Consultancy Title: Statistician/demographer/communications expert – Recommendations on communicating international migration Statistics

Section/Division/Duty Station: Data and Analytics/DAPM/New York (remote-based)

Duration (estimate): 11 months (from 1 June 2024 to 30 April 2025)

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The main objective of this consultancy is to draft a high-level overview document and a comprehensive publication on best practices for communicating international migration statistics under the joint supervision of the Programme Manager (Migration and Displacement Data) at UNICEF and the Chief of Section, Social and Gender Statistics, Demographic and Social Statistics Branch of the UN Statistics Division (UNSD). This effort aims to enhance engagement around and understanding of international migration statistics and data, particularly related to the data collection and dissemination stages. The target audience are technical and managerial staff of National Statistical Offices, line ministries and other members of the National Statistical Systems and the aim is to equip them with tools to ensure that international migration statistics and data can be effectively harnessed by a broad audience, including policymakers, researchers, media, and the general public.

Scope of Work:

• Conduct research and literature review on principles, best practices, and innovative approaches for effectively communicating migration statistics to diverse audiences.
• Revise the provided outline and structure of publication on communicating international migration statistics. Present annotated outline to project team (UNICEF, UNSD) and relevant partners.
• Draft a high-level Overview Document capturing the essence and key elements. This summary will serve as an input into the revision of the Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration.
• Building on the high-level overview document, develop content for all major sections outlined, including strategies for communication during data collection and dissemination phases, issues related to special population groups, including children, data visualization techniques, narratives and storytelling, dissemination platforms, media engagement, and evaluating communication efforts. Incorporate relevant case studies, examples, and recommendations throughout the publication.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

The incumbent is responsible for the following deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Publication on communicating international migration statistics

1.1   Summary with list of research and literature review conducted on principles, best practices, and innovative approaches for effectively communicating migration statistics to diverse audiences; and revised annotated outline of publication presented to project team (Deadline: 15-August-2024)

1.2   High-level overview document drafted (Deadline: 30-September-2024)

1.3   Initial draft of publication (first half) drafted and shared with project team (Deadline: 30-November-2024)

1.4   Final draft of publication shared with project team for feedback (Deadline: 30-January-2025)

1.5   Revised draft after circulation to IDAC Secretariat members (Deadline: 15-March-2025)

1.6   Publication-ready document which incorporates project team feedback and has been proofread (Deadline: 30-April-2025)

Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s degree in Demography, Statistics, Communications or related field

Work experience

• Minimum 5-10 years of professional experience in demographic and statistical analysis, with a focus on migration data.
• Proven expertise in data communication, visualization, and dissemination, particularly related to official statistics.
• Experience conducting research and literature reviews.

Competencies

• Excellent writing and communication abilities.
• Ability to synthesize complex information for non-technical audiences.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Ability to take initiatives and work independently.
• Ability to work well in a team environment.
• Fluent in English.

Requirements: 

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system
• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• the costs per each deliverable and the total all-inclusive (lump-sum) fees for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Health Insurance:

The Consultant is fully responsible for arranging at their own expense, such as life, health, and other forms of insurance covering the term of the Contract as he or she considers appropriate.  The Consultant is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

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 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: 

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.