The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a non-denominational international development agency established in 1967 by His Highness the Aga Khan. Its mission is to develop and promote creative solutions to problems that impede social development, primarily in Asia and East Africa. Created as a private, non-profit foundation under Swiss law, it has branches and independent affiliates in 19 countries.

AKF seeks to provide sustainable solutions to long-term problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and ill health. In Afghanistan, AKF works with rural communities in mountainous, remote or resource poor areas to improve quality of life in the areas of natural resource management, market development, governance, education and health.

The Aga Khan Foundation, Afghanistan (AKF (Afg)) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of international, private, non-denominational development agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities for people in some of the poorest parts of the developing world. The Network s organizations have individual mandates that range from the fields of health and education to architecture, rural development and promotion of private-sector enterprise and institutions that seek to empower communities and individuals, usually in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities.

Background

Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan (MOPH) with support from Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan (AKF (Afg)) mandated for accelerated public health nutrition workforce development under its capacity building priority area. In this context, Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan is calling all academic institutions to submit their proposals (both technical and financial) for organizing a one-year (2020) post-graduate diploma in Public Health Nutrition for Afghanistan public health nutrition workforce.

Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan

The Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan (AKF (Afg)) is a private international, nonprofit, and non-denominational development agency. It seeks sustainable solutions to long-term problems of poverty, with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous, coastal and other resource poor areas across the world. Concentrating its efforts in health, education, rural development, economic inclusion and strengthening civil society sectors, AKF s approach is based on a long-term commitment that is maintained despite political and social uncertainty.

AKFA is a member agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a dynamic network of development agencies currently operating in over 30 countries across Central and South Asia and East and West Africa. AKFA currently manages and implements the largest multi-sector development program within the network and has built a strong reputation with the Government of Afghanistan, donors and local partners in a number of technical fields.

The AKDN is a group of international, private, non-denominational development agencies and institutions that seek to empower communities and individuals, usually in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities. AKFA is part of AKDN and has been working in Afghanistan since 2002, with programs focused on Rural Development, Education and Health.

At present, it is seeking a reliable academic institution to organize a Post-graduate Diploma in Public Health Nutrition for public nutrition workforce through a customized and blended learning methodology.

Rationale

Afghanistan is a low income country passing through political and security transition. Afghanistan is grappling with a huge challenge of undernutrition especially among children under 5 years of age and mothers of reproductive age. The recent health and nutrition survey of Afghanistan indicate that despite investment in social sector during last decade, progress on nutrition indicators remain very slow. Compared with a 2004 nutrition survey, the latest cross-sectional household survey from 2013 shows a fall in estimates of stunting and underweight prevalence, but an almost stagnant level of wasting in children younger than 5 years. It also reports moderate improvement in malnutrition in women of reproductive age, although maternal wasting and micronutrient deficiencies remain widespread[1].

For a nation s holistic growth and development, integrated knowledge of public health and nutrition sciences as a multi-disciplinary approach is needed. In recent years, policymakers, donors and implementers have been faced with inadequate local evidence relating to diet, nutrition and disease outcomes and inadequate workforce capacity to implement relevant program to address these problems. Sequentially, this dearth of data and limited capacity restricts the adoption of context relevant policy interventions to tackle the rising burden of under- and over-nutrition, as well as chronic disease burdens.

Public Health Nutrition (PHN) is recognized as an educational discipline with the potential to train candidates to not only address the problem of under nutrition and over nutrition, but also work in sync with other stakeholders towards ensuring better health for the masses.

Newly available evidence calls for improved service delivery to address malnutrition, support national and subnational surveillance, planning, and monitoring efforts. Development of skilled workforce is an important strategy that helps in building capacity for organized efforts to address nutrition-related problems. Currently in Afghanistan, there is a lack of skilled workforce to manage and implement nutrition interventions. Therefore, context specific academic programs are needed to develop skilled work force to implement nutrition strategies at the grass root level.

Description of the Activities

For efficient delivery of the program design, interested parties will be supposed to undertake the below steps once qualified institution is selected:

Program Development:

After stakeholders consultation, the selected interested party will modify the existing course modules based on Afghanistan MoPH/PND strategies, policies and available nutrition materials, customize it for Afghanistan context, and will come up with finalized curricula for the program. Since the participants have been already selected based on the examination took by AKF, FHI360 and PND. So the AKF will provide the list of participants to the academic partner.

The below modules are proposed to be included in the program at this stage. This can be revisited/ revised through stakeholder consultation meetings.

Name and code of the Module

Credits

Introduction to Public Health Nutrition

0

Understanding Human Nutrition

4

Nutrition in Health & Disease: The Life Cycle Approach (Part I- Fundamentals of nutrition and maternal and child nutrition)

3

Nutrition in Health & Disease: The Life Cycle Approach (Part II) ( Nutrition problems in different stages of life)

2

Research Methods

3

Community Nutrition

3

Nutritional Epidemiology

4

Applied Biostatistics

4

Planning & Management of Nutrition Programs

2

Health Promotion & Nutrition Education

2

Nutrition Policy Processes

1

Food Safety in Practice

1

Field assignment ( Project)

1

Total

30

Conclude program structure:

The party afterwards is supposed to design a suitable program structure, mixing a combination of blended and in-campus learning methods for around 25 program participants who have been selected jointly by MoPH, AKF (Afg), and the selected academic partner.

Two direct contact sessions, each for three weeks duration (to cover the summary of the whole modules in both contact sessions) is supposed to be arranged by the provider in hosting institution s country or a team of the hosting academic team will come to Kabul to impart the sessions here at the start and the end of the program). And the rest will be executed via online methods within making available all the soft of the guidelines/textbooks online to be used by the participants. In addition, the institute will facilitate the issuance of visa to the participants of post graduate nutrition diploma program through the ministry of foreign affairs and coordinate it with their relevant country embassy in Afghanistan.

Program Delivery:

The academic partner will have to come up with a sound program delivery plan along with program implementation schedule. The partner has to keep in mind the workload and the employment status of the program participants.

[1]UNCEF and MOPH, National Nutrition Survey Afghanistan (2013)

How to apply:
Application

The proposal has to outline:

The background, capacity, and similar experiences of the interested party,

Interested bidder to submit a bid bond of 2% of the total proposal s amount along with the proposal. The bond must be from a registered bank and valid for 90 days from the date of the proposal submission. Please see the specimen in Annex Aof this document.

It should clearly state the approach of the academic party to undertake this assignment and full package of the deliverables in accordance to this document,

Conflict of interest if any, and duty of care of the academic institution.

Individuals/organizations interested in leading this consultancy must submit their CVs/fact sheets and a technical and cost proposal through electronic mail by COB Nov 23rd2019 to jobs.afghanistan@akdn.org

Important Notes:

Please quote the Vacancy Number as the Subject of the e-mail when sending your application.

Supporting documents, e.g. diplomas, recommendation letters, identification card(s) etc., are not required at this stage, therefore not to be sent along with the application.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted for further assessment.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply. Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to equal opportunity and safe guarding of children, beneficiaries, partners, community members and employees in accordance with AKF (Afg) s safeguarding policy.

Your details and information shared on this advertisement shall remain confidential.