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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, an advocate.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide strategic advice to governments and UNICEF on maximizing the use of administrative data for children.

In line with the UNICEF (CRM and Data) workplan activity “Support country offices (COs) and countries with cross-sectoral plans to maximize the use of administrative data for statistics on children (CRM result framework KI 1.5)”, the consultant will:

• Strategic and child-sensitive elements of the current national processes to improve the administrative data systems.
• Conduct a diagnostic review of the current affairs and place of administrative data systems in five countries, mapping key ministries/agencies, data architecture, their data flows (bottom to top), governance mechanisms, resource allocations, data integration, etc.
• Provide a roadmap with strategic entry points to COs for strengthening child-focused administrative data use, data steward, grounded in global best practices and regional experiences.

Background

Administrative data systems are essential for real-time insights into service delivery and access, enabling effective monitoring of child rights and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) progress. These systems enhance disaggregation by age, gender and geography and complement traditional data sources. However, data quality, interoperability and governance challenges remain key barriers to maximizing their utility.

UNICEF supports strengthening administrative data systems to enhance child rights monitoring and national statistical frameworks. Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) and child-focused sectoral Management Information Systems (MIS) play a pivotal role in ensuring inclusive, reliable and timely data for policymaking. A strategic approach is required to improve administrative data governance, integration and utilisation across the ECA region.

Scope of Work

The consultant will adopt a multi-method approach to ensure a comprehensive assessment, contribute to the ongoing reforms and discussions and actionable recommendations. The desk review will involve analyzing existing guidance, policies, reports, monitoring documents, and previous assessments to establish a strong foundation for the assessment. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) will be conducted with government agencies, UNICEF staff, and data governance experts to gather in-depth insights into current child-focused administrative data systems, their challenges, and potential areas for improvement.

To provide practical insights, the focus will be on selected countries that have pioneering or promising experiences with maximizing the use of administrative data, including for children, offering an in-depth examination of administrative data systems in different country contexts. These case studies will highlight successful models, barriers, and lessons learned that can be adapted to other settings. Finally, a stakeholder workshop (virtual) will be held to present the findings, validate strategic recommendations, and gather feedback to refine the final action plan. This methodology ensures a rigorous, participatory, and evidence-based approach to strengthening administrative data systems across the ECA region.

In line with the above purpose of the assignment, the consultant will utilize a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the below line of inquiries:

1. Strategic and child-sensitive elements

a. To what extent are child-specific indicators and equity considerations integrated into existing administrative data systems?
b. How can national data reforms better reflect the needs and rights of children across sectors?
c. What strategic entry points exist for UNICEF Country Offices to strengthen administrative data systems?
d. How can the role of data stewards be institutionalized to support long-term system improvements?
e. How can global best practices and regional experiences be adapted to each country's context?
f. What lessons from other countries or sectors are most relevant for strengthening administrative data for children?
g. Do ministries perceive administrative data as a valuable resource for decision-making? If not, what are the barriers to this perception?

2. Conduct a diagnostic review

a. What laws, policies, or regulations govern data access, sharing, privacy, and security?
b. Which ministries and agencies are responsible for collecting, managing, and using child-related data?
c. Are there financial or institutional incentives to improve and sustain administrative data systems?
• What is the current structure of the administrative data ecosystem in each selected country, including its governance mechanism and institutional arrangements?
• What are the roles and responsibilities involved?
• Are there established data quality assurance standards or frameworks used by ministries or national statistical offices?
• What mechanisms are currently in place to assess the quality, completeness, and consistency of administrative data in each system?
• Do ministries and agencies have the human and technical capacity to manage high-quality, integrated data systems?
• What is the relationship between administrative data system and the national statistical office (NSO)? What are the roles of line ministries and NSOs, and how are they coordinated
d. What tools, platforms or protocols support (or hinder) cross-sectoral data use?
e. How does data flow from local to national levels (bottom-up data architecture)?
f. What capacity-building needs exist at national and subnational levels for data stewardship and sustainability?
g. How are civil society and child rights stakeholders engaged in data governance processes?

3. Provide a roadmap with strategic entry points

a. What are the major gaps and bottlenecks in data quality, integration, and governance?
b. What opportunities exist to improve cross-sectoral data use and decision-making for children?
c. Is there a need for capacity-building or technical support within ministries to enable more effective use of administrative data for analytical purposes?
d. Which system frameworks or tools have enabled effective data standardization and interoperability?
e. What incentives or policy mandates might encourage ministries to increase their use of existing administrative data systems?
f. What funding models could support long-term infrastructure, staffing, and data use improvements?
g. Are there examples or case studies (domestic or regional) that could be used to demonstrate the value of administrative data in real-world decision-making to ministry stakeholders?

Work Assignment Overview

The UNICEF ECARO will provide quality assurance and oversight for the consultant’s work with substantial feedback on the submission of deliverables under the direct supervision of ECARO Statistics and Monitoring Specialist and overall guidance of the Child Rights Monitoring Manager. For each assigned country covered through this contract, the consultant will collaborate closely with the respective CO CRM specialist(s) or another colleague as assigned by the respective office.

The consultant must respect the confidentiality of the data and information, produced throughout the consultancy process. The consultant can use the documents only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

Estimated Duration of the Contract

50 working days between June and November 2025.

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based.

As part of this assignment, some international travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 50 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

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

• Master's degree in statistics, demography, data management, public policy, or a related field.
• Extensive experience in administrative data systems, national statistics, and data governance.
• Knowledge of international data standards and frameworks, such as UNICEF’s Administrative Data Maturity Model (ADaMM), European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP), and the Generic National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF).
• Strong analytical, research, and report-writing skills (samples of previous work might be required).
• Experience working with governments and international organizations in the ECA region.
• Excellent knowledge of written and oral English. Knowledge of Russian is desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family 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:

Please submit a full CV, a Cover Letter, and relevant writing samples (as hyperlinks or as attachments) in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.