Individual National Consultant on a Study on Viet Nam’s Multidimensional Child Poverty

Consultant Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

Contract

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For every child, Social Protection

Background:

Despite its success in economic growth and poverty reduction, Viet Nam still faces many challenges such as inequality in living standards among population groups, urbanization, climate change and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Children are a vulnerable group, which are more affected by poverty than adults. Lack of nutrition, education, access to hygienic latrines and clean water will negatively affect children's health and development for life.

According to the findings of a study UNICEF conducted in 2020 in collaboration with the General Statistics Office (GSO), the proportion of multidimensional child poverty decreased rapidly from 21.2% in 2014 to 14.5% in 2018. Multi-dimensional child poverty decreased in all geographic regions and population groups. However, the poverty rate was still high in some groups of children in terms of age, geographical locations, ethnicity or ability status. Specifically, the rate of multidimensional poverty among children aged 0-2 years reached 26.4% in 2018. The Northern Midlands and Mountains and Central Highlands are regions with the highest proportion of multidimensional child poverty, much higher than in other regions. Ethnic minority children have a very high rate of multidimensional poverty. Nearly half of ethnic minority children are multidimensionally poor. Except for the health insurance indicator, ethnic minority children have a higher rate of multidimensional poverty than Kinh and Hoa children because of the higher deprivation rate of all the indicators.

Children with disabilities have a high multidimensional poverty rate, nearly twice that of children without disabilities. In all dimensions of multidimensional poverty, children with disabilities have a much higher rate of deprivation than children without disabilities. There is a large disparity in education and development indicators between children with disabilities and those without disabilities. Housing and environmental conditions of children with disabilities are also worse than other children. Limited access to education and sanitation will affect the educational level and health of children with disabilities and become a barrier to access to decent employment opportunities for children with disabilities in the future.

It is time to conduct another study on child poverty given more recent data is available. In 2020 and 2021, UNICEF and GSO conducted a survey measuring Sustainable Development Goal indicators related to children and women of Viet Nam (Viet Nam SDGCW 2020-2021), the localized version of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey round 6 of UNICEF. The survey provided a lot of new data on various aspects about children’s well-being such as schooling, assistance at home for studying, healthcare and health insurance, infant and young child feeding, access to social transfers, access to safely managed water and hygiene, discipline at home, and child labour. In addition, the data can be disaggregated by disability status and ethnicity to further examine disparities that may exist. In 2020, GSO completed the next round of the survey on households’ living standards which also provide ample resources for further analysis of children’s well-being as part of households. Data on out-of-pocket expenditures on education and healthcare for children is a significant source for understanding children’s access to public services, that are essential for their development.

The study on Viet Nam’s multidimensional child poverty (MDCP) requires specialised expertise to undertake quantitative analyses of large datasets of the Viet Nam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) and SDGCW 2020-2021. The assignment requires complex statistical analysis that is presented in a strategic and audience-friendly manner to inform high-level policy dialogue. Such exercise requires engagement of a national specialist who is familiar with MDCP measurement methodology and excellent in quantitative approaches to research.

Purpose:

The study of Viet Nam’s MDCP is to update the current situation and trends in multidimensional child poverty in the period 2019-2021. The findings are expected to inform policy making in poverty reduction in 5-year period.

Location:

This assignment is expected to be conducted in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

Duration:

The planned duration for the contract of this assignment is from 15 August 2022 to 31 March 2023, allowing sufficient time for quality assurance and payment.

Methodology:

The study will adopt a quantitative approach to analysis of secondary data from the VHLSS 2020 and Viet Nam SDGCW survey 2020-2021.

Objectives and tasks:

Specific objectives of this assignment include:

a) Reviewing documents related to global and Vietnamese multidimensional child poverty; SDG indicators related to multidimensional child poverty; legal documents, policies and plans related to children in Vietnam and other reports/studies (including a follow-up study on the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on children and their families in Viet Nam which also analysed multi-dimensional child poverty using 2020-2021 SDGWC survey).

b) Preparing an Inception Report including the following items:

- Calculation methodology of multidimensional poverty among Vietnamese children.

- A system of indicators and fields reflecting the multidimensional poverty of Vietnamese children.

- A set of tables and figures to be used in the MDCP report.

- Detailed outline of Viet Nam’s MDCP report.

c) Report writing:

- Around two draft reports are expected and final report that incorporates stakeholders' comments

Key Tasks:

a. Desk review of relevant documents and data sets, 3 days.

b. Inception report: methodology, list of indicators proposed, a tabulation plan proposed and report outline, 3 days.

c. Report writing (2 drafts), 15 days.

d. Facilitate a consultation event for finalization of the report, 1 day.

e. Finalize the report, 7 days.

f. Develop a policy paper based on the key findings, 3 days.

Key deliverables:

1. Inception report, 25/8/2022

2. First draft and second draft, 25/8 – 25/11/2022

3. Final report, 25/12/2022

4. Policy paper, 30/01/2023.

Management and Reporting:

Terms and conditions for UNICEF’s individual contracts will apply for this assignment.

The overall management of this assignment is under UNICEF’s Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. During the assignment, the selected consultant will work directly with UNICEF’s Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and Social Policy and Governance Specialist. Advice and technical support will be also provided by the General Statistics Office.

Performance indicators for evaluation:

Indicator for completion and satisfaction measurement will be based on the contract’ owners (UNICEF)’s evaluation and judgement, and not that of the Consultants. This means that deliverables will be deemed satisfactory only if said so by these agencies who are required to provide timely and written feedback to the Consultant in order to avoid miscommunication.

Payment Schedule linked to Deliverables:

All payments will be based on successfully completed deliverables and must be within the contract agreement. For this assignment, three payments will be made upon the approval by UNICEF on deliverables submitted by the consultant team as follows:

Deliverable No. 1: First payment – 50% of the contract value, Draft report.

Deliverable No. 2: Second payment – 50% of the contract value, Final report and Policy paper.

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

Qualification/Specialised Knowledge and Experience:

The national consultant is required to have:

Qualifications and Experience

- Advanced university degree in development economics, social policy, social sciences or related areas of majors.

- At least 10 years of professional experience in research, especially quantitative study. Have in-depth understanding of econometrics, applications and statistical models.

- Experience in developing reports analysing children's well-being, especially multidimensional child poverty.

- Experience working with UNICEF and UN agencies is an advantage.

Knowledge and Skills:

- Experience and skills in policy analysis reports; issues of poverty, sustainable development and sustainable development indicators related to children.

- Good understanding of Vietnam's political, legal and policy framework related to poverty and sustainable development.

- Excellent English and Vietnamese academic writing.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Assessment criteria

The ratio between the technical and the financial proposal for this task is 70:30 respectively. Only those proposals that score 50 points on the technical proposal will be shortlisted. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract.

Applications will be evaluated technically, and points are attributed based on how well the consultant meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract may be made to the firm whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Evaluation (70 points):

Advanced university degree in development economics, social policy, social sciences or related areas of majors, 10 points.

- At least 10 years of professional experience in research, especially quantitative study. Have in-depth understanding of econometrics, applications and statistical model, 15 points.

- Experience in developing reports analysing children's well-being, especially multidimensional child poverty, 15 points.

- Experience and skills in policy analysis reports; issues of poverty, sustainable development and sustainable development indicators related to children, 15 points.

- Good understanding of Vietnam's political, legal and policy framework related to poverty and sustainable development, 5 points.

- Excellent English and Vietnamese academic writing, 10 points.

- Experience working with UNICEF and UN agencies is an advantage (bonus).

Financial evaluation (30 points).

The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened/evaluated. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Submission of applications:

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply in UNICEF Vacancy link and upload the following documents:

1. Technical proposal which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables (preferably less than 10 pages);
2. Samples of similar products;
3. CV/Resume;
4. Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee and any other costs for the assignment.

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.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org