Associate Nutrition Officer

Host entity: UNICEF

Volunteer type: International

Areas of expertise: Natural resources management, General and specialised medicine, Disability, other social inclusion aspects

Application deadline: 17/08/2026

Mission and objectives

UNICEF’s core mission is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere in the world, in everything the organization does—through its programmes, advocacy, and operations. The equity strategy, which focuses on the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have the opportunity to survive, thrive, and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism.

UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them realize their potential—from early childhood through adolescence. Its core mission is to promote the rights of every child worldwide by supporting child survival, education, and protection. UNICEF’s work spans early childhood development, healthy childhoods, inclusive education, justice for children, the prevention of violence, and providing adolescents who have gone off track with a second chance to achieve their full potential.

Before, during, and after humanitarian emergencies, UNICEF is on the ground delivering life‑saving assistance and hope to vulnerable children and families. Apolitical and impartial, UNICEF is never neutral when it comes to defending children’s rights and safeguarding their lives and futures.

Assignment context

The Togo–UNICEF Country Programme for 2023–2026, through its Child Survival component, aims to ensure that more newborns, children, and adolescents—regardless of gender and with particular attention to the most vulnerable—are able to realize their rights to survival and development.
The expected outcome of this component is that, by the end of 2026, all newborns, children (girls and boys), adolescents, and women in Togo, including the most vulnerable and those affected by emergency situations, will have equitable access to and effective use of integrated, high‑quality health, nutrition, and WASH services, and will live in a healthy, climate‑resilient environment.
This outcome is delivered through four outputs, including one focused on Nutrition: “By 2026, girls and boys and their mothers will have improved access to nutrition services in both development and humanitarian contexts, particularly in the Savanes, Kara and Maritime regions.”

Malnutrition is a public health problem in Togo. Acute malnutrition affects 5.7% of children and one in four children (23.8%) suffers from stunted growth, with disparities between regions (MICS, 2017). It has consequences for children's development and growth and compromises their ability to reach their full potential later in life. This situation is exacerbated by the global economic situation, which has led to a general increase in food prices, and by the repercussions of the crisis in the Sahel, particularly in the Savanes region.

To address this problem, UNICEF Togo has implemented a comprehensive intervention strategy based on innovative approaches aimed at providing essential nutrition services at the community level, promoting infant and young child feeding, and preventing and treating severe acute malnutrition. In this context, UNICEF is seeking to recruit an international United Nations volunteer specialising in nutrition to assist the nutrition unit in implementing its activities and achieving its objectives.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Nutrition Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

- Contribute to technical, operational, and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Nutrition component of the Togo-United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) cooperation programme, from activity planning to results.
- Contribute to designing and implementing innovative approaches to reach children and mothers with essential nutrition services in Savanes, Kara, and Maritime;
- Assist the Nutrition Division and the Regional Health Directorates of Savanes, Kara, and Maritime for implementation and monitoring of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) mother support groups;
- Support the technical assistance to the Ministry of Health for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospitals Initiative;
- Participate in program monitoring and evaluation, programme reviews with the government and partners, participate in financial monitoring of the programme, contribute to reports for donors;
- Support the documenting of achievements and successes in the field;
- Participate in field visits and provide technical support to government partners;
- Carry out any other necessary tasks related to the programme objectives.

Skills and experience

- Demonstrated interest or experience in nutrition programming, particularly in community nutrition or in promoting and supporting infant and young child feeding,
- Good familiarity with Infant and Young Child Feeding support groups,
- Analytical, organizational, and negotiation skills,
- Good writing skills,
- Work experience in a developing country,
- Previous experience with the United Nations (UN ), particularly with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF ), would be an asset.

Competencies and values

​​Accountability;
​​Adaptability and Flexibility;
​​Commitment and Motivation;
​​Ethics and Values;
​​Integrity;
​​Judgement and Decision-making;
​​Knowledge Sharing;
​​Planning and Organizing ;
​Professionalism;
​​Respect for Diversity;
​​Self-Management;
​​Working in Teams.

Living conditions

The staff will be based in Lomé with field missions in-country and possibly abroad. Located in West Africa, Togo shares borders with Ghana to the west and Benin to the east. In 2022, its population is estimated at 8,095,498, of which 40 per cent are under 15 years of age and 13.9 per cent are children under five. Since 2017, Togo has been engaged in administrative and budgetary reforms aimed at improving public governance and promoting social progress. However, it has been hit hard by the repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the Ukrainian crisis, leading to high inflation in food and basic commodity prices. In recent years, the country has been facing the spillover of the security crisis in the Sahel in the north, particularly in the Savanes region, with a relatively high number of displaced persons. Nevertheless, the country is generally stable and safe. The cost of living is relatively affordable.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.