Overview
Contribute to strengthening the design, implementation, and monitoring of school food and nutrition programmes with a focus on school meals initiatives. Provide technical support and guidance to enhance nutrition outcomes and foster healthy food practices.
Key Responsibilities
- Researches and analyses data, statistics and information to provide technical, statistical and/or policy related information and analysis.
- Produces a variety of technical reports and input for technical documents, divisional publications and/or web pages.
- Provides technical, statistical, and/or analytical services on various studies, projects, and/or assessments and provides technical backstopping to field projects.
- Participates in the development of improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, methodologies, systems, databases, and/or key indicators.
- Participates in multidisciplinary teams, collaborates with other Divisions/Offices/Centres and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.
- Collaborates in capacity development activities involving the planning and organizing of training workshops, seminars, and major meetings and the preparation of related information, materials, on-line tools and information kits.
- Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations.
- Participates in resource mobilization activities.
- Supports senior officers in providing technical assistance to countries in designing and implementing nutrition guidelines and standards to improve the nutritional quality of school food.
- Follows up on the integration of a holistic approach to enhance school children's nutrition by synergically combining local food procurement and food and nutrition education within school food initiatives.
- Contributes to the development of global, regional and national tools, guidance and manuals for school-based food and nutrition interventions.
- Contributes to the design and development of innovative training materials for diverse contexts for fostering school food and nutrition actions with high potential for nutritional impacts.
- Facilitates the organization of training workshops, webinars, and learning exchanges for government staff and stakeholders.
- Contributes to the development and dissemination of technical materials, case studies, and good practices on school meals with high potential to improve nutrition.
- Provides inputs to evidence generation and consolidation on the impact of school meals on nutrition, diet quality, food practices, local food systems, and related metrics of social and economic development.
- Supports the development of monitoring and evaluation frameworks and the selection of indicators to assess diets of school children and nutritional quality of school meals.
- Participates in meetings with UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and the private sector to promote coordinated action for improving the nutrition impact-potential of school meals.
- Gives presentations on behalf of FAO in relevant global and regional fora.
- Monitors the integration of gender, equity, and environmental sustainability considerations into all activities aiming at improving the nutritional quality of school meals.
Required Experience
- Five years of relevant experience in nutrition programmes.
- Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable.
- Extent and relevance of experience in generating, analyzing, consolidating and reporting on food and nutrition in school settings.
- Familiarity with FAO's partner institutions (including UN agencies and NGOs), as well as experience in interagency coordination, is an asset.
- Demonstrable knowledge of school-based interventions that aim at improving nutrition outcomes.
- A record of publication in peer reviewed journals on topics related to school food and nutrition is an asset.
- Extent and relevance of experience in setting standards and guidelines, capacity development, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
- Experience in nutritional quality of school food and meals is preferable.
Qualifications
• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in nutrition, dietetics, food science, public health or a related field.
