The children of Syria have endured close to 14 years of a humanitarian crisis resulting in a devastating impact on their health and nutrition situation. Prior to the crisis, Syria was on track to achieve its global targets for nutrition however, during the crisis most of the indicators have either stagnated or are veering off track. The end of 2024 saw significant military, economic, social, and political changes, culminating in the collapse of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad and the ushering in of the transitional government led by HTS. The beginning of 2025 is a new dawn characterized the shaping of the transitional government including restructuring and redefining institutional leadership and governance.

While the nutrition leadership in Syria is confined to the Ministry of Health there is no documented strategy clearly articulating the strategic direction on how to protect and achieve the rights of women and children to good nutrition. Moreover, available evidence from the Lancet Series (2008) and subsequent updates indicate that the health sector is just one of the many sectors that contribute good nutrition and underscores the importance of multisectoral collaboration. To achieve good nutrition, UNICEF global nutrition strategy 2020-2030 calls for a systems approach which involves 5 key systems: Health, WASH, Education, Social Protection, and the Food system.

From a programmatic point of view, the current leadership transition is an opportunity for advocacy to elevate nutrition as a top priority that contributes to sustainable economic development of a new Syria. Thus, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNICEF and the nutrition community in Syria is leading the development of multisectoral national nutrition strategy to serve as a roadmap informing the new authorities and partners on the strategic direction necessary to take Syria back on the trajectory to achieve its global nutrition goals.

The National Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy will broadly define what Syria will do over a span of four years (2026-2029) to protect and promote the rights of children and women to good nutrition. It serves as a road map that guides the government in setting priorities, allocating resources required to reverse the current trend and bring Syria back on track and accelerate the achievement the global nutrition goals. By aligning government resources around common goals and strategies, the National Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy will enable government and partners to achieve greater coherence and impact in their early recovery and development efforts. Additionally, it will help development partners to make strategic choices and prioritization, ensuring that resources are focused on the most critical areas for advancing the right to good nutrition of the most vulnerable. The National Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy will also act as a vital communication tool, articulating what government aims to achieve for children and how it plans to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. It will provide a clear framework for engaging with donors, partners and government authorities while fostering accountability for delivering results.

How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF seeks to recruit a suitably qualified international consultant to support the Ministry of Health and partners to develop a National Multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy. The process will include the following five key phases:

Phase 1: Analysis

Taking stock of the nutrition situation of women and children and the changes required to put Syria back on track with the global nutrition goals. This phase entails conducting multiple strands of comprehensive analyses to guide the development of the strategy. The analysis phase will involve a detailed desk review of the existing evidence and developing future projection of trends. This may include field visits to engage with service providers including where applicable holding key informant interviews with stake holders.

Phase 2: Strategy

Building on the insights from the analysis phase, this phase will define the What and How including linking results, strategies, and enablers.  The strategy phase will focus on developing the conceptual and causal logic of the entire strategy that will lead to an outcome-focused strategy geared to a level that is significant enough to see the changes that can be generated through multisectoral collaboration. This phase will develop a high-level theory of change that responds to the key findings and outlines clear pathways for accelerating progress towards the global nutrition goals. The theory of change will help government to define priorities to achieve the desired results and will reflect contributions from across the spectrum of relevant sectors.

Phase 3: Results and measurements

Based on the theory of change developed in phase 2, this phase will outline the proposed results at the impact, outcome and output levels, and corresponding indicators to measure progress. This phase will define the results chain and framework for the new strategy, including results, targets, and indicators.

Phase 4: Consolidation and drafting.

This phase will consolidate the analyses and recommendations derived from the development of the theory of change and the results framework into a cohesive narrative for the nutrition strategy and the drafts of the related suite of supporting documents its annexes. The consolidated draft will be presented to stakeholders for refinement and endorsement from stakeholders.

Phase 5: Communication and finalization

The final consolidated strategy will be summarized in PowerPoint form for high level advocacy to stakeholders including government officials, heads of agencies and donors.

If you would like to know more about this assignment, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:

ToR National Nutrition Strategy_(Announcement).pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

I. Academic qualifications:

• Master’s degree in public health/nutrition or a related field.
• A first-level university degree with additional 2 years of required relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

II. Work experience / Technical competencies:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience and knowledge of policy and strategy development.
• Demonstrated evidence of having worked on developing public health policies or strategies at global or country level.
• Demonstrated writing and oral communication skills, in particular for the development of technical documents.

III. Language requirement: Fluency in English (both written and verbal) is required. Knowledge of Arabic language is a MUST.

IV. Competencies:

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Applications through UNICEF’s Talent Management System (TMS)
2. Cover Letter
3. CV.
4. Financial quote as lump sum for professional fees only, Travel & Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be covered by UNICEF Syria.
5. Examples of previous work/proposed methodology/approach to managing the project
6. At least 3 Referees from Direct Supervisors

Shortlisted applicants may be invited for further technical assessment. Final recommendation will be made based on “best value for money”, i.e. the hiring section/office shall normally select the individual who quoted the lowest fee from among the candidates who are assessed as suitable for achieving all tasks on time, as per the criteria stipulated in this ToR, and based on the outcome of the evaluation/assessment conducted.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

General Remarks:

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

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.