Title: Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for Household Survey and Sampling Expert Consultants (remote-based): Duration of LTA: Three years

BACKGROUND/RATIONALE

Household surveys such as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) enable countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators on the situation of children and women in areas such as health, education, early childhood development, child protection, water and sanitation, and nutrition. For many countries, household surveys have been among the most important data sources used for situation analyses, policy decisions, programme interventions, and informing the public about the situation of children and women.

Currently, UNICEF’s Global MICS Programme, coordinated by the Data Collection Unit in the Data and Analytics Section of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, is in its 7th round, supporting, in addition to the face-to-face MICS household surveys, initiatives and innovations such as MICS Plus household phone surveys, MICS Link, MICS GIS and MICS Tabulator development. As we approach 2030, monitoring and measuring the progress towards achievement of SDG targets is pushing more and more countries to face challenges in vital data collection on children, women, and households, undermining global (health, nutrition, etc.) monitoring and policymaking. In addition, the recent closure of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) program in many countries has led to an increasing number of government requests to transition to MICS as the primary household survey platform Therefore, there is an increasing need and demand from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and UNICEF Country Offices (COs) to support ongoing and planned household surveys.

Current and future country/survey teams implementing MICS and similar child-centric household surveys are and will need technical support on planning, sample design, questionnaire customisation, pre-test of questionnaires, customisation of tabulation plans, fieldworker training, fieldwork monitoring, data analysis and, report drafting and dissemination. Consultant involvement and support will also be needed for the planning and organisation of the regional and/or global survey design, data processing, and data interpretation and further analysis workshops.

Experience has shown that implementing household surveys is labour-intensive and requires dedicated human resources to provide technical support, including preparation, implementation, and completion. With more countries implementing household surveys frequently and in regular intervals, more human resources are needed to provide the technical assistance necessary to support the production of statistically sound and reliable data and ensure that these surveys are conducted with best practices and acceptable quality standards. To meet this requirement, UNICEF would like to engage the services of experts in different areas of survey implementation to support the Data Collection Unit and relevant UNICEF Country and Regional Offices in providing high-quality and continuous technical support to countries implementing household surveys.

PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

In order to provide technical support to the National Statistical Offices (NSOs), UNICEF will hire consultants (preferably with previous MICS, DHS, or similar household survey experience). The consultants will support the survey implementation activities in selected countries, from preparatory work to releasing results, in consultation with UNICEF HQ, RO, and CO staff members designated to coordinate and provide technical support to survey implementation.

PROGRAMME AREA AND SPECIFIC PROJECT AREA

Cross-cutting. Data Collection, Household Surveys.

OBJECTIVE(S)

The overall objective of this Terms of Reference is to set up a Long-Term Agreement to facilitate and expedite the process with which the UNICEF Data Collection Unit or relevant UNICEF Country and Regional Offices coordinating household survey implementation will hire consultants as required to support the preparation, implementation, and completion of household surveys in implementing countries.

MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

The consultants will have the responsibility for supporting the preparation, implementation, and completion of household surveys in implementing countries under the guidance of the UNICEF Data Collection Unit or relevant UNICEF Country and Regional Offices. The work will be carried out for assigned activities during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, data collection, data processing, data analysis, dissemination, and support other household survey, sampling and data processing experts when needed, ensuring that standard global survey protocols and recommendations are always followed. The consultants are also expected to contribute and participate in developing/improving methodology and tools used for household surveys. Tasks include, but are not limited to:

1. Support the household survey managers and coordinators (in UNICEF HQ, RO, CO) in providing technical assistance and oversight for survey implementing countries. This will include providing support for the preparation, review, and finalisation of the products/activities in each stage of the survey implementation: feasibility assessment, Plan, Survey design, Data collection, Analysis, and Dissemination.
2. Support the work of sampling expert consultants on the sample design and other sampling-related tasks. including sample weight calculation, evaluation of sample implementation and other sampling-related tasks
3. Support the work of data processing expert consultants on data collection and other data processing-related tasks. 
4. Support the Data Collection Unit and relevant UNICEF Country and Regional Offices’ work on methodological development/improvement and survey tools development.

Responsibilities of the Consultant:

1. The consultant will use their own equipment: laptops, software and other accessories that may be required for this LTA.
2. The consultant will not give the content/material or any part thereof, to any third party without the written permission of UNICEF. All components will be property of UNICEF, and the consultant will not share the same with anyone else.
3. The consultant will not put their own name or logo/emblem on the content/final product. The only organization branding will be UNICEF, if required. 

Responsibilities of UNICEF:

i.   UNICEF will provide all details pertaining to the activity and the requirements.

ii. UNICEF will provide the latest UNICEF style guide and branding guidelines.

Consultants may be required to work on Saturdays and Sundays, based on the requirements of the assignment.  (if applicable)

DELIVERABLES
S. No. Category Deliverables
1. Survey plan and financing Feasibility Study
• Identify national data priorities.
• Assess the alignment of MICS with past national surveys,
• Assess financial requirements and identify funding gaps, and explore potential sources of financial support—both domestic and external
• Assess the technical and institutional capacity of the National Statistical Office (NSO) and other relevant stakeholders to design, implement, and manage a high-quality MICS.
• Develop a comprehensive, context-specific implementation plan for MICS, based on the findings of the feasibility assessment, outlining key design elements, institutional arrangements, and resource requirements.
2. Survey design and implementation
Survey design
- Support development and review of:
o Survey plan (including budget and timetable) *
o Customised indicator list and questionnaires *
o Customised tabulation plans *
o Customised manuals for Interviewers and supervisors *
o Pre-test report of the customised questionnaires *
- Participate in regional survey design workshops **
Data collection
- Support and facilitate training of data collection personnel **
- Monitoring of data quality (via field check tables and Power Bi dashboards) and providing feedback to survey managers with suggestions for data quality improvement on a regular basis during the data collection *
Analysis and dissemination
- Support development and review of
o Initial survey results based on the tabulation plan *
o Dissemination materials (survey findings reports, snapshots, dashboard, news items, and/or similar dissemination materials) *
- Participate in local data interpretation and report compilations workshops **

* Reviews with feedback and suggestions for documents drafted by the local survey implementing agencies
** Require international travel
3. Methodological work and survey tools development/
improvement Methodological work and survey tools development/improvement in:
• Development of new and customisation of existing topics/questionnaires to be used in household surveys
• Analysis of the performance of different child-related indicators
• Development of data quality-related monitoring indicators
• Other survey design-related methodological work
• Review of overall data quality for completed surveys
• Further analysis on selected topics
• Other methodological work on household surveys
4. Sampling • Support to sample design
• Support to sample selection
• Support to listing (updating of sampling frame)
• Support to or review of weights calculation
• Evaluation of sample implementation
• Participate in and facilitate listing and sampling trainings (online or in-person)
Review of sampling related sections of the survey reports

ESTIMATED DURATION OF LTA

The Long-Term Agreement will be for a duration of three years. The services of the consultant(s) selected under the LTA would be under controlled use managed by Data Collection Unit / D&A / DAPM / NYHQ or relevant UNICEF Country and Regional Offices.

QUALIFICATIONS / SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE / EXPERIENCE/ COMPETENCIES (CORE/TECHNICAL/FUNCTIONAL) / LANGUAGE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE ASSIGNMENT 

Category 1: For Survey feasibility, plan and financing
- A minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Demography, Statistics, or other related technical fields with significant measurement or analysis component
- At least five (5) years of experience in project design, feasibility analysis, public finance, M&E, Social Policy. Working with quantitative household surveys is an asset.
- Experience in cost and financial analyses (familiarity with public finance and budget briefs), in capacity assessments
- Excellent knowledge of MS Office is necessary
- Prior MICS/DHS experience is highly desirable
- Experience in working with developing countries
- Fluency in English is a requirement. Knowledge of other official United Nations languages, in particular Arabic, French, Russian or Spanish, is an advantage
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships with national partners
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Category 2: For Survey design and implementation

- A minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, or other related technical fields with significant measurement or analysis component
- At least five (5) years of experience in working with quantitative household surveys
- Experience in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software)
- Excellent knowledge of MS Office is necessary
- Prior MICS/DHS experience is highly desirable
- Experience in survey report writing and reviewing
- Experience in working with developing countries
- Fluency in English is a requirement. Knowledge of other official United Nations languages, in particular Arabic, French, Russian or Spanish, is an advantage
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships with national partners
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Category 3: Methodological work and survey tools development
- Master's degree in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, or other related technical fields with significant measurement or analysis component.
- At least ten (10) years of experience in working with quantitative household surveys.
- Expertise in statistical, demographic, econometric, social data analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, SPSS desirable)
- Prior MICS/DHS experience is a must
- Experience in analysis of survey methodology and data quality
- Excellent writing skills required
- Fluency in English is a requirement. Knowledge of other official United Nations languages, in particular Arabic, French, Russian or Spanish, is an advantage.
- Excellent knowledge of MS Office is necessary
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships with national partners.
-
Category 4: Sampling
- Master's degree in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, or other related technical fields with significant measurement or analysis component.
- At least 10 years of experience in designing samples for household surveys
- Must be familiar with the sampling methodology of MICS and/or DHS
- Demonstrated training experience
- Experience working in developing countries
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language (e.g., French, Spanish, Russian) is desirable.
- Experience working in developing countries
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships with national partners
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Note: Candidates are free to apply to any category based on their qualifications and experience. They can also apply for multiple categories. A candidate may be awarded an LTA for one or more than one category.

Language:
• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA (WITH WEIGHTS FOR EACH CRITERIA)

The selection of consultants for the LTA will be based on technical evaluation and financial offers in the ratio of 80:20. The criteria for technical evaluation will be as follows:

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Financial Proposals should be submitted as a separate document from the materials required for the technical evaluation and should follow the template provided below. Include the name of the consultant, signature, address, contact no., email address, and date.

For each category, candidates should submit daily fees.

CONTRACTS CREATED AGAINST THE LTA

Whenever daily services are required, details of the assignment/deliverables including quantities and deadlines will be presented to the top-ranking LTA holder. Should this consultant not be available for this assignment, UNICEF will contact the second-ranked consultant (if applicable).

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees as agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior to the commencement of work.

Payment will be made after the completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance and timely delivery.

HOW TO APPLY: 

The application to be submitted through the online portal should contain four separate attachments:

1. A Cover letter outlining the motivation for applying and suitability for position (to be uploaded online under “Cover Letter” tab)
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online under “Resume” tab)
3. Minimum of three work samples for each Category applied (to be uploaded online under “Other – Applicant” as a single document containing work samples for all categories applied)
4. A financial proposal (for each category applied) as per the template shown above. Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving (to be uploaded online under “Financial Proposal” tab).  

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/a or 00", under the fee related questions in the online application form.

 Note: Only candidates who will be selected for the LTA will be asked to send these certificates of mandatory courses, consolidated in one single pdf: Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF, Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority, BSAFE, and Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA).

Without all the above 4 documents, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and will not be considered further.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

 To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:  

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

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.