Consultancy – Production of Animated Explainer Videos for UNICEF Nutrition, Data Analytics Unit – Data and Analytics (D&A) Section, DAPM NYHQ (home based)

Consultancy Title: Production of Animated Explainer Videos for UNICEF Nutrition Data & Analytics Unit

Section/Division/Duty Station: Data and Analytics (D&A) Section, DAPM NYHQ

Duration: 20 days

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

As we enter into the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, little is still known about the potential and actual magnitude of the pandemic’s devastation on the nutritional status of women and children. UNICEF Nutrition Data & Analytics team aims to advance the current understanding of nutrition vulnerabilities through the collection and analysis of global data, and an assessment of the nutrition resilience in countries in the context of an unprecedented pandemic which now threatens to reverse progress made in past decades. To strengthen global nutrition programming, and in support of national governments to prepare for and respond to crisis, it is important to identify where the most vulnerable children are geographically located, such as those with mild malnutrition who could be tipped into moderate or severe malnutrition, or children who have a poor diet quality and may experience even worse diets due to the impact of COVID-19, including from pandemic mitigation measures. The estimation and visual distribution of malnutrition rates (stunting, wasting, overweight) will reveal inequities and allow for prioritization and strategic allocation of critical resources. UNICEF Nutrition Data & Analytics team has thus far compiled datasets from over 600 surveys across more than 140 countries to quantify and target nutrition hotspots. The video outputs will be disseminated to internal and external partners and stakeholders and become a public resource on data.unicef.org. The outputs will inform country strategies, contribute to global advocacy, and provide key lessons for UNICEF programming to build nutrition resilience in the future. 

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Objectives

The objective of this consultancy is to produce a total of 2 animated explainer videos, one for each of the following areas:

Nutrition vulnerabilities: The animated explainer video should illustrate the processes of data visualizations and mapping of nutrition vulnerabilities as exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The video content may include key stages such as data collection, data cleaning, database development, coding, software use, exploratory analysis and synthesis, dashboards, and navigation of the website, infographics, and its use for decision-making. Example countries can be used to better illustrate the process.

Low Birthweight Estimates: It is estimated that nearly 15% of all babies born in 2015 suffered from low birthweight, which puts them at risk of death during the first month of life and life-long health consequences. UNICEF has made efforts to estimate the prevalence of low birthweight worldwide, and to enable the achievement of a 30% reduction in the number of infants born with a weight less than 2500 g as endorsed by the 2025 World Health Assembly global nutrition targets. The animated explainer video will illustrate the data collection efforts and methodology to come up with the most accurate and high-quality data on low birthweight.
Reference: https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/low-birthweight/

Activities

The consultant will work collaboratively with UNICEF Nutrition Data & Analytics team focal points to jointly draft the scripts, deliver iterations of storyboards, present voice over options, and do the final video productions for the 2 areas. The following activities may guide the development for each the explainer videos:

• Discuss with UNICEF Nutrition Data & Analytics team to understand the stages of data collection, processing and visualizations
• Jointly work with the UNICEF team to draft a script for each of the videos
• Provide voice over options and (if necessary) background music for each video
• Sketch out a preliminary storyboard and submit subsequent drafts for iterative consultations with the team. A maximum of 3 rounds of revisions is anticipated for each video.
• Adhere to UNICEF Brand Book and communication styles
  • Examples of animated videos:
    • Data Collection Software Promo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocYHCiSdlWY
    • Animated video about collecting data: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB514y0n2Es
    • UNICEF Supply Dashboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPaxkNHabnc&feature=youtu.be
    • Whiteboard Animation Studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8gLbB5NfBY

Deliverables

The key deliverables are 2 videos that will be widely disseminated on UNICEF communication channels, presented at management meetings, or to external audiences such as donors. The video should be simple, universal, informative, engaging and compelling. Specifically:

1. Video 1: 90-150 seconds animated explainer video on Nutrition vulnerabilities
2. Video 2: 90-150 seconds animated explainer video on Low Birthweight Estimates

Video specs:

• HD resolution (1920×1080) 30 fps
• Uncompressed video and H.264 compressed mp4 file
• Content should allow revisions in video editing software such as Camtasia for updates

Timeline:

• Product Deliverable                              Due Date
• Video 1: Nutrition Vulnerabilities          Early June 2021
• Video 2: Low Birthweight Estimates     End May/early June 2021

Education and Work experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Media, Design, Communications or a relevant field.
• 5+ years of experience in multimedia design, motion graphics, video editing and animation
• Proven experience developing animated videos for technology products
• Understanding of UN partnership processes and procedures
• A track record of developing content that appeals to wide and diverse audiences
• Proven experience in copy writing and storytelling to develop a simple and engaging script for the video
• Fluency in written and verbal English is essential. Fluency in additional languages for subsequent translations, as needed, is preferable.
• Ability to successfully communicate conceptual ideas and to explain the design rationale using storyboards, examples, and other methods to explain the thinking behind the creative process
• Prior work experience providing services to the United Nations or other international organizations is preferable

Competencies:

• Strong organizational and planning skills, and ability to multi-task
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to establish harmonious working relations in a multicultural environment and as part of a team
  

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference (can be downloaded here: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html 
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.