National Individual Consultancy: Landscape Analysis for Prevention of Overweight Obesity amongst Children

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. UNICEF Viet Nam is one of more than 190 offices of the United Nations Children’s Fund globally and part of the United Nations system in Viet Nam working in close collaboration with all UN agencies in the country. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF has a universal mandate to promote and protect the rights of all children, everywhere – especially those hardest to serve and most at risk. UNICEF’s mission in Viet Nam is to make sure every child in the country is healthy, educated and safe from harm, therefore having the best start in life and a fair chance to reach her or his full potential and benefit from the country’s prosperity. We believe children have a right to live in a more equitable society, where their voices are heard and needs met as a matter of priority in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. More information on what we do in Viet Nam is available at https://www.unicef.org/vietnam/ Background & Rationale Viet Nam suffers from the triple burden of malnutrition with undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight existing side by side. While childhood stunting is gradually decreasing, Viet Nam has experienced a steady rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity over the last 10 years. In 2010, the national nutrition survey showed that almost 6% of children under five were overweight, which is six times higher than the 2000 national nutrition survey. As children get older, the rates of overweight increase. A 2017 study by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) found that 29% of primary school students were overweight and obese, while the rate of overweight students in secondary schools and high schools was 19% and 9.5%, respectively. The incidence of overweight and obesity is higher in urban children (42%) compared to children in rural areas (35%). Childhood overweight and obesity results in physical, social and emotional problems, including high blood pressure, early markers of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and musculoskeletal problems, as well as emotional issues and mental illness made worse by social stigmas. This translates into a population that is less healthy, less happy, and less productive, with a growing cost to the healthcare system. The increase in overweight and obesity is being driven by changing food choices and dietary habits. Diets are shifting to a higher consumption of processed foods high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in essential micronutrients (‘unhealthy’ foods). Traditional diets and cooking practices are being abandoned in favour of cheap, ‘convenient’ fast foods. The food environment in Viet Nam has seen substantial changes including aggressive marketing of unhealthy food and drinks to children and adolescents, increased sales of processed foods, and a rise in the number of ‘fast food’ outlets and home delivery of ‘ready-to-eat’ meals. The Viet Nam government has implemented several public health measures to address the rising levels of overweight and obesity such as the breastfeeding promotion campaigns, the ban on advertisements of formula for children younger than two, and promotion of healthy diets and exercise in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, a regulation in the Prime Minister’s Directive in 2017 on strengthening nutrition in the new context, strongly controls marketing and sale of sugar drinks and junk foods in and around schools. These measures have not been sufficient to stem the rise in childhood overweight and obesity, and therefore further action is required to ensure a food system that delivers nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable food and drink to children and their families. Targeted Audience: In line with the Global Programming Guidance on the Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents published by UNICEF in 2019, UNICEF Vietnam Country Office (VCO) has started reviews and consultations for development of appropriate strategies and plans of actions to prevent childhood overweight and obesity in Viet Nam. The first step is to conduct a comprehensive landscape analysis on women and childhood overweight and obesity based on a standard protocol issued by UNICEF at global level. The study findings will be disseminated widely to leaders of the Government, Ministry of Health, other line ministries and relevant stakeholders at national and provincial levels. The evidence generated through this analysis will be the basis for consultation and development of key actions and interventions for child overweight and obesity prevention in the country. Purpose: The main purposes of the consultancy are:

To conduct a comprehensive landscape analysis on (i) the situation of obesity/overweight of children in Viet Nam, using the latest available data; (ii) to take stock of the key stakeholders, policies, legislations, standards and programmes relating to woman and child[1] overweight and obesity prevention in Viet Nam and association of maternal nutritional status with child nutritional status and birth outcomes.
To disseminate, in convened stakeholder consultation meetings, initial findings of the study to elicit recommendations on priority policies and actions to effectively prevent child overweight and obesity in Viet Nam.

Scope of work The consultancy will be based in Ha Noi and look primarily at the overall national situation and policy framework, as well as factors and norms in the public that affect the obesity/overweight situation in Viet Nam. The study will reply to the following key questions:

What is the epidemiological situation with regards to overweight/obesity among children aged 0-18 years and women?
What are the key policy, legislation, standards and programmes that are in place to address overweight/obesity among children aged 0-18 years and women?
Who are the key stakeholders, what are their roles?
What should be the key policy changes and actions by the key stakeholders?
What should be the focus of policy and public advocacy on this, and how?

KEY DELIVERABLES (measurable results) The consultancy will result in the following deliverables:

An up-to-date landscape analysis of overweight and obesity situation and prevention among children 0-18 years old and women in Vietnam.
A set of policy advocacy and communication materials based on the landscape analysis (may include evidence summary, policy briefs etc.)
An identified set of priority policies and actions for child overweight and obesity prevention, based on stakeholder consensus.

Methodologies: the methods set out in the UNICEF protocol and guide to gather and analyze the relevant information to complete the landscape analysis will be used (pls see the UNICEF global protocol and guide as annex attached) Key Deliverables and Tasks: The consultancy will follow the below process:

Familiarization and preparation of the database

The consultant will familiarise themselves with the UNICEF Programming Guidance Global Programming Guidance on the Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents, and the UNICEF protocol and guide on how to conduct the landscape analysis.
The consultant will use and adapt the UNICEF protocol and guide to set up a database to collect the relevant information for Vietnam.

Completion of the landscape analysis

The consultant will follow the methods set out in the UNICEF protocol and guide to gather and analyse the relevant information to complete the landscape analysis. This includes collation of documents and data from internet searches and directly from government and other sources, interviews with key stakeholders etc. Elements of the landscape analysis include:

i) Epidemiological situation with regards to overweight/obesity among children aged 0-18 years and women.

Review of available data from Multiple Indicator Cluster (MICS) or Demographic and Health (DHS) surveys, school-based surveys and/or national nutrition surveys and other relevant documents.
Dis-aggregation of data across age and socioeconomic groups, geographical area and over time.
Analysis of connections between obesity/overweight and other forms of malnutrition.
Analysis of inequities by income, geography, ethnicity or gender.
Identification of gaps in data/knowledge.

ii) Review of data on dietary intake, food availability, affordability and promotion among children aged 0-18 years and women.

Review and dis-aggregation (by group and time trends) of available data on dietary intake including potentially unhealthy food and drink e.g. savoury snack foods; confectionery; sugar-sweetened beverages; high fat and super processed food, low fruit and vegetable intake.
Inclusion of available data from market research reports related to sales and marketing of specific product categories. UNICEF EAPRO will support this aspect of the landscape analysis.
Review of available studies on the promotion, marketing and sale data of food including potentially unhealthy food and drink targeted at younger and school aged children e.g. studies conducted by academia, development partners and/or government. UNICEF EAPRO will support this aspect of the landscape analysis.
Review of current knowledge, attitudes and practices as well as social norms with regards to the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages e.g. studies conducted by academia, development partners and/or government.
Analysis of inequities by income, geography, ethnicity or gender.
Identification of gaps in data/knowledge.

iii) Review of policy, legislation, standards and programmes that are in place to address overweight/obesity among children aged 0-18 years and women.

Review of strategies, programmes and action plans already in place that relate to the prevention of overweight in children.
Analysis of approaches being adopted e.g. children’s rights approach.
Review of specific policies mentioned in the UNICEF programming guidance, including those that address food promotion, labelling, composition, retail, price as well as governance dimensions such as policy coordination, monitoring and evaluation. Specific attention should be given to review Code legislation, rules on marketing of commercial foods for infants/young children, restrictions on marketing of food to children, school food standards and policies on sale and promotion of unhealthy foods in and around schools, front of pack labelling and sugar-sweetened beverage taxation.
Review of services and key interventions available to prevent overweight via health, education, social welfare and WASH systems, as well as social and behaviour change communication strategies.
Identification of gaps.

iv) Stakeholder mapping

Identification of the main stakeholders involved in the potential prevention of overweight and obesity in children including key ministries and agencies in government, political actors (e.g. parliamentary committees), the private sector, academia, scientific/professional groups, consumer groups, food industry funded groups etc.

3. Preparation of communication materials The consultant will prepare a set of policy advocacy and communication materials based on the landscape analysis. This includes a summary evidence paper, policy briefs and/or academic papers.

Identification of priority policies and actions through stakeholder workshop

The consultant will support organisation of a key stakeholder workshop and deliver key results of the study to build consensus on context specific priority policies and actions for child overweight and obesity prevention in Vietnam. The workshop is likely to last for half a day and bring together nutrition and public health specialists in Vietnam. The participants of the workshop will be leaders of the Government, leaders of Ministry of Health and relevant departments, leaders of line ministries, representation of relevant stakeholders at central and provincial levels, mass organizations, including Women, Trade, and Youth Union, Donor community, Development partners, INGOs/members of Nutrition Working Group and media.

[1] Child refers to children and adolescents from 0-18 years of age.

Management and Reporting The national consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Nutrition Policy Specialist of UNICEF and overall guidance of the Chief, CSD programme, at UNICEF. The consultant will operate in close cooperation with the nutrition team, delegated staffs at relevant ministries, national institute of nutrition … as required. Performance indicators for evaluation: Indicators for completion and satisfaction measurement will be based on UNICEF Viet Nam own evaluation and judgement, and not that of the Consultant. This means that deliverables will be deemed satisfactory only if said so by the Supervisor of the Consultancy. The Supervisor is required to provide timely and written feedback to the Consultant in order to avoid miscommunication. Qualification/Specialised Knowledge and Experience: Education:

An advanced university degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, International Health and Nutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Social Sciences, Economics, Development Studies or a related nutrition field is required

Work Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience in the public health/nutrition planning, management, policy research at the international level, including in low and middle-income countries
Experience in supervising/implementing public health/nutrition programmes in Viet Nam
Proven experience in conducting policy and programming landscape analyses, analyzing and synthesizing policy and programme information, and in conducting literature reviews on health and nutrition is a major asset.

Competencies:

Good computer knowledge. Good working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, including Microsoft Office (Word, Access, PowerPoint), various email applications, data entry using proprietary databases, and using the Internet for researches and reports i.e. Analysis, proposal, etc.
Advanced skills on analyzing relevant documents from various sources to generate/summarize required reports.
Strong networking and communication skills (written and verbal) in English and Vietnamese required.

Assessment criteria: For evaluation and selection method, the Cumulative Analysis Method (weight combined score method) shall be used for this recruitment: a) Technical Qualification (total 100 points) weight 80 %

An Advanced University Degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, International Health and Nutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, or other nutrition-related science field: 25 points.
Proven experience in conducting policy and programing landscape analyses, analyzing and synthesizing policy and programme information, and in conducting literature reviews on health and nutrition: 30 points.
A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience in the public health/nutrition planning, management, policy research at the international level, including in low and middle-income countries: 25 points.
Knowledge of Infant and Young Child Feeding policy and programme landscape is an asset: 20 points.

b) Financial Proposal (max. 100 points) weight 20 % The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 70 points score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price. The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview if needed. Submission of applications Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

Letter of interest and confirmation of availability;
Technical proposal which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables (preferably less than 3 pages);
Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee, travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment.
CV/P11 form (UN Personal History Form)

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. 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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Remarks: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. Deadline for Application: Jul 13 2020 More Information and Application details.