The UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub in Helsinki is seeking a Communications Intern to support both external and internal communications, with a particular focus on Child-Lens Investing (CLI). This internship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the communications efforts of a global initiative that mobilizes capital for children. The Hub is looking for an enthusiastic, fast-learning early-career professional with a strong interest in communications and children’s rights.
The Education Unit at Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight is seeking a person who has relevant experience and skills to organise, curate and manage a Implementation Research (IR) community of practice, initiating sharing and positive engagement around approach, practice, methodologies, with practitioners, engaging donors, motivating interaction, and intentionally involving partners in close collaboration with and as a broader part of the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE) community of practice. The consultant will coordinate COP activities with senior and technical staff from multiple organizations involved in the funding, implementation and use of IR in education. This engagement will be through, online meetings, curating a live chat with community members, and face to face meetings as and where opportunities arise. Beyond the IR Community of Practice the selected candidate will also support the Education Unit in UNICEF Innocenti with research work related to the Implementation Research (IR) portfolio, working on topic and methodological briefs synthesizing the processes and outputs from the IR team.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) Programme is UNICEF’s flagship household survey, providing internationally comparable, statistically rigorous data on the situation of children and women. Managed globally by UNICEF’s Data Collection Unit in Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring Division (DAPM), MICS supports more than 100 countries with technical assistance, capacity building, and data quality assurance.
With the growing number of ongoing and planned surveys, and a new funding modality centered on country resources, effective program coordination is critical to ensure the timely implementation of survey activities, efficient use of funds, and consistent coordination across regional and country offices.
MICS is a national government-led activity, with UNICEF providing technical assistance and limited financial support. Given the current dramatic reduction in donor funding and constrained national fiscal space, the consultant will focus on assessing the broader financial sustainability of MICS, including funding from governments, donors, and other partners. The consultant will analyse how MICS is financed across different sources to support strategic planning and resource mobilization.
The purpose of this consultancy is therefore to assess and articulate the extent to which MICS can and should respond to the changing global survey landscape, and under what conditions—institutional, technical, and financial—such an expanded role would be viable and sustainable. The work will examine how MICS could contribute to maintaining continuity in global demographic and health statistics while reinforcing existing national data infrastructures and avoiding the creation of parallel systems.
As part of the MICS programme, UNICEF continues to strengthen its MICS support mechanism at all levels, so that implementing partners in countries can receive the required level of technical assistance on a timely basis at critical survey stages and are in a better position to support the implementing partner. The 7th round of the MICS programme (MICS7) was launched in March 2023 and there are already 40 planned and ongoing MICS7 surveys and potentially 20-30 more surveys in the pipeline. There are also 7 surveys from the 6th round of the MICS programme that are still in data processing or report finalisation stages.
A very important element of MICS design and implementation is sampling, which is a very specialized field of work. Excellent sampling support is needed during the design, implementation, and reporting stages of all surveys.
As currently there is no sufficient funding to cover all planned activities, some deliverables are planned to be completed only if additional resources become available.
UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)—implemented in over 120 countries and aligned with 22 of 23 SDG indicators previously monitored through DHS—represent one of the world’s leading sources of internationally comparable data on children and women. In this evolving context, there is a growing expectation that MICS could play an expanded role in addressing the data gaps left by DHS. However, this potential requires careful assessment of both external opportunities and internal readiness, including questions of institutional capacity, financial sustainability, and strategic prioritization.
The purpose of this consultancy is therefore to assess and articulate the extent to which MICS can and should respond to the changing global survey landscape, and under what conditions—institutional, technical, and financial—such an expanded role would be viable and sustainable. The work will examine how MICS could contribute to maintaining continuity in global demographic and health statistics while reinforcing existing national data infrastructures and avoiding the creation of parallel systems.
This assignment will produce an evidence-based analysis and a strategic framework to guide UNICEF’s decisions on the internal investments, partnerships, and operational adjustments required to strengthen MICS’s position within the global data ecosystem. It will be conducted in alignment with the ISWGHS Task Force on Sustainable Demographic and Health Statistics and UNICEF’s Global Data Strategy, ensuring that all recommendations are grounded in principles of national ownership, complementarity, and sustainability.
The UNICEF Innovative Finance Hub in Helsinki is seeking a Communications Intern to support both external and internal communications, with a particular focus on Child-Lens Investing (CLI). This internship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the communications efforts of a global initiative that mobilizes capital for children. The Hub is looking for an enthusiastic, fast-learning early-career professional with a strong interest in communications and children’s rights.
The Education Unit at Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight is seeking a person who has relevant experience and skills to organise, curate and manage a Implementation Research (IR) community of practice, initiating sharing and positive engagement around approach, practice, methodologies, with practitioners, engaging donors, motivating interaction, and intentionally involving partners in close collaboration with and as a broader part of the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE) community of practice. The consultant will coordinate COP activities with senior and technical staff from multiple organizations involved in the funding, implementation and use of IR in education. This engagement will be through, online meetings, curating a live chat with community members, and face to face meetings as and where opportunities arise. Beyond the IR Community of Practice the selected candidate will also support the Education Unit in UNICEF Innocenti with research work related to the Implementation Research (IR) portfolio, working on topic and methodological briefs synthesizing the processes and outputs from the IR team.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) Programme is UNICEF’s flagship household survey, providing internationally comparable, statistically rigorous data on the situation of children and women. Managed globally by UNICEF’s Data Collection Unit in Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring Division (DAPM), MICS supports more than 100 countries with technical assistance, capacity building, and data quality assurance.
With the growing number of ongoing and planned surveys, and a new funding modality centered on country resources, effective program coordination is critical to ensure the timely implementation of survey activities, efficient use of funds, and consistent coordination across regional and country offices.
MICS is a national government-led activity, with UNICEF providing technical assistance and limited financial support. Given the current dramatic reduction in donor funding and constrained national fiscal space, the consultant will focus on assessing the broader financial sustainability of MICS, including funding from governments, donors, and other partners. The consultant will analyse how MICS is financed across different sources to support strategic planning and resource mobilization.
The purpose of this consultancy is therefore to assess and articulate the extent to which MICS can and should respond to the changing global survey landscape, and under what conditions—institutional, technical, and financial—such an expanded role would be viable and sustainable. The work will examine how MICS could contribute to maintaining continuity in global demographic and health statistics while reinforcing existing national data infrastructures and avoiding the creation of parallel systems.
As part of the MICS programme, UNICEF continues to strengthen its MICS support mechanism at all levels, so that implementing partners in countries can receive the required level of technical assistance on a timely basis at critical survey stages and are in a better position to support the implementing partner. The 7th round of the MICS programme (MICS7) was launched in March 2023 and there are already 40 planned and ongoing MICS7 surveys and potentially 20-30 more surveys in the pipeline. There are also 7 surveys from the 6th round of the MICS programme that are still in data processing or report finalisation stages.
A very important element of MICS design and implementation is sampling, which is a very specialized field of work. Excellent sampling support is needed during the design, implementation, and reporting stages of all surveys.
As currently there is no sufficient funding to cover all planned activities, some deliverables are planned to be completed only if additional resources become available.
UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)—implemented in over 120 countries and aligned with 22 of 23 SDG indicators previously monitored through DHS—represent one of the world’s leading sources of internationally comparable data on children and women. In this evolving context, there is a growing expectation that MICS could play an expanded role in addressing the data gaps left by DHS. However, this potential requires careful assessment of both external opportunities and internal readiness, including questions of institutional capacity, financial sustainability, and strategic prioritization.
The purpose of this consultancy is therefore to assess and articulate the extent to which MICS can and should respond to the changing global survey landscape, and under what conditions—institutional, technical, and financial—such an expanded role would be viable and sustainable. The work will examine how MICS could contribute to maintaining continuity in global demographic and health statistics while reinforcing existing national data infrastructures and avoiding the creation of parallel systems.
This assignment will produce an evidence-based analysis and a strategic framework to guide UNICEF’s decisions on the internal investments, partnerships, and operational adjustments required to strengthen MICS’s position within the global data ecosystem. It will be conducted in alignment with the ISWGHS Task Force on Sustainable Demographic and Health Statistics and UNICEF’s Global Data Strategy, ensuring that all recommendations are grounded in principles of national ownership, complementarity, and sustainability.
