Nie Advocacy Consultant

**Job no**: 579730
**Contract type**: Consultant
**Duty Station**: Panama City
**Level**: Consultancy
**Location**: Panama
**Categories**: Health, Nutrition, Health and Nutrition

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,**_hope, care and love_**

Despite its critical importance and organizational mandate, Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) is often under-prioritized area in emergency preparedness and response, particularly in middle
- and high-income countries. Limited awareness of the nutrition risks faced by vulnerable populations during emergencies exacerbates the challenges in preventing malnutrition in such contexts. This gap often results in missed opportunities for timely interventions, reduced fundraising, and increased malnutrition, with life-threatening consequences for at-risk groups, especially children under five and pregnant and lactating women.

In recognition of these challenges, UNICEF’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACRO) has developed a comprehensive NiE advocacy strategy for 2025-2026. This strategy aligns closely with UNICEF’s Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030, which emphasizes the need for multisectoral action to improve maternal and child nutrition in all contexts, including emergencies. The strategy underscores the importance of advocating for integrated nutrition considerations within emergency response frameworks to mitigate risks and protect children’s health and development. The NiE advocacy strategy focuses on three main objectives:

- Enhanced understanding of the importance of NiE as a priority area and the urgency of its inclusion in emergency preparedness and response.
- Strengthening Partnerships: Engaging governments, civil society, and other stakeholders to enhance capacities integrate nutrition into emergency response plans and activities.
- Resource Mobilization: Securing commitments and funding to strengthen capacities and address gaps in NiE implementation.

This consultancy will play a pivotal role in implementing the NiE advocacy strategy by developing targeted advocacy materials, organizing high-impact events, and providing strategic support to ensure alignment with global frameworks and regional priorities. By supporting UNICEF’s global and regional commitments to improving nutrition outcomes in emergencies, this role contributes to achieving the goals outlined in the Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030 and advancing the broader agenda for child survival and well-being.

**How can you make a difference?**

Under the overall guidance of the Nutrition Specialist and in collaboration with the Communications Section and relevant Country Offices (COs) in the LAC region, the consultant will provide technical support to advance LACRO’s advocacy strategy for Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE). The role focuses on increasing awareness, fostering stakeholder commitments, and integrating nutrition considerations into emergency preparedness and response frameworks in alignment with UNICEF’s global strategies.

**Key Activities/s**

1. Draft a work plan outlining consultancy timelines, deliverables, and milestones, ensuring alignment with consultancy objectives and LACRO's NiE advocacy priorities.

2. Provide technical inputs to the finalization of a short brief to describe the need for increased NiE capacity and how to mobilize NiE expertise (e.g. through the Global Nutrition Cluster) targeting nutrition sector partners management.

3. Support the planning, organization, and execution of a high-level regional advocacy event to present the NiE advocacy strategy to UNICEF CO management and its implementation at the country level. Provide coordination support to event preparation, logistics, stakeholder participation, and post-event documentation to ensure actionable outcomes.

4. Provide technical inputs and contribute to the finalization of the R4V Nutrition Sector advocacy strategy 2025-2026. Contribute to its dissemination among key stakeholders. Participate in R4V meetings related to the topic.

5. Develop an evidence-based narrative to advocate for NiE in the form of a set/matrix of key messages/arguments to be used by LACRO and COs in advocacy and communication material related to NiE.

6. Develop at least 3 human interest stories in coordination with COs and LACRO Comms. The structure should include situation, nutrition risks and needs, access to services, nutrition intervention received, outcome, and other identified key aspects.

7. Develop a mapping of potential Goodwill Ambassadors for NiE, including their interests and strategic recommendations to approach them in coordination with LACRO Comms.

8. Provide technical inputs and contribute to the finalizati