Nutrition Information and Assessment Specialist – SMART Specialist At Action Against Hunger Canada

BACKGROUND

Created in 1979, Action Against Hunger is a non-governmental organization that aims to provide solutions to hunger. Our mission is to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection and treatment of under-nutrition, particularly during and after emergency situations linked to conflicts or natural disasters. We focus on nutrition, health and healthcare practices; food security and livelihoods; water, sanitation and hygiene and advocacy. Since 2007, Action Against Hunger Canada has led on the development and implementation of one of the world’s leading nutrition and mortality survey methodologies: SMART (Standardized Monitoring Assessment in Relief and Transition). Action Against Hunger Canada is the official SMART project convener for the Global Nutrition Cluster and works closely with its members to ensure that member agencies and their partners can access tools and learning on the methodology. All SMART activities are targeted towards humanitarian and development stakeholders, including government bodies conducting surveys and using the methodology.

As the Global SMART Initiative Convenor, the SMART Project Team at Action Against Hunger Canada has supported key nutrition stakeholders by enhancing response capacity in emergencies, high-risk contexts with an absence of reliable data, interventions with displaced populations, and in development settings for 15 years. SMART also provides support by ensuring coordination and dissemination of information around the methodology and advancing technical capacity to conduct SMART surveys.

Since SMART Survey Manager trainings began in 2007, to date, over 2400 people have participated in the course. These trainings equip participants with the knowledge and skill set to plan, implement, and manage surveys. The SMART Methodology is an improved survey method that is based on the assessment of the magnitude and severity of a humanitarian crisis by determining the nutritional status of children under-five and mortality rate of the population. The high-quality data collected through SMART surveys is used for key decision-making on the type of nutrition programming relevant for a given population. The results are also used to verify nutrition emergencies and respond appropriately, and to track progress of nutrition programs.

The SMART Initiative currently intends to build on the success in global uptake of its methodology by revamping the entire paper-based, decentralized and fragmented survey system that is currently in place while still relying on SMART methods to ensure reliable assessments and high-quality data. This would be possible through the development of its new innovation – SMART+. SMART+ is a suite of digital tools that aims to shape the future of nutrition assessments and combating malnutrition. This innovation integrates mobile data collection, digital diagnosis of malnutrition, analysis and quality assurance, data aggregation, visualization and dissemination. SMART+ encompasses the use of technological advancements such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, geolocation and timestamp. The SMART Initiative has procured software development services to build a modern data infrastructure for the management of its survey activities globally.

The SMART+ pilot in Aweil East, South Sudan was successfully completed in September 2022. The survey was of excellent quality and will be the first featured on the SMART+ aggregator and global dashboard. The SMART Initiative is currently planning the next phase of piloting and roll-out of SMART+.

OBJECTIVE:

The SMART Initiative is seeking the services of consultants to provide technical support in four main areas: 1- Facilitating SMART Survey Manager Training. The SMART Survey Manager Training can be organized in a specific country and/or be conducted virtually. 2- The consultant would be requested to provide some support to the SMART+ questionnaire core indicator questionnaire, the SMART indicator bank questionnaire (new features, analysis and reporting) depending on the next phase of piloting. 3- The consultant would be requested to provide some support to SMART consultants / implementing partners in countries where requested in implementing SMART surveys e.g. (protocol development, training, analysis verification and reporting and report review). This will most likely be remote support, but in-country support could be a possibility in case of request for this level of support from the country. 4- Contribute to identification and drafting proposals for research and technical notes to advance nutrition data collection, data quality and use of data for decision making.

An initial scoping and planning meeting will be organized at the beginning of November at inception. The purpose will be to finalize the details and expectations of all members of the team on the various pieces of work on these ToR and finalize the work plan.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The scope of responsibilities will include:

SMART Survey Manager Training • Co-facilitating 8/10 days of in-person SMART Survey Manager Training to a group of 20-25 participants from a variety of organizations and professions.

• Co-facilitating 20 days of SMART Survey Manager Virtual Training to a group of 15 to 20 participants from a variety of organizations and professions.

• Providing continuous feedback and support to participants.

• Grading attendance, quizzes, and assignments.

• Grading pre and post-tests.

• Developing SMART training report on outcomes of the training. SMART+

• Working closely with product owner to grasp the full scope of SMART+ features.

• Support in finalizing and fully testing the SMART core indicator questionnaire (i.e. Mortality, demography and anthropometry).

• Support in finalizing and fully testing the SMART indicator bank questionnaire (additional indicators such as WASH, IYCF, FSL, Health, Anemia etc.).

• Support in finalizing analysis and reporting for the indicator bank.

SMART Survey Support

• Support for survey planning (protocol, sampling, survey tools) including use of Mobile Data Collection (MDC) methods / SMART+ when needed.

• Support for analysis, validation of results, writing and finalization of survey reports when needed.

• Contribute to identification and drafting proposals for research and technical notes to advance nutrition data collection, data quality and use of data for decision making

KEY DELIVERABLES:

SMART Survey Manager Training

Deliverables:

1. Complete and co-facilitate SMART Survey Manager Training (in-person and/or virtually)
2. Provide coaching and mentorship to the training participants
3. Final grade submission of all participant deliverables – quizzes, tests, assignments, attendance 4 Final grade submission for pre and post-tests 5 Debrief with SMART Training Team 6 SMART Training Report.

As applicable, additional deliverables may be required for the different technical support areas.

REPORTING AND CONTACTS:

The consultant will report on a regular basis to the Associate Director of Nutrition to update on the progress. Regular telephone conversations with the consultant with pieces of work being delivered according to the agreed deadlines outlined in the workplan.

• Hassan Ahmed, Associate Director of Nutrition, hahmed@actionagainsthunger.ca • Hailu Wondim, SMART Senior Project Manager, hwondim@actionagainsthunger.ca

TIMELINE:

The SMART Initiative is seeking the support of consultants to provide nutrition services for up to 100 days of work, starting on 7th of November 2022.

LOCATION OF WORK:

• Remote, home-based.

• When needed, in-country support for SMART survey manager training facilitation or support in implementation of SMART survey (survey training, launch of data collection) – (2 weeks maximum including travel).

Consultant is expected to use own tools/technology to complete the consultancy.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Educational background in nutrition and/or public health fields.

• Strong knowledge of SMART survey methodology including questionnaire development, analysis and reporting.

• Previous experience with designing nutrition specific surveys, development of nutrition assessment methodology and nutrition capacity building.

• Demonstrated experience in mobile data collection, especially Open Data Kit.

• Demonstrated experience in statistics.

• Proven ability to clearly communicate and collaborate with both technical and non-technical team members as well as strong communications skills, planning and organization.

• Experienced SMART Master Level trainer.

• Training experience and ability to organize and facilitate training and presentations, applied to nutrition.

• Experience using e-learning management systems will be considered an asset.

• Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment and co-facilitate trainings.

• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.

• Fluency in the English and French languages.

• Commitment to humanitarian principles and core standards.