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For every child, the right to hope

Since 1991, the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) has helped to motivate facilities providing maternity and newborn services worldwide to better support breastfeeding. Based on the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the BFHI focuses on providing optimal clinical care for new mothers and their infants. There is substantial evidence that implementing the Ten Steps significantly improves breastfeeding rates.

In 2018, UNICEF and WHO released a guide for global BFHI implementation: Implementation Guidance: Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding in maternity and newborn services facilities: the revised Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. This guidance emphasizes scaling up to universal coverage and ensuring sustainability over time by fully integrating BFHI into the health system. The guidance also recommends strengthening existing standards of care based on the updated ten steps.  About 13 National Committees are currently, or have been in the past, engaged with and supporting BFHI as part of their advocacy and fundraising efforts in HICs. For most of the National Committees this ‘platform initiative’ have been long-standing programmes that have given UNICEF’s National Committees significant visibility.  In 2023, as part of a broader effort to strengthen alignment with existing UNICEF programme guidance and standards (including Guidance for Programming in HICs) and based on the parameters set out in the Cooperation Agreement^[1], PG has been working with National Committees, in collaboration with PFP, to assess the alignment, relevance and appropriateness of specific activities including BFHI.

The purpose of the consultant is to ensure continued support to National Committees related to BFHI, and to support their overall alignment. This is primarily achieved via bilateral support to countries. Additionally, the consultant will support the identification of solutions to bottlenecks and facilitate learning between National Committees and other parts of UNICEF. In 2026, UNICEF’s flagship Child Nutrition Report will focus on the topic of breastfeeding and the consultancy will provide tailored support to National Committees to leverage the report for their advocacy purposes.

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of Work:

Under the joint supervision of PFP and Programme Group and PFP (Child Rights Advocacy Unit), where appropriate, the consultant will undertake the following:

• Build and elaborate on the existing analysis on the current diverse programmatic and other arrangements in National Committees in relation to BFHI.  This analytical piece was started in 2025 and will maintain key information on operational modalities, arrangements, and role(s) of each National Committee.

In consultation with the National Committees engaged in BFHI, PG and PFP, define and support a change management strategy for the given context to facilitate a positive and sustainable way forward.   This should specifically include programme recommendations that i) highlight the implications of the revised guidelines 

• on National Committees activities and ii) facilitate realignment of the National Committees activities where needed, through the identification of evidence-based approaches and concrete entry points to pursue an advocacy focused agenda aligned to their remit and value proposition, recognizing that UNICEF’s role in advocating with governments in these (high-income) contexts to integrate the ten steps into quality of care standards.
• Provide support for identifying solutions to bottlenecks and facilitate learning between National Committees.
• Engage with technical colleagues across HQ and Regional Offices to provide capacity building opportunities.

Activities and Tasks:

• Build on the existing mapping and analysis of current BFHI activities in each National Committee engaged in the initiative.
• Support the rollout of the ‘Reframing BFHI in HICs’ document
• Provide customized and tailored support on countries planning, monitoring and evaluation activities, with a focus on the Theory of Change.
• Depending on the forthcoming institutional changes (notably the COEs and country typologies), define and support a change management strategy for the given context to facilitate a positive and sustainable way forward.
• Elevate individual and collective advocacy focused interventions by identifying key opportunities to amplify UNICEF’s key messages on breastfeeding.
• Provide bilateral support to the national Committees engaged in the initiative based on demand, for the implementation of the programme recommendations and agreed actions.

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Education:

• An Advanced University degree in one of the following fields is required: Nutrition (in particular maternal and child nutrition), public health, health systems, health policy advocacy, or other related field
• Alternatively, a first level university degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in a relevant field, combined with two (2) additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A background in legislation and law connected to breastfeeding, maternal and newborn services is an asset.

Skills:

• An experience and ability to read, analyze and interpret complex documents is required.

Work experience:

• A minimum ten (10)  years progressively responsible professional level experience in nutrition, public health, health systems, health policy advocacy or public health related law is required.
• Experience facilitating change management and system strengthening is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.