Summary
Big Win Philanthropy and Dangote Foundation are recruiting for a Technical Advisor, who will be posted to the African Development Bank (AfDB) headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The post-holder will have the opportunity to provide intellectual leadership and program management support to the implementation of the ‘Banking on Nutrition’ Technical Partnership on Nutrition, which will contribute to the Bank’s efforts in making nutrition central to its operations through the implementation of a multi-sectoral and integrated approach to nutrition interventions across its portfolio of investments in order to achieve transformational and lasting change. This position is available on a 12 months’ consultancy basis, renewable annually.
Background
The African Development Bank extended an invitation to Big Win Philanthropy to lead the work stream session on “Nutrition Beyond Agriculture: Investing in Africa’s Grey Matter” during the High Level Feeding Africa Meeting: An Action Plan for African Agricultural Transformation held in Dakar, Senegal in October 2015. This was done in collaboration with the World Food Programme and Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, and a key recommendation from the session was a call for the African Development Bank to put nutrition at the center of sustainable economic development.
Based on this recommendation, Big Win Philanthropy and Dangote Foundation expressed a commitment to collaborate with the Bank resulting in the ‘Banking on Nutrition’ Technical Partnership, which was established to address child undernutrition across Africa by focusing on nutrition and investment in ‘grey matter infrastructure’ as a human capital development strategy for driving inclusive growth across the continent. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to enable sustainable nutrition efforts by the African Development Bank Group deliver on the ground and thus help countries to achieve economic growth.
Rationale
Sub-Saharan Africa is on the cusp of a transformation from slow economic growth and poor development outcomes to rapid growth combined with opportunities for better outcomes in health, nutrition and human development. A demographic transition is underway in much of the continent, from high-child mortality and high-fertility to lower-fertility and lower child mortality, and with a potential for sub-Saharan Africa to reap the demographic dividend. However, this dividend will not be realized unless these children are well nourished.
Africa has seen slow progress in reducing stunting. The global trend in stunting prevalence and numbers of children affected is decreasing, but not fast enough. Between 1990 and 2014, stunting prevalence declined from 39.6 percent to 23.8 percent, and numbers affected declined from 255 million to 159 million. In 2014, more than one third (~37 percent) of all stunted children under 5 lived in Africa.[1]
In Africa, the number of stunted children is rising and the human costs are enormous.Three out of five sub-regions in Africa – Eastern Africa, Middle Africa and Western Africa, have rising numbers of stunted children under 5. Undernutrition contributes to nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 and this translates into the unnecessary loss of about 3 million young lives a year. Undernutrition puts children at greater risk of dying from common infections, increases the frequency and severity of such infections, and contributes to delayed recovery. In addition, the interaction between undernutrition and infection can create a potentially lethal cycle of worsening illness and deteriorating nutritional status.
Children who lack key nutrients in the 1,000 days from conception to the age of two become permanently stunted - being shorter, weaker and less cognitively able. This costs Africa around 11% in lost GDP. Conversely, children who are properly nourished grow up to earn 20% more, and good nutrition will help develop Africa’s growing youth population into a more productive workforce that can secure the economic benefit of a demographic dividend.
Well over 30 percent of government spending in Africa is allocated to five sectors that serve as underlying drivers of nutrition: agriculture; health; education; social protection; and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).[2] Policies and programs in these areas can be adjusted to improve nutrition outcomes in many ways, such as focusing on women’s empowerment, and building nutrition targets and nutrition behavior change components into program design. Direct undernutrition interventions, even when scaled up to 90 percent coverage rates, have been estimated to address only 20 percent of the stunting burden. Tackling the underlying drivers of nutrition, particularly in the sectors listed above, is key to addressing the other 80 percent.
This new partnership will provide technical assistance to strengthen the Bank’s capacity to unlock the nutrition potential of its US$33 billion investment portfolio by making them more “nutrition smart”. This will involve coordinated action across multiple sectors - for example, agriculture; health; education; social protection; and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) – in regional member countries and provide support in achieving the World Health Assembly targets on nutrition and nutrition-related Sustainable Development Goals.
About the Partners
Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five priority areas, referred to as the High 5s, have been identified for scaling up. These priority areas are:Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.
Big Win Philanthropy is an independent foundation that invests in children and young people in developing countries to improve their lives and to maximize demographic dividends for long term economic growth. Big Win Philanthropy partners with leaders who have a stake in the outcome to achieve transformational change.
The Dangote Foundation is a private foundation of Aliko Dangote, established with a mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities. Dangote Foundation was incorporated in 1993 as a charity in Lagos. Twenty years later, the Foundation has become the largest private Foundation in sub Saharan Africa, with the largest endowment by a single African donor.
[1] Levels and trends in child undernutrition: UNICEF – WHO – World Bank Group joint child malnutrition estimates, Key findings of the 2015 edition
[2] Global Nutrition Report, 2016
Duties and responsibilities
The post-holder will have the opportunity to provide intellectual leadership and program management support to the implementation of the ‘Banking on Nutrition’ Technical Partnership on Nutrition, which will contribute to the Bank’s efforts in making nutrition central to its operations through the implementation of a multi-sectoral and integrated approach to nutrition interventions across its portfolio of investments in order to achieve transformational and lasting change.
Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience
Person specification and qualifications
Educated to postgraduate degree level, or equivalent by experience, within a relevant specialty, you are an exceptional and senior level expert in nutrition with broad understanding of nutrition issues, including food security, agriculture, maternal and child undernutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), economics, and other development issues. Importantly, you will have a detailed understanding of the multi-dimensional nature and effects of malnutrition, conceptual frameworks for addressing malnutrition, and the importance of adopting a multi-sectoral and integrated development approach to nutrition interventions.
Strategic and influential in approach, with outstanding communication skills and relationship building abilities, you will be a critical thought leader in taking the ‘Banking on Nutrition’ agenda forward and play a lead role in actively shaping this technical partnership. As a member of the Bank’s Technical Committee (to be established for this partnership), you will take full and collective accountability for the development and timely implementation of the various work packages, ensuring they are aligned to the ‘Banking on Nutrition’
How to apply
1. Enquiries or requests for additional information not provided above can be sent to: c.obure@afdb.org
2. The completed application form along with a well-structured CV and salary history should be returned electronically to: c.obure@afdb.org
3. The application should be in MS Word and should be clearly marked “Technical Advisor, Banking on Nutrition Technical Partnership” on the subject line.
4. The closing date for all applications is Friday, 12th August, 2016.
5. Interviews will be scheduled to take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.
6. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
7. The successful candidate will be assessed against the qualifications and experiences; technical and behavioral competencies, as outlined in the attached application form and will be expected to take up post as early as September 2016.
