Consultant for Thematic Report On Overweight and Obesity Latin America and The Caribbean

**Job no**: 578146
**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, love and care**

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions with the highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world. The 2023 Thematic Report on-Childhood Overweight in LAC showed that this condition affects more than four million children under five years of age and almost 50 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years.

Childhood overweight and obesity impacts children ́s immediate physical and emotional well-being; increases the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) later in life; and carries heavy societal and economic consequences for the individual, families and their communities.

The UNICEF Nutrition Strategy (2020-2030) recognizes the role of five systems, namely food, health, education, social protection and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), as well as social norms, in preventing all forms of childhood malnutrition, including overweight.

UNICEF LACRO has been engaged in overweight and obesity prevention work since 2016 by developing and implementing strategies, policies and tailored interventions. In the previous years, UNICEF LACRO published two thematic reports (2021,2023) describing the general situation of childhood overweight in LAC and UNICEF’s approach and vision for preventing it.

To draw attention to the status of the problem of child overweight in the region and the knowledge and experiences generated at national and regional levels and the required actions to change the situation, UNICEF is seeking an individual consultant who coordinates the development of a third edition of the regional thematic report on overweight prevention. The envisaged audiences include governments, civil society, academia, UN agencies, UNICEF Country Offices in LAC and other regions as well as current and prospective donors.

**How can you make a difference?**

Under the supervision of the Regional Nutrition Specialist and in close collaboration with the Food Systems Specialist and communications as relevant, the consultant will develop a regional thematic report on the most up-to-date information on childhood overweight, review the progress made in relation to policies and strategies for its prevention of childhood overweight, and highlighting illustrative examples of UNICEF’s work in this area.

**Key Activities/s**
- The individual contractor will prepare a comprehensive report, a summary report and a presentation in PowerPoint on overweight and obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean. The elaboration of these products will include the following activities:

- 1. Preparation of a timeline and report outline based on the following essential content:

- a. Foreword
- b. Definitions
- c. Executive Summary
- d. Introduction
- e. Overview of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean
- i. Overweight status in children 0-19 years of age
- ii. Latest data, evidence and other key updates on childhood overweight and obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean
- f.UNICEF’s response and contribution to the prevention of childhood overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean
- g.Conclusions
- h.Recommendations
- i. References
- 2. Mapping UNICEF’s key initiatives and interventions for overweight prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean, considering UNICEF’s Food Systems perspective. Desk review and analysis of data from the JME, as well as other relevant information, such as gray literature, press releases, journalistic articles, policy papers and other recent (2023-2024) key documents related to the topic.
- 3. Coordinate with Country Offices and other key stakeholders to collect most relevant information
- 4. Prepare first draft of the thematic report with clear and accessible language to ensure understanding and engagement by non-specialized audiences (maximum 40 pages; less is welcome).
- 5. Incorporate feedback and prepare second draft of the report
- 6. Prepare a summary report
- 7. Prepare a presentation in PowerPoint, key messages and other key information for dissemination activities
- 8. Accompaniment and support during the translation, design and layout process of the thematic report and the summary report.
- 9. Support during activities related to the thematic report’s launch and dissemination
- 10. Other required activities to pursue the objective of the consultancy

**To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have**- At least 5 years of experience in reporting, quantitative data analy