The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is hiring a Nutrition Counsellor to support an integrated Health and MHPSS response aimed at reducing excess child morbidity and mortality in high-risk provinces of Afghanistan. You will be responsible for delivering high-quality nutrition services, with a particular focus on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) program activities.
What You'll Do
- Maintain open and professional relations with team members, providing guidance and mentorship.
- Provide nutrition support and on-the-job training to other mobile clinic staff.
- Consistently monitor and assess the safety and security of the team and report concerns.
- Conduct systematic screening of all children under five (Oedema, MUAC, Height, Weight) and pregnant and lactating women (MUAC & Oedema) in selected communities.
- Maintain and update the screening, OPD-MAM, and OPD-SAM register books daily.
- Refer children and pregnant and lactating women who meet admission or discharge criteria to the nutrition nurse.
- Identify absent and defaulted children from the program and inform community volunteers for home visits.
- Register and undertake Growth Monitoring and Promotion (GMP) for all children under two years of age.
- Conduct GMP-based counseling of mothers and caregivers on appropriate MIYCN practices and infection prevention.
- Refer children suffering from acute malnutrition to the nutrition nurse or a Static Health Facility.
- Provide individual nutrition counseling on appropriate practices based on BMI and MUAC findings.
- Check if lactating mothers received adequate IFA tablets post-delivery and refer if health is unsuitable.
- Check if the child received vitamin A supplementation and refer if not.
- Conduct complementary feeding food demonstrations to mothers and caregivers.
- Establish Mother-to-Mother support groups.
- Provide IYCF counseling at the IYCF corner to mothers and primary caregivers for children under two.
- Identify and support mothers to become peer educators in their villages.
- Lead individual and group nutrition counseling sessions tailored to client needs.
- Train and work with Community Health Workers on consistent messaging for IYCF best practices.
- Maintain regular reports to monitor and track the delivery of nutrition services.
- Use the MCH handbook where applicable.
- Identify beneficiaries requiring follow-up visits and share information with community health volunteers.
- Ensure accurate recording of nutrition information in clinic registers and timely completion of summary reports.
- Promote and actively participate in GEDI initiatives and team engagement efforts.
- Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue, and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and promote IRC values.
What We're Looking For
- A Nursing or Midwifery Diploma.
- 1-2 years of experience in the field of health and nutrition.
- Skills to provide sensitive and appropriate counseling.
- Strong communication skills.
- Must be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work under pressure in a stressful environment, displaying patience, compassion, and diplomacy.
- Ability to be innovative, flexible, adaptive, and willing to work out of hours, sometimes throughout the night.
- Ability to live in challenging conditions and work under difficult, high-pressure situations.
- Ability to lead, train, supervise, and facilitate other nursing staff and community health workers.
- Ability and flexibility to understand the cultural and political environment and work well with local health representatives.
- Communication and reporting skills.
- Fluency in Pashto, Dari, and English.
- Ability to work closely, professionally, and constructively with all others regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, race, tribe, or cultural background.
Nice to Have
- Computer skills (including MS Word, Excel, Access, and Internet) are an advantage.
Work Mode
This is a local-country position based in Afghanistan.
The IRC adheres to the IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct: Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability. We promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services.
