ACS/ COVID-19 and Registration of Vital Events

Result of Service The consultant will coordinate and lead the implementation of the CRVS Angola Mentorship Programme and will work with key government agencies and development partners to strengthen CRVS initiatives, assess, analyze and redesign CRVS business processes by using business process maps and other tools and aligning with them with international standards, concepts, and best practices.

Work Location Addis Ababa

Expected duration The consultant will be recruited for 6 months.

Duties and Responsibilities Background

The world is currently experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic which is ravaging its core assets, that is, human kind by increasing the mortality and morbidity burden, pushing up poverty levels, disrupting economies and upending people's normal lives. African governments have responded by implementing various strategies to flatten the disease curve that range from simple restrictions for the containment of the virus, to isolation of cities and regions noted to be the epicentres and, in some countries, total lockdowns have been imposed. These measures have impacted on activities and programmes in different sectors, both in governmental and private sector institutions. Some of the most affected sectors include the statistical and data management, health, education, food security, industries, public service among others. The civil registration systems have not been spared and have already begun to experience disrupted services at all levels. An assessment carried out by the Economic Commission for Africa in April 2020 showed that 75 percent of civil registration offices were affected, with services being discontinued due to closure of the offices and remote working arrangements, while some operated at reduced capacity; with reduced services or for limited office hours or limited staff. It was also noted that due to travel restrictions and 'stay-at-home' orders, civil registration has been affected as neither registration staff nor their clients are able to travel to the registration offices for the necessary face-to- face encounter with the civil registrar.

During the pandemic, civil registration has an important role to play as it should provide the count of all deaths, from all causes, and make mortality data rapidly available to the public and to decision-makers in real-time. However, in Africa civil registration systems are not fulfilling this mandate as registration of deaths is currently incomplete in all countries except seven. Thus, for monitoring the epidemic, countries have been relying on hospital reporting of deaths among patients identified as positive for COVID-19. However, these data are often incomplete because they do not include those who are dying outside hospitals, for example, at home, in the communities and, or in a social care institution. Reliance on hospital figures alone leads to an underestimation or underreporting on the scale of the epidemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses in the civil registration systems in Africa. There have been heightened expectations of national statistical systems to provide data needed to manage the crisis including its socio-economic effects. However, in 47 countries the civil registration systems are not fully-functional and failed to provide real-time data which are required as the gold standard for measurement of mortality in a population which is crucial during the pandemic.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of Chief of Demography and Social Statistics at the African Centre for statistics of UNECA to which she/he will communicate regularly on the Advancement of work. The Consultant will assume the following duties and responsibilities

1. Assess and quantify the impact of the COVID-19 on the registration rates of vital events mainly births and deaths using robust statistical and demographic methods. 2. Identify case studies from countries with reliable registration rates that will be used in the study and assistance will be provided in selecting and accessing data from these countries. The mentorship consultant will be employed from Angola. The consultant will assess and quantify the impact of COVID-19 on the registration of vital events and the operations of Civil Registration Offices in Africa.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: BA degree or equivalent in Statistics, demography, population studies, public health, social sciences or related field is required. Experience: A minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of demographic data or related area is required. Experience in the field of demography and social statistics and the area of CRVS is desirable. Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in either language is required. Knowledge of the other is advantageous

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.