IYCF Counselor ( Infant and Young Child Feeding ) - North Lebanon

Basmeh and Zeitooneh is a registered Lebanese organization, committed to serving refugees and vulnerable communities in Lebanon, through four community centers across the country. The organization runs educational, relief, livelihoods, and protection programs, and aims to serve as an inclusive and supportive focal point for the entire community.

Project Title: Provision of comprehensive (preventive and curative) nutrition and health services for vulnerable children under 5 and PLWs in Akkar and North Lebanon.

Major Responsibilities : 

Provision of life-saving nutrition services in poor neighborhoods with a high density of Lebanese and Migrants through community and facility-based interventions:

• Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices optimization, micronutrient supplementation distribution, and reporting of the blanket distribution of Infant formula.
• Screening, referral, and treatment of malnutrition

Under this project Basmeh & Zeitooneh is seeking to recruit 16 IYCF counselors who will be responsible to:

• Assist and give one-on-one counseling related to IYCF for pregnant women
• Plan Household visits to support mothers with one-on-one counseling, especially on
• exclusive breastfeeding for children under 6 months, continued breastfeeding, optimal
• complementary feeding practices for mothers of children between 6-24 months, and
• maternal health
• Assess mothers/caregivers and their children to identify specific feeding support needs,
• using rapid and full assessments, with face-to-face observations
• Support and counsel mothers identified w/ difficulties breastfeeding and suboptimal IYCF
• practices
• Supervise the distribution of nutrition supplies and follow up on identified malnutrition cases
• Refer suspected cases with malnutrition to a treatment center
• Conduct regular follow-up and remote support to mothers assisted, as needed
• Support in the coordination with authorities and municipalities to implement activities in
• areas of intervention and maintain relationships
• Refer mothers to mother-to-mother support groups, establish any if/where needed and
• support the activities of these groups
• Transfer all data collected on hard copies to soft copies and archive
• Provide verbal and written reporting, on a daily and weekly basis, on all activities, including
• type of support provided, targets reached, progress at work, follow-ups conducted, referrals
• made, challenges faced, lessons learned, and needs
• Document all forms and files used for mothers/caregivers visited and counseled by keeping
• an updated register and storing all tablets, data, and documents in secure locations/files
• Ensure data protection and confidentiality
• Support in conducting other assessments as needed
• Directly liaise with the specific PHCs staff

Qualifications & Experience

• BS/MSc. in nursing, midwifery, biology, or related medical/health field
• Previous experience as lactation specialist/IYCF counselor or similar position
• NGO experience is a plus
• Experience in working with refugees, vulnerable Lebanese, and migrant communities is desirable.
• Native Arabic speaker and good command of English are a must
•  IT: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
• Demonstrate integrity and respect to the values and mission of the organization
• Display cultural, religious, racial, gender, age, and nationality sensitivity and adaptability along with respect to all
• Promote gender equality within the humanitarian and/or development work
• Promote the vision, mission, and strategic plan of the organization in Lebanon
• An honest team player with strong interpersonal skills
• Accurately completes and organizes multiple tasks by taking into account priorities and deadlines
• Ability to identify program challenges and plan and communicate alternatives for smooth implementation of programs
• Builds and establishes proper and organized relationships with management, staff, partners, and stakeholders as required.
• Ability to familiarize me with new areas and people.
• Ability to deal with day-to-day stresses, complaints, and field-level security concerns that may arise.
• Ability to use tools provided with little direction.
• Ability to build new relations with individuals on the field in a comfortable and safe way.
• Ability to differentiate between personal and business relations in the field.