Survey and Data Management Consultant Vacancy at UNICEF in Nairobi Kenya May 2014
Individual Consultancy Terms of Reference
Post Title: Survey and Data Management Consultant
Location: Nairobi, Kenya – ESARO
Start Date: 01/06/2014
End Date: 30/10/2014
Duration: 5 months with possibility of extension (starting 15 June 2014)
Location: Nairobi and Dadaab, Kenya with travel to Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Dadaab (Kenya)
Level: P2
Background and Justification: Over 1 billion children under the age of 18 now live in areas affected by conflict and high levels of violence. Insecurity and violent intra-state conflict is recognized as a primary development challenge of our time and a significant barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the right to universal primary education.
These challenges are further complicated by the changing nature of conflict that involves multi-level, intra-state conflicts of extended duration and marked by recurring cycles of violent conflict.
he direct consequences of conflict can include child recruitment and use, gender-based violence, killing and maiming, separation from families, trafficking and illegal detention, and long-term negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of children. According to the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2011, conflict affects females differently than it does males and gender emerges as a major concern for education in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Under the broader chapeau of strengthening resilience, peacebuilding has emerged as a central strategy to address conflict and accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs by addressing factors driving violent conflict and undermining community resilience against shocks and stresses.
Within this context, social services such as education are increasingly recognized as having an important role to play in addressing root causes of conflict, while also strengthening social cohesion and community resilience.
Conversely, social services such as education also have the potential to drive conflict through the inequitable delivery of services, through the exclusion of communities, through low quality of education, and through bias exercised against minority groups within a state.
In 2012, UNICEF launched the Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy Programme (PBEA), which currently operate in 14 countries globally. The PBEA programme is an innovative, cross-sectoral initiative designed as a partnership between UNICEF, the Government of the Netherlands, the national governments of participating countries and other key international and local partners.
The overarching goal of this four-year programme is to strengthen resilience, social cohesion and human security in conflict-affected contexts – including countries at risk of, experiencing or recovering from conflict. In the ESA region, 5 countries (South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, and Somalia) as well as Dadaab/Kenya implement the PBEA.
As an innovative pilot programme globally that attempts to establish the linkages between social services such as education with peacebuilding and strengthening resilience, the programme has a unique opportunity to provide an evidence-base to demonstrate how education (as a social service) can contribute to peacebuilding and enhancing resilience, social cohesion, and human security.
However, an Evaluability Assessment (EA) for the PBEA completed at the end of 2013 highlighted the need to improve measurement of progress towards the programme’s strategic outcomes and achieving peacebuilding relevant results.
The EA report noted a critical need to strengthen the programme’s monitoring systems, developing robust baselines relevant to peacebuilding and resilience outcomes, strengthening programme data management systems, and increasing the coherence of overall programme monitoring.
The weakness of existing monitoring systems was further demonstrated during an ESARO PBEA M&E workshop conducted in early March, which demonstrated that some 81% of indicators being used in PBEA programmes in the ESA region are L2, or output/activity indicators.
To respond to these issues, ESARO together with WCARO led a global initiative to introduce global guidelines for monitoring peacebuilding outcomes related to social cohesion and resilience as well as introducing the MoRES framework to PBEA programme monitoring.
The latter of these efforts was done in order for the programme to be able to demonstrate ‘progress toward’ peacebuilding by addressing barriers and bottlenecks to the provision of education services in a manner that addresses conflict drivers.
At the same time, ESARO has supported PBEA countries in the ESA region to develop simple survey instruments for monitoring composite indicators for social cohesion and resilience.
These strategies have proven effective at addressing critical areas of weakness identified in the EA report, with countries now finalizing survey instruments for monitoring results around social cohesion and resilience while at the same time applying a MoRES approach to monitoring of activities.
While these efforts are ongoing, the critical task remains to implement survey instruments for measuring composite indicators for social cohesion and resilience in all ESA countries.
In the Burundi and Uganda COs, external support has been identified for filling capacity and human resource gaps to now implement baseline surveys where existing systems and human resources have been lacking to conduct such outcome level monitoring.
However, PBEA intervention countries of South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya/Dadaab face a different set of challenges.
Though human resources exist through local third party monitoring arrangements, these COs face technical challenges with training local partners and with data management as well as data analysis and overseeing the implementation of surveys among target populations.
The work of this consultancy will thus fill country level gaps for training local third party monitoring, finalizing sampling frames for surveying around composite indicators for social cohesion and resilience, and for data management and analysis.
Scope of Work: Under the overall supervision of the ESARO Education and Peacebuilding Specialist and in under the direct guidance of PBEA programme managers at Country Office level, the consultant will support the implementation of baseline surveys for composite indicators of social cohesion and resilience in Kenya (Dadaab), Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.
The consultant will also coordinate with the UNICEF Innovations Lab to translate finalized survey instruments into an online open data platform to allow for a hybrid approach for data gathering and analysis (i.e., using technology platforms to streamline data entry and analysis processes).
Major activities
- Work with the UNICEF Innovations Lab to develop hybrid online data management systems that will help to reduce data processing and analysis time for COs {Hybrid systems will allow for data from clusters of surveys, for example, to be stored onto computes and automatically uploaded to a central database with automated reporting features. This will reduce data entry errors and time required for analyzing results of the surveys. More detailed and complicated analysis can be performed by exporting data to data analysis packages such as SPSS or STATA.}
- Working with CO teams, finalize respondent sample frames, randomized sampling techniques for selecting respondents, and respondent lists per country.
- Support the training of third party monitors in selected PBEA country programmes for surveying of composite indicators related to social cohesion and resilience.
- PBEA personnel are trained and provided with resources for the easy usage of the information management system.
- Support implementation of surveying in selected countries based on finalized survey instruments for composite indicators of social cohesion and resilience.
- Based on automated reporting produced by hybrid online data management systems developed with the Innovations Lab, produce short analytical reports based on survey results.
- Coordinate with the Resilience Analysis Unit (RAU) in ESARO to share lessons for mainstreaming conflict monitoring and peacebuilding into regional composite indexes for measuring resilience outcomes.
Deliverables
| Deliverables | Estimated Duration | Deliverable data
(01 June to 30 Oct 2014) |
| With the UNICEF Innovations Lab hybrid online data management systems based on finalized survey instruments developed for usage |
4 weeks |
30 June 2014 |
| Finalized respondent sample frames, randomized sampling techniques for selecting respondents, and respondent lists per country completed in coordination with CO personnel | ||
| Third party monitors trained in selected PBEA country programmes for surveying of social cohesion and resilience. | ||
| Selected CO personnel trained in database in online database functions and usage |
4 weeks |
30 July |
| Support implementation of surveying in 2 selected countries based on finalized survey instruments. | ||
| Support implementation of surveying in 2 selected countries based on finalized survey instruments. |
4 weeks |
30 August |
| Short analytical Baseline reports completed for 2 PBEA country programmes based on automated reporting of online data management system. |
4 weeks |
30 September |
| Short analytical Baseline reports completed for 2 PBEA country programmes based on automated reporting of online data management system. |
4 weeks |
30 October |
| Share lessons with Resilience Analysis Unit (RAU) for informing resilience indexes/measurements. |
Desired competencies, technical background and experience
The following are requirements for the consultancy:
- A minimum of 3 years of academic, research, and practical work experience in in the fields of peace building, conflict prevention, resilience, international development, humanitarian action, and with a focus on fragile and conflict affected contexts.
- Familiarity with the PBEA programme.
- Experience with managing large scale surveys.
- Experience with online data management systems.
- Experience in training and mentoring of national staff.
- Experience working in conflict-affected contexts.
- Strong team player.
- Dedicated to delivering results for children.
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
- Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
- Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Sets clearly defined objectives and plans activities for self, own team or department.
Languages: Excellent oral and written skills in English.
Administrative issues
The position will be under the supervision of the Education and Peacebuilding Specialist (ESARO) and work in close collaboration with SfCG (Search for Common Ground) in Somalia and South Sudan, and Country-level PBEA staff involved in programme monitoring and evaluation.
Based in Nairobi Kenya, with occassional travel to PBEA Country Offices to trainign for survey roll-out and survey implementation.
Conditions
Travel is expected under this consultancy.
As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary. Payment will be made monthly upon receipt of duly reviewed and approved deliverables (see above table).
The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.
Risks: Risks associated with this consultancy relate to recruitment of a technically qualified consultant. As the position requires a highly specialised skill set it is important that a qualified candidate experienced with supporting survey implementation and data management skills be recruited to this post.
How to Apply
Interested and suitable candidates should ensure they forward their applications along with their curriculum vitae, including an indicative fee range to:-
The Human Resources Manager
UNICEF Kenya Country Office
Email address: kenyahrvacancies@unicef.org
Closing date: 19 May, 2014
Please indicate Reference No. “ESARO/SSA/PRO/2014/015” in the email subject.
Interested candidates should also complete the Personal History (P11) form, which can be downloaded from the UNICEF Kenya website (http://www.unicef.org/kenya/P11_FORM(2).doc).
Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.
“Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse.”
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