Contract Duration: 6 Months

Working arrangement: Office Based

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to health.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop nationally appropriate, evidence-based school food environment standards and operational guidance that promote healthy school food environments and contribute to improved nutrition and health outcomes among school-aged children and adolescents in Bangladesh.

The consultant will undertake a comprehensive review of national, regional, and international evidence and best practices, undertake in-depth interviews, facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations, assess implementation feasibility, and incorporate the perspectives of key stakeholders, including relevant government ministries and departments, school authorities, teachers, students, parents, food vendors, school management committees, health managers, and local government representatives. Following the development of the standards, a pilot implementation will be undertaken in selective primary and secondary schools to assess feasibility, identify operational challenges, and generate lessons for refinement and finalization prior to broader scale-up.

Scope of Work:

Under the overall supervision of UNICEF and in close coordination with the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), the consultant in coordination with DSHE, DPE and UNICEF, will establish national food standards for foods and beverages sold, provided, marketed, or otherwise made available in and around schools in Bangladesh.

The consultant will undertake the following key responsibilities:

1. Conduct Situation Analysis /Desk review related to the Food Environment Standard

o Conduct a comprehensive review of existing evidence on school food and nutrition policies, legislation, standards, guidelines and programmes related to nutrition, food safety, education, and child health services to help inform the development of the standard.

o Review international and regional experiences, best practices, standards, and nutrient profiling approaches.

o Review the findings of the national assessment on “Food Environment in and around Schools”.

2. Conduct Key Informant Interview (KII) and consultation workshops

o Conduct Key Informant/In-depth Interviews (KII) with relevant government ministries and departments, school authorities, teachers, students, parents, food vendors, school management committees, health managers, and local government representatives.

o Design and facilitate key stakeholder consultation workshop with representatives from:

▪ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

▪ Ministry of Education

▪ Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

▪ Ministry of Food

▪ Bangladesh Food Safety Authorit

▪ Institute of Public Health Nutrition

▪ Bangladesh National Nutrition Council

▪ Department of Public Health Engineering

▪ Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB)

▪ School authorities

▪ Parents and student

▪ Youth Network

▪ Academia, Nutrition and public health experts

▪ Development partners, UN Organizations, INGOs/NGOs and civil society organizations

▪ Food industry, where appropriate

3. Develop a comprehensive school food environment standards framework that includes:

o Nutritional standards, Food classification system (categorize foods and beverages into recommended/healthy foods, foods permitted under specified conditions, foods not permitted for sale, distribution, or marketing etc) in alignment with the National Dietary Guidelines national/regional Nutrient Profile Model etc

o School food environment standards (school canteens; school meal programmes; mobile food vendors; street vendors operating near schools, vending machines (if applicable), fundraising activities involving food etc)

o Unhealthy Food Marketing Restrictions (recommendations regarding: Advertising, sponsorship, product promotion, branding and marketing targeting children within school environments)

o Consultants should add more area based on gathering information from KII and stakeholder consultation.

4. Draft implementation/operational guidance

o Develop implementation/operational guidance, include roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, compliance monitoring including monitoring indicators, enforcement procedures, capacity-building system, communication and awareness strategies

5. Validation and Finalization of Food standards and implementation/operational guidance

• Present draft standards to stakeholders.

• Facilitate validation of workshop(s).

• Revise documents based on feedback.

• Submit final approved documents.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Terms of Reference TMC0005009.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• Master’s degree in public health/public health nutrition/food sciences/social sciences/public policy/ Food System, or related field.

• Institutional Requirement: The degree must be obtained from a government-recognized or UGC approved (University Grants Commission) university/institution.

• Proven working relationship with the Ministry of Health and family welfare, GOB high officials, UNICEF or WHO would be an added advantage.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in nutrition, public health, food policy, or food systems

Language Requirements:

• Bengali and Fluency in English is required

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:

• Specialized Technical Expertise

• Demonstrated experience in developing nutrition standards, food regulations, or school health policies.

• Experience working with government institutions in Bangladesh is highly desirable.

• Experience with WHO nutrient profile models, school food standards, and child nutrition policies is an asset.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills.

Desirables:

• Master’s in Food Sciences

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template) Financial proposal TMC0005009.xlsx

A detailed technical proposal

Technical Proposal Template

1. Understanding of Assignment

Briefly describe your understanding of the objectives and scope of work.

2. Approach and Methodology

Explain how you will deliver each task and achieve the expected outputs.

3. Relevant Experience

Highlight experience in similar assignments (e.g., Guideline and standard development).

4. Technical Capacity

Demonstrate your expertise in:

Effective consultations and secondary data /evidence review

Remarks: If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not downloadable on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Technical Consultant- School Food Environment, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Office based, 6 Months. (Open For Nationals Of Bangladesh Only), Req#595397