Consultancy – Research Consultant – Early Childhood Development, Data & Analytics (D&A) Section, Innovation Unit, DAPM, NHYQ (home based)

Consultancy Title:  Research Consultant – Early Childhood Development

Section/Division/Duty Station: Data & Analytics Section (D&A)– Data Analysis and Innovation Unit/ DAPM NYHQ

Duration: 20 days between 05 December 2020 and 28 February 2021

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

UNICEF is the lead agency in monitoring the wellbeing of children, with a mandate to support countries in collecting reliable data on children, as well as to track progress against internationally agreed targets including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Confronted with compelling evidence and sustained advocacy, the world has come to recognize that investing in early childhood development is an essential component of national and global prosperity. In 2015, early childhood development (ECD) became part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These global goals include a commitment to ensure that, by the year 2030, all children will have equitable access to quality early childhood development and early learning opportunities. SDG indicator 4.2.1 was chosen to specifically monitor the impact of government action towards this target, and UNICEF was tasked to lead the development of a measure to track progress.

In 2015, UNICEF initiated a process of methodological development that involved extensive consultations with experts, partner agencies and national statistical authorities. Over the following five years, a sequence of carefully planned technical steps were executed, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods to identify the best items to measure SDG indicator 4.2.1. The work was overseen by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on ECD Measurement (IAEG-ECD), and was advised by a technical advisory group (TAG) composed of distinguished researchers, as well as practitioners with expertise in assessing children’s development across the world.

This process led to the development of an instrument to measure early childhood development in population-based surveys: the ECDI2030. The ECDI2030 comprises 20 questions which are intended to be administered to mothers/primary caregivers to collect information about the way their children behave in certain everyday situations, and the skills and knowledge they have acquired.

The ECDI2030 is intended to measure the achievement of key milestones in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, which are conceptualized as outputs in the child developmental process. That said, a comprehensive monitoring framework for ECD should also include indicators that measure relevant inputs that can have an influence on developmental outcomes among children. Factors such as children’s nutritional status, access to early learning opportunities, and exposure to responsive caregiving are important inputs, or determinants of ECD, to which children will be exposed in varying degrees.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide support to the CPD to generate two further important materials related to the implementation of the ECDI2030.

Deliverables:

1. Draft and final versions of the ECDI2030 Technical Manual.
2. Draft and final versions of the guidance document on collecting data in household surveys to monitoring early childhood development indicators.

Qualifications:

(1) Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s) or higher in social sciences, statistics, public health or related field.

2) Work experience

• Minimum 8 years proven professional work in research, social sciences, public health, or demography is required;
• Publication record of research using quantitative and/or qualitative methodology is required;
• Previous research experience in the subject of early childhood development is required.

3) Competencies

• Strong technical and analytical writing skills in English is required;
• Ability to work independently in a timely manner
• Attention to detail
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Fluency in English

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.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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.