IYCF Counsellor (Volunteer)

These are volunteer based positions with a pay of PKR 38500/-

Travel requirement

90%

Position Objective

Action Against Hunger is seeking IYCF Counselor to be responsible for:

• Assessment of infant and Young Child feeding practices in mothers/care givers at OTP and at community level.
• Counseling ling the pregnant women for the preparation of Breastfeeding and colostrum feeding.
• One to One tailored IYCF counseling sessions to all mothers with children under 5 year and implementation of ECD at OTP/health facility level.

Mission 1: Assessment of infant and Young Child feeding practices in mothers/care givers at OTP and communities. 

The IYCF Counselor is responsible for:

• Conduct Assessment of all mothers with children under 24 months that attend  the OTP programme and at the community
• Perform appropriate assessments of IYCF needs and malpractices and do analysis and come up with clear recommendations.
• Conduct detailed assessment of child feeding practices in women that require additional support or reveal difficulties.
• Assess the mother with mental health issues and implement the tools properly
• Maintain clear communication with all other OTP staff regarding the status of beneficiaries, including Nutrition Assistant, community mobilizers and District Officers.

Mission 2: Counseling  the pregnant women for the preparation of Breastfeeding and colostrum feeding. One to One tailored IYCF counseling sessions to all mothers with children under 2 years. 

The IYCF Counsellor is responsible for:

• Provide the Pregnant women with preparatory counseling  and awareness for early and exclusive breast feeding and colostrums feeding, to ensure prevention of pre-lacteal feeds and bottle feeding.
• Provide tailored one to one counseling sessions, based on initial assessments, offering practical advice and education to mothers on the key issues of infant and Young child feeding practices.
• Support the mothers suffering from insufficient milk production with advice on re-lactation.
• Provide mothers with practical advice on correct attachment and positioning when breastfeeding, timely introduction of complementary foods and respond to any concerns or local taboos associated with IYCF.
• Utilize the provided education material on breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, relaying accurate, practical and specific advice for the mother’s need.
• Ensure a comfortable, calm environment for counseling  sessions and maintain good relationships with the beneficiaries.
• Develop action plan to improve IYCF practice as per national guideline  and give technical guidance for the nutrition teams (Nutrition Assistant/Lady Health Visitor/Lady Health Worker/Community Health Worker)
• Provide appropriate counseling and awareness sessions for PLWs, care takers of OTP beneficiaries and mother groups on breast feeding ,complementary feeding and maternal and child nutrition
• Produce monthly report regarding IYCF activities and submit to project manager on time

Mission 3: Network and coordinate with the relevant sectors:

The Nutrition Assistant is responsible to:

• Establish good Relationship with the Taluka and UC authorities and Community leaders
• Establish good coordination with caregivers coming to the OTP for services.
• Inform ACF District Officer and Project Manager any Technical problems encountered related CMAM/CMAMI Program.
• Establish a good understanding of the program within the community.
• Respond and coordinate properly with District Officer Officer representing ACF.
• Establish linked and meetings with the Community leaders and different group existing in the working area.
• Establish a network with the other actors in the working area (I/NGOs and DoH)

Mission 4: Additional Tasks:

The Nutrition Assistant is responsible for:

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and the employee will perform other related tasks as required and responsible for reporting and communication of progress and achievement of the specific assigned task. 

Mission  5-: Ensure compliance with ACFs gender equality, child protection sensitivity and Safeguarding policies:

The Nutrition Assistant is responsible for:

• Read and ensure a full understanding of ACFs Gender, Child Protection and other safeguarding policies  
• Implement all work related activities with a gender, inclusion and child protection lens
• Help build an inclusive office environment where people do not feel disadvantaged or judged according to their gender or limited due to manageable disability.

Skills and resources needed to perform the function

• Bachelor degree with 1 Year working experience in NGO / INGO in relevant position and program (i.e., CMAM & IYCF). 
• Ability and willingness to autonomously travel to duty site/ health facility and villages when required.
• Willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating when faced with difficult and frustrating working conditions like long distance walking to work/distribution sites
• Excellent spoken and written local language /Urdu and English language skills
• Good computer skills – ability to write weekly and monthly reports and data analysis.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills

Preference:

Gender: Female

• Experience in closely working with DOH and Taluka/District HQ Hospitals and at health facility level is advantageous
• Previous experience working in clinical setting/CMAM is an asset

Candidates will be preferred who belong to ACF-intervention areas/UCs district 

Relationship 

Internal

• Provincial Head Sindh
• Senior Project Manager
• District Officer
• Nutrition Assistant
• Community Mobilizers
• MEAL/IM officer
• Data Entry Operator
• Technical HoDs
• HR, Finance, Logistics leads

External

• Project Implementing Partner
• Government Departments (Department of Health and Deputy Commissioner, Social Welfare Department, DDMA)

This is a non-contractual document and it may evolve according to the needs of the mission

Action against Hunger is committed to the prevention of risks related to abuse, sexual exploitation, and the promotion of gender equality and its diversity

The Pakistan Mission encourages the application of women/men/transgender/ disabled workers.

Action Against Hunger's recruitment process is free of charge, no compensation of any form shall be requested from a candidate. 

It reflects the major policies and its charter through its professionalism and impartiality.

If you observe behavior in opposition to these values during this process, please report it to the appropriate teams. 

All persons hired by Action Against Hunger will also be checked for compliance with the "anti-terrorist" lists while respecting the rights of employees and the confidentiality of personal data.

Disclaimer: We are reviewing CVs on a daily basis due to the urgency, and if we find the appropriate number and quality of applicants sooner, the application process may be concluded before the planned deadline.