National Consultancy for Public Finance for Nutrition

 

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to support

In Lao PDR, UNICEF works in partnership with the Government of Lao PDR and partners to promote and protect the rights of children and women in Lao PDR. With over 50 years of service, we are one of the longest-serving international organisations in the country.

Visit unicef.org/Laos to learn more about what we do at UNICEF in Lao PDR.

How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF in Vientiane, Lao PDR is looking for an Individual National Consultancy for Public Finance for Nutrition. The duration of this assignment is 12 months, starting as soon as possible and the consultant shall be home based.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

The consultant will work and collaborate with Social Policy Specialist and Public Finance for Children (PF4C) international consultant team (will be recruited separately). Furthermore, the consultant will coordinate with Government officials mainly from the Planning and Finance Departments, including the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW) and other relevant Ministries. The Consultant will require occasionally travel and deliver works at the provincial level, expecting around maximum 5 days per trip around 4 trips per year. The Consultant will focus on the following key areas:

Public Finance for Nutrition (PFN) 

• Support the assessment of institutional capacity for budget and expenditure tracking across relevant government agencies.
• Support the development of a capacity building roadmap for nutrition budget and expenditure tracking for both the short and long term and monitor its implementation.
• Support the development of capacity building training modules, including public finance for children, public finance for nutrition, and nutrition budget tracking.
• Provide technical inputs to the design of a nutrition financial dashboard and coordinate with partners to ensure it includes essential data for long‑term nutrition financial planning.
• Provide technical inputs to develop the annual Nutrition Financial Performance Report in consultation with development partners, line ministries, and other stakeholders.
• Develop monitoring and reporting tools to track government participation, results, and outcomes of CNF related activities.
• Support the MoF to roll out the nutrition budget tagging system to line ministries at central and subnational levels.
• Support MoF to integrate nutrition budgets into the Medium‑Term Performance Framework (MTPF) and explore alternative financing options for nutrition

Capacity Building and coaching for Nutrition budget and expenditure Tracking

• Support the development and delivery of training modules, refresher training, and workshops for technical financial working groups at national and subnational levels, including contextualization, facilitation, and coordination.
• Provide support to the Nutrition Financial Technical Working Group to compile nutrition budget and expenditure data for 2023–2025, plan for 2026–2027, and project these data in the nutrition financial dashboard.
• Provide technical assistance and ongoing coaching to line ministries to analyze and prepare the annual Financial Performance Report, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and sustainability in data production.

 

 Provide Lao PFM and Institutional Contextualization 

• Advise on Lao PFM systems, sectoral budgeting processes, institutional structures, and political economy considerations.
• Review and contextualize tools, manuals, and training packages developed by international experts to ensure suitability for the Lao context.
• Ensure alignment with the national