Mitt uppdrag
Mitt volontärarbete i Malawi
I rollen som nyutexaminerad Leg. dietist från Sverige kommer jag att arbeta för FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of united nations), (FN:s organ för livsmedel- och jordbruksfrågor) under de sex månader (1 sep 2009 till 28 feb 2010) som jag kommer att befinna mig i Malawi.
Jag är stationerad vid Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS (DNHA) at the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC), som är beläget i Lilongwe, huvudstaden i Malawi.
Mitt primära uppdrag är att initiera en Nutrition Bulletin of Malawi.
Denna publikation beskriver jag kort i följande engelska text som är en tidigare kommunikation mellan mig och utvecklingspartners i Malawi.
The Nutrition Bulletin will be produced on quarterly basis and is aimed at providing updated information on the nutrition situation in Malawi to all stakeholders and development partners. It will also, among other things, educate and increase awareness on nutrition among policy and program managers, researchers and the general public. The bulletin will also act as a tool for advocacy and lobbying for greater realization of nutrition issues and nutrition best practices.
Currently we are collecting articles to be published in the bulletin. I would therefore like to request your office to provide the DNHA Secretariat with articles for publication. The first bulletin is expected to be out in December 2009. The thematic areas of interest to be covered in the bulletin include;
- Historical perspective of nutrition in Malawi
- The latest nutrition related news in Malawi
- Programs, projects and research findings
- Upcoming events and assessments including routine data such as that of Nutrition Rehabilitation Units and Community Therapeutic Care.
- Nutrition best practices and success stories
- Interaction between Nutrition and HIV and AIDS
- Nutrition and Microeconomic situation – the link
- Coordination and key contact persons in nutrition
The articles being requested should be covering from January to November 2009. They are expected to be very brief, Arial 12 font and should not exceed half a page. Pictures, diagrams and graphs are highly recommended.
Mer detaljerad information om min arbetsbeskrivning:
Background
Improvement of the nutritional status of the Malawi population is one of the six priority areas of the Malawi Growth and Development strategy (MGDS, 2006 – 2011), which is the overarching operational medium term strategy for Malawi designed to attain the nation’s vision 2020. The six priority areas of the MGDS that are also expected to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
High level commitment to the prevention and management of malnutrition in Malawi has also been demonstrated by the creation of a Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS (DNHA) in the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC). The DNHA was established in 2005 to spearhead and coordinate policy, programmes and strategies for alleviating the problems of both poor nutrition and HIV and AIDS in the country. A National Nutrition Policy (NNP) was approved by the cabinet in December 2007 to standardize, coordinate and improve the quality of nutrition services delivery within all sectors of the economy. The DNHA through the NNP is expected to provide policy guidance and direction as well as ensure coordination, capacity building, resource mobilization and monitoring and evaluation of nutrition programmes in the country.
The development partners and stakeholders in Malawi are active members of the nutrition coordination mechanisms and have also shown a high level of interest to be a part of the implementation process of the NNP and to be appraised on the progress of implementation of policy and programmes. In addition, there is need to provide nutrition updates and highlights of the current nutrition situation to educate and increase awareness among policy and programme professionals and the public at large. In this regard, the DNHA and Nutrition Committee have agreed to initiate a Nutrition bulletin on a quarterly or bi-monthly basis.
However, the country in general and the DNHA in particular have a significant shortfall of trained manpower in food and nutrition security such that technical support would be needed for such a specific and specialized function. It is therefore proposed to provide technical support to the DNHA to initiate, coordinate and produce regular updates of a nutrition bulletin that will be a useful tool for:
- monitoring the implementation of the NNP;
- advocacy to development partners and policy makers;
- education and awareness raising.
An intern or UN volunteer with the required educational training, skills and experience would be befitting for this position.
Duties and Responsibilities
The intern/UN volunteer will be attached to the DNHA and will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Malawi and the technical supervision of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division (AGN), with close day-to-day supervision and guidance from the Food and Nutrition Security Policy Advisor based in the DNHA.
The incumbent will:
- Assist in creating awareness about the initiation of a Nutrition Bulletin and facilitate consensus among key stakeholders (government departments, UN agencies, NGOs, donor agencies) on format and content.
- Assist in establishing a protocol for soliciting information for the bulletin and selection of articles.
- Gather additional information to both validate and complement information submitted for the nutrition bulletin.
- Carry out field visits to identify and document best practices.
- Assist in writing and producing the nutrition bulletin on regular intervals as agreed by the DNHA and stakeholders.
- Develop a distribution list for the nutrition bulletin and ensure wide distribution.
- Collect feedback from users to improve on the design, content and distribution of the bulletin.
- Perform any other duties as may be required.
Minimum Requirements
- Masters Degree in human nutrition or related field
- Relevant experience in documentation and publishing work
- Excellent working knowledge of English
- Good writing skills
- High level of computer literacy, including excellent knowledge of publisher computer software
- Ability to work within a multi-cultural setting and to work effectively and efficiently with Government, NGOs, UN, Development partners and other stakeholders