Background and Justification
Globally, 45 million children under the age of five suffer from wasting. Wasting dramatically increases the risk of death, killing 875,000 under-fives annually. Testing innovative solutions to prevent wasting are urgently needed. The Joint UN Partnership for the Prevention of Wasting (JUNIPr) between UNICEF, WFP, and WHO offers a unique opportunity to study the effectiveness of multisystem and multisectoral programs aimed at preventing wasting. This project will generate high-quality evidence through research in West Africa (Mali), East Africa (Ethiopia), and South Asia (Bangladesh).
Scope of Work
I. Goals
In close consultation with the global research lead IFPRI, the national research partner will support the Design Phase (Phase 1) of the research project described above, with perspective to become co-principal investigator of the research conducted during the implementation Phase (Phase 2). Briefly, Phase 1 will consist of the following activities: support formative research; support the identification of the different components of the intervention package and the appropriate model to test at scale; co-design (with IFPRI) and submit for ethical approval the protocols for the implementation research, impact evaluation study, and costing study to be conducted in the second phase.
II. Activities and Tasks
The contract will be issued and managed by IFPRI. Under the close supervision of IFPRI and in close consultation with IFPRI, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, this consultancy will focus the following activities.
Activity 1: Formative research
Formative research will be conducted to inform the design of context-tailored intervention packages, including relevant delivery platforms and implementation modalities. The national research partner will contribute to the design and implementation of the formative research.
Sub-activity 1.1 Review and contribute to interpretation of findings from desk review, triangulation of findings from inception workshop and secondary data analysis.
Sub-activity 1.2 Contribute to the design of study tools for 6-10 key informant interviews; conduct, summarize and analyze the key informant interviews.
Sub-activity 1.4 Co-lead inception report writing.
Sub-activity 1.4 Contribute to the design of and co-lead second workshop to validate the intervention package
Activity 2: The development and approval of detailed research protocols for the implementation, impact evaluation and costing research
In close consultation with the JUNIPr consortium, the national research partner will co-develop (with IFPRI) the research protocols for the research activities of Phase 2: Impact evaluation protocol, implementation research protocol, cost study protocol. The consultant will be in charge to submit and present the protocol (if applicable) to the relevant national ethics commission and seek final approval of the study protocol. The consultant will also seek additional necessary approvals from any other regional or national authority.
Outputs/Deliverables
Activity no. | Deliverable | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
1.1 and 1.2 | Review (commented document) of the early findings from workshop, desk review and secondary data analysis; study tools, and summary of 5-10 key informant interviews. Approximately 25 days | November 30, 2025 |
1.3 and 1.4 | Final formative research report with a clear summary of key findings, a clear section on options for the implementation package, a clear summary of key decisions of the co-creation workshop and next steps Approximately 20 days | January 31, 2026
|
2 | Impact evaluation protocol, implementation research protocol, cost study protocol National Ethics committee approval, and any other approvals required at national or sub-national level Approximately 30 days | October 31, 2026 |
Required qualification, experience, languages and competencies
· PhD in nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology or related field.
· At least 10 years of professional experience in conducting high-quality research in nutrition, public health, or related fields in Bangladesh.
· Experience conducting research on child undernutrition and, preferably, on wasting.
· Experience obtaining Ethics committee approval and other relevant approvals from authorities to conduct data collection
· Experience sensitizing communities and other stakeholders about research activities.
· Experience developing reports, policy briefs and journal articles.
· Excellent communications skills.
· Excellent written and spoken English.
Preferred qualifications
· Experience conducting impact evaluations using a randomized controlled design, implementation research, and cost studies.
How to apply
The following items need to be included in the proposal:
· A letter of intent elaborating on capacity, experience and availability of the national research partner to conduct the work within the presented timeframe in Bangladesh. Applications from teams of researchers with complementary expertise are possible.
· Detailed up-to-date CV of the person(s) who will lead and conduct the research.
· A budget reflecting time involvement and daily rate.
· 2-3 references related to recent relevant work of the person(s) who will conduct the research.
In a second round of the selection process, selected candidates will work closely with IFPRI to refine workplan.