World Vision International (WVI) began emergency relief operations in Afghanistan in 2001 by addressing the urgent needs of children and families affected by natural disasters and decades of conflict. More than a decade later, World Vision Afghanistan’s (WVA) programs have expanded to development sectors such as health, nutrition, WASH, child protection, and education, empowering women to engage in civil and social change through interfaith partnership.

WVA targets the most vulnerable in its interventions; including children, women, Internally Displace Persons (IDPs), and returnee refugees, as well as the most impoverished and marginalized families. These priorities have been chosen to contribute to our Goal of: “Improved survival and well-being of Afghan girls and boys, building the foundations for a better future for Afghan children and their communities.” 

Our work is well established in Herat, Badghis, Ghor, and Faryab provinces in the western region of Afghanistan. We work closely with all levels of society including children, parents, teachers, village councils, religious leaders, ministries, provincial departments, and other national and international agencies.

JOB PURPOSE :

This is a full-time Nutrition Counsellor position to enhance the nutritional well-being of individuals and communities, particularly focusing on vulnerable groups such as pregnant and lactating women, infants, and young children. This role involves providing personalized nutritional counseling, conducting growth monitoring, and promoting healthy dietary practices. By educating and empowering individuals with knowledge about proper nutrition, the Nutrition Counselor aims to prevent malnutrition, improve overall health outcomes, and support sustainable health practices within the community. Additionally, the counselor collaborates with healthcare providers and community organizations to ensure a comprehensive approach to nutrition and health education.

KEY RESPONSIBILITES:

• Responsible for registering and conducting a growth monitoring for children under two years ages  including measurements (height, weight, and age) and edema in children under two years of age.

•   Support screening and classification of children under five years of age into normal, moderate malnutrition (MAM) and severe malnutrition (SAM) categories in coordination with Nutrition Nurse.

•     Advice for mothers and caregivers of all children younger than 2 years of age about infant and adolescent child feeding (IYCF) and prevention of infection (IP):

•  If the child is normal, promote and strengthen age-appropriate IYCF practises.

•  If the child has SAM and MAM, she should provide IYCF counselling till the child's nutritional status become normal.

•   Providing guidance on complementary feeding to mothers with 6 to 24 months of age

•     Presentation of complementary food as much as possible.

•    Use of Educational and Promotional Materials of the Department of Health Promotion

•  If the child is severely malnourished without complication provide specific counselling and in cooridantion with nutrition nurse make sure admitted to the SAM treatment services.

•    Make sure to check if your child has received vitamin A supplements during the National Vaccination Campaign (NID), if not in consultation with doctor provide the item.

Responsibilities of counselling during pregnancy and lactation 

•   Counselling pregnant and lactating women about appropriate nutritional practices for mothers including daily consumption of iron-folic acid tablets:

•  Make sure that pregnant women are getting enough iron-folic acid (ferfolic) tablets.

•  Advice on increasing the consumption of iodized salt daily consummation.

•   Giving nutritional advice to pregnant and lactating mothers in accordance to the key MIYCN practices.

•   Advice on healthy nutrition for children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years and woman in child bearing ages.

Responsibilities at the Community Level

Work with Community Health Supervisors (CHSs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs), health/nutrition promoter who support community health workers to:

•  The Community Health Worker/volunteers shall screen all children under the age of two in accordance key protocols and provide age-appropriate IYCF counselling

•    Counselling for pregnant and lactating women about good nutrition during pregnancy and the importance of using iron-folic acid (fare folic) tablets

•   Delivering 1-2 nutrition messages to the community each month through specific sessions with the key community members at the health facility level.

•  Helping CHW and Community Health/Nutrition Promoters to visit families if children are not well developed and malnourished and need help.

•  Recording and Reporting

•   Regular information and reports are provided for the review and follow-up of nutrition-related activities mentioned in the Child and Maternal Health Book.

•           Identify beneficiaries who need follow-up appointments and share them with the community health supervisor and community health worker.

• Provide psychosocial support to malnourished women, and women with malnourished children or any other physical, mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) though   running self-help groups, teaching stress management) with consideration of the CoVID-19 circumstances.
• Filling the IMAM report template on monthly basis and report to World Vision
• Filing information on MNS awareness raising or psychosocial support sessions
• To maintain all equipment in good working order and report any problems or needs

Other:

• Adhere to WV Child and Adult Safeguarding policy and standards.
• Adhere to WV accountability standards.
• To be aware and prepared to implement WV Afghanistan Humanitarian and Emergency
• Affairs plan under the context of (AHF Project) interventions.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

Required

• Graduation from the nutrition counselling program is the priority.
• Graduated from nursing or midwifery program acceptable.
• At least one year working in the nutrition program using CMAM/IMAM approach.
• Knowledge of Dari language is essential and Pashto Language is preferred.
• Required travel and/or work environment accommodations: This is 100% designated field job (Provision of primary health care services in composition of Fixed health team in the targeted district Badghisprovince.
• Position’s physical requirements: The position requires an individual with strong communication skills, as it involves dynamic tasks such as conducting growth monitoring, performing specific types of measurements, and providing counselling sessions in the health facility.

• Preferred Experience,  Knowledge and/or other Qualifications: 

• Ability to work with malnutrition case
• Ability to do the triage methods
• Communication skills and knowledge of local communities.
• Languages empowerment (Dari – Pashto)
• Flexibility for work.

• Ability to travel within the work environment.

   

The application closing date is 10-Oct-2024 Please submit your resume and one-page cover letter outlining how you meet the job requirements by emailing: wvafg_recruitment@wvi.org 
Please write on the subject of your Email the Vacancy Number (WVA1692) also avoid sending an attachment of big size (above 1024 KB) if you want your application/CV to be considered.
.را در عنوان ایمیل خود ذکر کنید (WVA1692 لطفا کد اعلان کاری)

Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for a written test and interview.

Applications with insufficient, incomplete, and inconsistent information to make a determination will not be considered.

For those who may distribute our announcement on other social media (Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, etc….), this is kindly asked to please copy the vacancy link from the ACBAR job site and share it with your posts. No translation to the local language or editing of the vacancy is permitted. 

Famale Candidates are highly Encourage to Apply