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, health.

Road traffic deaths and injuries remain critical global health and development challenges, with an estimated 1.19 million fatalities in 2021 (GSRRS, 2023); children and young people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are predominantly affected (Popa et al. 2023; WHO, 2022). Vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists -are particularly at risk. Despite LMICs having fewer vehicles, they account for 92% of fatalities, highlighting disparities in road safety (WHO, 2022). The WHO South-East Asia Region alone accounts for 28% of global road traffic deaths. Additionally, these crashes inflict significant economic costs, amounting to about 3% of GDP for most nations, (WHO, 2023).

Nepal is seeing a rapid rise in road traffic injuries (RTI). The unmet health need is large, as RTI was estimated to be the tenth leading cause of death in Nepal in 2019 with a rate of 16.3 deaths per 100000 population (WHO, 2020). Mytton et al. (2019) highlighted the inadequate evidence base for road safety in Nepal. Communities (Joshi et al., 2022) and adolescents (Gautam et al., 2021) perceive their road environment as dangerous and seek action. In 2017, 4.1% of all deaths in Nepal were due to transport injuries (Pant et al., 2020). The Global Status Report on Road Safety estimated that there were 8,479 road traffic fatalities in 2021, nearly three times higher than the 2,883 fatalities reported by official sources (GSRRS, 2023). Traffic police data have been shown to significantly underreport crashes and injuries (Khadka et al., 2022). The economic burden of road traffic injuries in Nepal tripled from 2007 to 2016, reaching $123 million (Banstola et al., 2020).

Over the past five years, Nepal has significantly expanded its road infrastructure, constructing 15,500 km of new blacktop, gravel, and earthen roads (GoN, 2021b). Road safety audits are typically confined to strategic roads and conducted only post-construction, so newly constructed roads frequently lack critical safety features such as speed restrictions and pavements. Furthermore, roads are inadequately maintained. Simultaneously, the rapid increase in motorized vehicle ownership, with over 3.5 million registered vehicles—predominantly motorcycles—exacerbates these safety concerns (GoN, 2021b). Despite the proliferation of private vehicles, public transport remains the primary mode of travel with children and adolescents mostly walking or taking buses to school (Edusanjal news.com, 2021).

Children bear the brunt of road traffic injuries, but the burden of morbidity and mortality and data policy and reach is not known. Therefore, UNICEF Nepal seeks to understand policy ecosystem, analyze child and adolescent road traffic death and injury data, review existing legislation and recommend potential steps both for UNICEF Nepal as well as key stakeholders.

In this regard, UNICEF Nepal Health Section is seeking an individual consultant to carry out situational analysis on child and adolescent road safety in Nepal.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of Work:

Specific tasks with consultant

1. Stakeholder mapping: The consultant will conduct stakeholders mapping of individuals and organizations working in the area of child and adolescent road safety efforts in Nepal. The mapping process will involve assessing the nature of organization, focus area, geographical reach, and operational at national, provincial, or local level. The consultant can generate this utilizing various methods including KII (key informant) and/or FGD (focus group discussion).
2. Data analysis: The consultant will analyze data on child and adolescent road injuries and safety from national/sub-national and international data sources and is expected to explore various data sources.  S/he will integrate and compare the data to identify progress and gaps, which can also be validated during the stakeholder engagement workshops and provide additional insights. The consultant will develop detailed recommendations for policy updates and also share findings with stakeholders for feedback.
3. Policy review: The consultant will conduct a review of policy documents in country which includes legislative frameworks, enforcement levels, infrastructure development, and data collection practices to identify strengths and gaps. This will be triangulated with key stakeholders to gather insights and perspectives on policy progress. Data from these activities will be analyzed to provide a commentary on policy strengths and gaps.

TASK

• Development of work plan
• Stakeholder mapping
• Policy review
• Data Analysis
• Final report and sharing with technical working group.

Deliverables

• Inception report with a workplan developed for the whole consultancy period to finalize methodology, activities, timeline, and deliverables.
• Child & adolescent road safety stakeholder mapping report
• Child road safety policy and practice gaps & recommendation report
• A situational analysis of child & adolescent road traffic deaths and injuries in Nepal
• Final Report

Duration: The duration of the consultancy is for 180 days over the period of six months tentatively starting from first week of October 2024

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

Education:

PhD with doctoral thesis in discipline related to public health from a renowned institution.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skill required:

• More than ten (10) years of experience in conducting public health research in higher education institutions.
• Skilled in quantitative and qualitative data analysis
• Demonstrated engagement with road safety programs in Nepal, led by Government, I/NGOs or professional networks.
• Demonstrated experience of having led research in road safety in Nepal.
• Experience in working closely with Government counterparts (Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Home Affairs etc) and lead institutions/networks in road safety including WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, KMC among many others.
• Ability to convene high level stakeholders for discussions and dialogue on road safety.
• Ability to deliver high quality research papers.
• Good written and spoken Nepali and English languages.
• Good working relations with federal level multi sector partners.
• Good interpersonal skills, team-oriented, work adaptation in multi-cultural environments, proven ability to facilitate cooperation in a multidisciplinary team.
• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision, punctual, and dedicated to quality work.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors 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.

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: 

Female candidates and candidates from the under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Candidates are requested to submit their financial proposal as per the deliverables.

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.