Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergency (IYCF)- E Specialist

Action against Hunger is an international non-governmental, private, apolitical, non-religious and non-profit organization created in 1979. Its goal is to combat hunger and dangerous situations that threaten men, women, and children. Currently 500 expats and more than 5,000 employees are working for Action against Hunger in more than forty-six countries working in projects concerning four areas of focus: nutrition, health, food security and water and sanitation. 

In Lebanon, the Syrian crisis continues to generate political, social, and economic pressure due to the war in Lebanon and keeps more than 1.5 million refugees in a situation of increasing vulnerability. In this environment of political, economic and social uncertainty, our teams have maintained their high levels of humanitarian response and aid to Lebanon. Likewise, our interventions have been maintained in the Bekaa and northern areas, as well as in the south of the country, with a special focus on working in partnership or in consortium with other organizations and on institutional strengthening of the relationship with both donors. institutional, such as with local authorities and entities

Under the supervision of the Nutrition HoP, the IYCF-E  specialist will provide counseling to mothers/caregivers of children under the age two to promote, protect and support optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and nurturing care at household and collective shelters level. The IYCF  specialist supports caregivers with the aim to improve early childhood development. The IYCF-E  specialist will complement the other aspects that aim to improve ECD  including improved IYCF practices, responsive feeding, responsive care, , timely detection of acute malnutrition through community-based MUAC screening, and appropriate hygiene practices of children under five years, pregnant, and lactating women.

Objective 1: Assess feeding support needs by mothers and caregivers of children under two years of age (20 %)

Assess mothers/caregivers and their children to identify specific feeding support needs, using rapid and full assessments, with face-to-face observations.

Conduct the rapid IYCF assessments for        Internal Displaced People (IDPs) and other communities with children  0-23 months

Specify route of support to follow and referrals needed while consulting with the team

Support in conducting other assessments as needed

Provide support for Community Nutrition Officer (CNO) in managing the  Community Mobilisers (CMs) in provision of  health, nutrition and IYCF- ECD awareness to pregnant women and caregivers of children under five years.

Objective 2: Provide IYCF-ECD  counseling to mothers and caregivers of children under two years of age, (50 %)

Assist and support in the coordination with authorities and municipalities to implement activities in allotted areas of intervention and maintain relationships

Based on the result of the rapid IYCF assessment provide counselling on IYCF in emergencies for IDPs at community and collective shelters level.

Plan household visit to support mothers with one-on-one tailored counseling to pregnant women and caregivers of children under the age of two on optimal IYCF practices and nurturing care mainly ECD. This includes, supporting exclusive breastfeeding for children under 6 months, continued breastfeeding, responsive care and feeding, optimal complementary feeding practices for mothers of children between 6-24 months, and assess for maternal wellbeing with referral when needed

Provide tailored one-on-one counselling to caregivers with non-breastfed infants on optimal feeding use of artificial feeding (BMS) after all other feeding options have been explored., following SOPs developed by the nutrition sector and international and/or internal Action Against Hunger standards

Based on need participate in other nutrition and health promotion activities linked with the nutrition context.

Register and record all relevant data regarding the beneficiaries and the sessions conducted, keeping detailed track of the needed follow-up sessions to plan and needed services expressed on a timely manner.

Develop and contribute to development of IEC material, as needed

Objective 3: Conduct referrals (internal and external) based on counseling as expressed by mothers and evaluated by IYCF-E specialist (10 %)

Observe and collect information during activities sessions on the beneficiaries’ needs and vulnerabilities, keeping protection-related needs in mind, and proceed to referrals when issues are not related to nutrition arise.

Support team in conducting daily and weekly referrals to ACF staff as expressed by mothers or assessed during counseling and support on needs related to nutrition-vulnerability, including WASH, food security, basic assistance, general health, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, etc.

Refer mothers to mother-to-mother support groups, establish any if/where needed and support the activities of these groups

Objective 4: Document and report on all activities conducted on a regular basis details on target, progress, referrals, challenges, and needs (20%)

Using Kobo, or other chosen tool, compile beneficiary information and other appropriate data collected for reporting purposes. Store hard and soft copies, follow Action Against Hunger internal archiving guidance and following donor requirements.

Provide verbal and written reports, on a daily and weekly basis, on conducted activities, including type of support provided, targets reached, progress at work, follow-ups conducted, referrals made, challenges faced, lessons learned and needs

Document all forms and files used for mothers/caregivers visited and counseled by keeping an updated register and storing all tablets, data, and documents in secure locations/files

Attend debriefing meetings with line manager and other team members, as requested

Objective 5: Security

Respect the security rules specified in the mission and base security plan and comply with the security plan and perform the security management tasks that can be assigned in its protocols.

Communicate to the security managers of the working location any security related information or noncompliance with the security plan

Objective 6: Support humanitarian activities of Action Against Hunger

Support the emergency interventions of the organization as per the employee’s abilities

Support any activity that helps reaching our humanitarian goals, as per the employee’s abilities

Promote gender equality within the humanitarian and/or development work

Attend meetings and trainings as needed

Objective 7: Gender & Safeguarding (cross-cutting)

Promote safe and equitable environments, through knowledge and application of the protocol against harassment and gender policy.

Knowledge and compliance with safeguarding policy.

Promote gender equality within the humanitarian and/or development work

Action against Hunger is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work such as but not limited to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and/or financial misconduct; We expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through endorsing our code of conduct and other related policies and only those who share our values and code of conduct will be recruited to work for us.

Qualifications:

IBCLC or other IYCF certification desirable

Technical specific knowledge: Preferable to have completed at least the 20-hour training on Infant and Young Child Feeding (provided by MoPH/UNICEF); knowledge on IYCF in emergencies is a plus, experience in providing ECD, IYCF counselling is a plus as well as experience with clinical care  

Previous experience: 1 year of experience as lactation specialist/IYCF counselor is a plus

Humanitarian sector knowledge: NGO experience is a plus, experience in working with Syrian refugees, vulnerable Lebanese and other refugees is desirable

Action Against the Hunger knowledge: None

Languages: Native Arabic speaker and fluency in English are a must

IT and specific systems: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Mobility (national/ international) National