camps has resulted in over 60% of IDPs residing outside of camps within host communities, further complicating service delivery.[3] The intensity of needs within Maiduguri and the instability of the security situation in more remote regions has resulted in increased focus on populations in accessible areas; however, populations in the less accessible areas are presumed to have even greater needs.
These hard-to-reach areas are estimated to contain around 971,000 persons.[4] Very little is known about the specific conditions and needs of the populations living in these areas, but they are presumed to have little mobility, limited essential services, and little or no access to humanitarian aid. The same threats that severely limit the ability of humanitarian actors to conduct thorough assessments also immediately affect the population living in the region. REACH’s Humanitarian Situation Monitoring (HSM) assessments in the Hard-to-Reach areas of Borno state have found that people in these inaccessible areas lack of access to basic services including health facilities, access to livelihoods and have decreased access to foods, access to improved water sources and access to humanitarian services.[5]
As such, the needs for evidenced-based Humanitarian Aid and information on populations in both accessible and inaccessible areas is paramount to a coordinated response. REACH has been present in Nigeria since 2017, providing a growing evidence base for humanitarian response planning through sectoral, multi-sectoral and area-based assessments as well as information management services. In 2021, REACH is looking to continue to provide the humanitarian community with relevant and reliable information to strengthen strategic programming and needs-based targeting in Northeast Nigeria.
More information can be found here: https://www.impact-initiatives.org/where-we-work/nigeria/
POSITION PROFILE
REACH’s Sectoral Team, in line with the global REACH 2.0 strategy of sector/cluster support, engages with sectors and working groups across the humanitarian response. This includes Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Nutrition, WASH, Cash, CCCM/Shelter and more. REACH Nigeria’s Sectoral Team is seeking an assessment officer with experience with nutrition assessments to support various activities, including MUAC screenings, SMART surveys and the Cadre Harmonise, a comprehensive analytical framework that takes into account various indicators of food and nutrition security outcomes and the inference of contributing factors. Engagements include conducting assessments, supporting in analysis, building capacity building, supporting coordination and strategic engagement to promote innovative methods towards understanding sector-related needs in North East Nigeria.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the direct supervision of the REACH Senior Assessment Officer for the Sectoral Team, the Nutrition Assessment Officer (NAO) will be responsible for assessing nutrition, health, and mortality needs and conditions in North East Nigeria and for working closely with other sectoral specialists and REACH teams to provide relevant analysis to the humanitarian response.
This includes:
- In collaboration with the Sectoral Unit Senior Assessment Officer, and under the guidance of the Deputy Country Coordinator, providing support to humanitarian actors in Nigeria working in the field of Nutrition, specifically including the Nutrition Cluster with relevant and timely data and analysis;
- Further developing and expanding REACH’s nutrition and health portfolios, ensuring close collaboration with other sector-specific analysts including the WASH;
- Supporting the development of new projects and programme strategies, as well as the production of donor reports and new proposals;
- Conducting nutrition assessments either as technical support to nutrition partners in Nigeria, or as ad hoc rapid nutrition assessments, including the design, planning, training and implementation, data cleaning and analysis, and reporting of the assessment results;
- Representing REACH Nigeria in Nutrition and Health Sector meetings and as a technical representative on the Nutrition Information Working Group (NIWG);
- Providing ad hoc technical support to the Nutrition Cluster or the NIWG in the analysis of nutrition data or other secondary data sources, or technical training of staff, as requested;
- Participating in the Cadre Harmonise (CH) analysis workshops for Acute Malnutrition;
- Providing technical support to other REACH departments on the collection or interpretation of nutrition, health, and mortality data as requested;
- Coordinating and ensuring timely data collection, including management of field staff where relevant;
- In coordination with the REACH Country Coordinator, Deputy Country Coordinator and Sectoral Team Senior Assessment Officer, representing REACH externally with donors, partners and the wider aid community through sectors and working groups.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The NAO will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.
ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES
The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about IMPACT programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every IMPACT staff member.
REQUIREMENTS
- Excellent academic qualifications, including a university degree (preferably a Master’s degree) in a relevant discipline (for example, but not limited to Public Health, Nutrition, Epidemiology, Statistics, etc.);
- SMART Survey Manager certification is highly preferred
- IPC Acute Malnutrition Level 1 training is highly preferred
- Experience conducting nutrition assessments (SMART, SQUEAC, RNA), or experience conducting quantitative data collection (household surveys) in emergency contexts is highly preferred;
- Training, certification, or relevant programmatic experience in other relevant nutrition topics (CMAM, IYCF, etc.) is considered an asset;
- Strong skills in Excel are required;
- Experience using statistical software such as EpiInfo, SPSS, STATA, or R is required;
- Experience using GIS software such as QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth is considered an asset;
- Experience designing data collection forms in Kobo, ODK, or similar mobile data collection tools is considered an asset;
- Prior knowledge of Nigerian context an asset;
- Ability to work independently;
- Familiarity with the humanitarian aid system and relevant actors;
CONDITIONS
- Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus;
- Additional monthly living allowance;
- Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment);
- Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance;
- Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package
[1] OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
[2] IOM, Displacement Tracking Matrix, November 2019
[3] OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
[4] OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2020
[5] REACH HSM Hard-to-Reach Factsheets, 2020
More Information
- Job City Maiduguri
