Research & Evaluation Officer -NOA FT Beirut Lebanon #115421

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Essential Data

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nation.

Strategic office context:

Lebanon has been responding to one of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in the world: between 2011 and 2014 1.2 million Syrian refugees crossed into Lebanon seeking refuge from war torn Syria. Furthermore the country already had 280 thousand Palestine refugees and 1.2 million Lebanese poor.

The Lebanese public system already suffering systemic issues from post-civil-war era was further exacerbated by the added strain. National systems with regard to information generation on the situation of children and women was further deprioritized by the government against mounting challenges.

It is within this context the incumbent is expected to provide support and high level technical guidance to UNICEF office, partners, government counterparts and line ministries on studies, research and evaluations.

The Research and Evaluation unit’s strategic role is to build national and subnational capacities and systems are strengthened for data collection and analyzing multidimensional child poverty and the rights of children and women. The current function is integral to achieving this goal by managing and leading on different research studies, evidence-generation, dissemination, and more as detailed in the purpose.

How can you make a difference?

The incumbent will ensure that the UNICEF Country Office has useful, valid and reliable information on:

• the situation of children’s and women’s rights;
• the performance of UNICEF-supported programmes including their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, and in emergency contexts, their coverage, coordination and coherence. 

The incumbent will work within the Planning, Research, Monitoring, Innovation and Evaluation section to support the delivery of valid and reliable information on the situation of children and women. The incumbent will assist in the development of national capacities for research and evaluation.

The Key Functions, accountabilities and related duties:

1- Evaluation & Research Planning: The Country Office has well-prioritized and realistic plans of research, monitoring and evaluation activities, developed in collaboration with national partners, which provide strategic evidence base needed to manage Country Programmes and influence national policies and strategies.

2- Situation Monitoring and Assessment: The Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate information of change in conditions of children, women, and their families in the countries; this information is available to facilitate planning and measure program impact.

*Performs further data processing and analysis of data from these surveys.

*Develop friendly summarized booklets on research

3- Research: UNICEF-supported research in Lebanon attains established high-quality standards, the results are disseminated in a timely fashion to stakeholders for improving programme performance and contributing to national and corporate learning.

* Provides technical support and quality assurance of draft final reports for research and studies commissioned by Country Offices (COs) across the region and by the Regional Office.
* Provides technical advice on research/evaluation design and methodologies.

4-Evaluation: Ensure that UNICEF-supported evaluations are designed and implemented to established UN quality standards, and the results are disseminated in a timely fashion to stakeholders in order to improve programme performance and contribute to wider learning.

* Monitor and ensure the quality of the data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase.

* Disseminate research findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods.  In particular, to ensure that effective participatory feedback is provided to community and civil society stakeholders. 

* Monitor and ensure that a management response to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation is completed, recorded, and followed up for implementation. 

5- Research Capacity Strengthening: The research capacities of Lebanon Country Offices’ staff and national partners – government and civil society – meet the expectations and requirements of their positions and responsibilities.

Impact of Results:

UNICEF Lebanon country is a leader and key advocate on information generation on the situation of children and women. Furthermore, it’s able to influence relevant other studies, research and evaluations for alignment and incorporating of child rights perspective and monitor progress towards relevant SDGs

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A university degree in Social Sciences, Statistics, Monitoring, Evaluation, Demography, Development Planning, or a directly-related technical field(s) is required.
• A minimum of years (2) years of relevant experience, at the national or international levels, on demography, statistics, data processing, analysis and interpretation, statistical inference methods and/or data management is required.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Prior knowledge and experience in research methodology, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity and reliability testing of data is considered highly desirable
• Previous work experience in Lebanon on nationally representative household survey is an asset
• Fluency in English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) 

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Core competencies

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Functional Competencies:

• Formulating Strategies and Concepts (I)
• Analyzing (II)
• Applying Technical Expertise (II)
• Planning and Organizing (II)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position and specific recruitment, suitable men candidates will receive preferential consideration and selection, as long as they meet the eligibility requirements stated above.

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:

• The Vacancy Announcement is open to all (internal and external candidates)
• UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, suitable male candidates will receive preferential consideration and selection, as long as they meet the eligibility requirements stated above.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with child, is a safeguarding response role or has been assessed as an elevated risk role for child safeguarding. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.