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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 National MICS Consultant (UNMC)
Background
Statistically sound and internationally comparable data are essential for developing evidence-based policies and programmes, as well as for monitoring countries' progress toward national goals and global commitments. Since 1995, UNICEF globally has supported the implementation of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), assisting countries in generating high quality data on the situation of children and women. Over the last 17 years and five rounds of MICS, 240 MICS surveys have been conducted in more than 100 countries.
MICS enables countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, child protection, water and sanitation, and HIV and AIDS. For many countries, MICS surveys are among the most important sources of data used for monitoring of SDGs, situation analyses, policy decisions and programme interventions, and for influencing the public opinion on the situation of children and women.
During 2017-2018, UNICEF will support the sixth round of MICS surveys. MICS will be generating information for over 20 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators and will be, along with other nationally representative household surveys, critically important for SDGs reporting.
MICS surveys are usually carried out by government organizations, with the support and technical assistance of UNICEF. The entire MICS process can last 12 to 14 months with UNICEF working closely with the implementing agency to ensure that MICS guidelines[1] and international standards are met at all stages.
The Government of Lesotho will conduct a MICS survey in 2017-2018. In order to ensure that the implementation of the MICS survey runs smoothly, specific deadlines are met, and that Bureau of Statistics (BOS) receives the technical assistance necessary to produce statistically sound and reliable data, the UNICEF Lesotho Country Office will hire a full time consultant to oversee the MICS process.
[1] All guidelines are provided in the MICS manual available at www.childinfo.org.
Purpose of the Assignment
Under the overall supervision of the Chief of Social Policy the UNICEF National MICS Consultant (UNMC) will support and provide guidance to UNICEF Lesotho Country Office and BOS for the preparation, implementation, and completion of the MICS survey in Lesotho. The UNMC will advise BOS, especially the Survey Coordinator and sampling and data processing experts, during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, fieldwork, data processing, data analysis, dissemination, and archiving, ensuring that MICS protocols and recommendation are being followed at all times. The UNMC will communicate effectively between the UNICEF CO and BOS, responding promptly to MICS related needs and issues as they arise.
The UNMC will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of other resource persons hired by UNICEF to provide technical assistance to the MICS process. He/she will work in close collaboration with the survey team, the stakeholders, and Steering and Technical Committees and will represent UNICEF in meetings and workshops in relation to the survey as needed.
Assignment Tasks
- Provide technical and managerial support to the MICS survey;
- Present the MICS methodology, tools, and guidelines to partners/stakeholders (e.g. ministries, UN Agencies, etc.);
- Finalize in collaboration with national partners and UNICEF Lesotho Country Office (LCO), the Survey Plan and Budget, including timetable and share with UNICEF Regional Office (RO);
- Oversee each stage of the survey process and ensure that the MICS protocols and standards are followed by the BOS, more specifically during training and field supervision visits;
- Communicate regularly with the UNICEF LCO, RO and/or Headquarters (HQ) responding to all MICS related issues in a timely manner;
- Provide progress reports on MICS activities to the UNICEF LCO/RO/HQ on a monthly basis;
- Coordinate the work of BOS experts and UNICEF Regional Consultants and other resource persons assigned by the UNICEF LCO and/or RO to support different survey stages;
- Ensure that external technical reviews by experts (i.e. Regional Sampling Consultant, Regional Data Processing Consultant, and Regional Household Survey Consultant) are carried out at key survey stages and coordinate the feedback and response between the LCO/RO/HQ and BOS;
- Ensure that all survey related documents and deliverables (questionnaires, manuals, expert reports, final report, datasets, etc.) are properly archived throughout the survey process;
- Participate in all MICS Steering and Technical Committee meetings;
- Participate in, and contribute to, MICS Regional Workshops;
- Ensure that lessons learned, problems, and good practices are documented throughout the MICS process and rapidly shared with the MICS community (other MICS implementing countries, RO, and HQ) through all means available.
