Individual Consultant to Support Parenting Study in Belize Country Office

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, hope.

Background

National Committee for Families and Children, as co-chair of the National Parenting Taskforce, and in collaboration with non-governmental partners, viz. POWA, CDF and YES embarked on the Parenting Study. This overarching goal of the Parenting Study is to improve the overall design, implementation and evaluation of national parenting interventions through better understanding of the key drivers of parenting practices in Belize and overall family dynamics.

The Parenting Study targets a convenience sample of 1241 Belizean households; these households are drawn from the programme registries of the participating non-governmental partners and the Ministry of Human Development. Parents, guardians or the primary caregivers within the households are the primary target audience; households for purposes of the Study are segmented as follows; single parent HH with a child/ren; HH with a child/ren under 5 years; HH with a child/ren 5 – 9 years; HH with adolescent/s 10 – 14 years old; and HH with adolescent/s 15 – 17 years old by language.

The Parenting Study runs alongside a parenting intervention designed to deliver parenting tips to the selected households; the parental tips and parenting advice are delivered via SMS messaging three times a week to the participating households and organized around core thematic areas.

In the first phase, the parenting intervention ran for three consecutive waves, October 2020 through February 2021 while the accompanying Parenting Study, its M&E component, leads by a month and runs in parallel for four consecutive waves, September 2020 through February 2021.

How can you make a difference?

Methodology

The two tools used for the analysis of the Study is the Mean Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS) and the Mean PEEM (Parent Empowerment and Efficacy Measure). Structured questionnaire is administered by CATI methods by a team of 5 trained interviewers and 1 supervisor.

The Table below summarizes the Survey Modules associated with the W1, W2, W3 data cycle and other waves to date.

Ref****Modules****W0****W1****W2****IHH Info PanelXXXIIRespondent's CharacteristicsXXXIIIHH ListingX IVLiving ArrangementsX VChild FunctioningX VIBirth RegistrationX VIIMultidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS)X XVIIIPEEM Scale XXIXCOVID-19 XXXParenting Intervention XX

Purpose

Building on the evidence for the first three WAVES of data capture, the Parenting Consultant has the responsibility for Quality Assurance and Control of the 3 additional waves of Data Cycle, management of the virtual call center, production of the monthly and final reports and the presentation of the findings.

Main Tasks

1. With the support of the UNICEF M&E Specialist, provide management support to the operationalization of the Research Call Center;

2. Manage the call center and provide monthly deliverables (e.g. datasets, reports on call center work etc.);

3. Design modules for the data capture for each WAVE;

4. Complete the Data Capture System Design (Google Form);

5. Conduct training on the modules and data capture at the start of every data capture WAVE;

6. Data Cleaning and Analysis at the end of each WAVE and recommendations for module for the next Wave,

7. Communicate regularly with the UNICEF Belize on the training and implementation challenges;

8. Provide daily supervisory support to the enumerators during monthly data collection waves;

9. Ensure that lessons learned, constraints, and good practices are documented throughout the training and implementation process and readily shared with the UNICEF M&E Specialist;

10. Conduct further analysis of the data captured during the Parenting Study;

11. Conduct monthly meeting with the UNICEF team to present finding, and recommendations.

Deliverables

• Four (4) management reports by WAVES including:

• Support provided to the Call Center and the constraints including recommendations for 3 months
• Summary of monthly data collection waves (W3-W6)
• Data tabulation on the MAPS and PEEMS (W3-W6)

• One (1) Longitudinal Analysis of Parenting Study analyzing the data collected over the 6 Waves

• One (1) Summative Report: Methodology, Key Findings and Policy Implications

• One (1) Stakeholder Presentation

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, Epidemiology or any other related technical field is required
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in coordination and/or management of quantitative household surveys (prior MICS or Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) coordination experience is highly desirable).
• Strong computer skills and strong expertise in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly SPSS).
• Expertise in coordination, logistics and planning.
• Training experience and ability to organize and facilitate training and presentations
• Experience in data analysis and survey report writing
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability and willingness to work independently and remotely.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required (written and oral). Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

How to Apply

Suitable applicants are invited to submit a detailed Technical and Financial Proposal.

The proposals will be assessed based on the following scores:

• Technical Proposal: 80 points

• Financial Proposal: 20 Points

The scores of the financial proposal and the technical proposal will be consolidated and together generate the overall final score.

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

The technical proposal should be no more than 3 pages, 12 points font and 1.5-line spacing excluding Appendixes.

It should address the following areas:

• Experience in conducting statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly SPSS);

• Proposed methodology, the review framework, work plan and limitations for meeting the deliverables in the ToR;

• Consultant experience and qualifications (include CV as appendix);

• Any other information relevant to the TORs.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

The financial proposal must be submitted separately from the technical proposal, as per UNICEF standard procurement guidelines. It should provide an all-inclusive budget (fee, logistics, etc) in USD, and a budget breakdown to understand the distribution of costs (daily and monthly rate).

Note: The Financial proposals will be opened only to the consultants considered technically approved (range between 59 to 80 points).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are related to being able to demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural environment and to establish harmonious and effective relationships both within and outside the organization. Demonstrate leadership, managerial and supervisory ability.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF 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:

CONFIDENTIALITY OF DATA AND PARENTING DOCUMENTS

The Parenting Consultant shall respect the confidentiality of the data collected during this exercise as well as any documents that will be produced throughout the Parenting Study process. The Parenting Study Consultant can use the documents and the datasets only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.