National Institutional Consultancy to Support the Study on Knowledge Attitude and Practices towards Children with Disability in Azerbaijan

The objective of this KAP Study will be to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of the society towards children with disabilities, children with disabilities themselves and their peers without disabilities in generating evidence for the development of a communication strategy for promoting an inclusive education and combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to children with disabilities enabling the establishment of an inclusive society.

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.

Purpose of the Assignment

The study is expected to respond to but not limited to the following research questions:

What are the beliefs, local attitudes and level of knowledge that hinder equal participation of Persons with Disabilities/Children with Disabilities with disabilities?

1. What are the experiences and practices of the public with Persons with Disabilities/Children with Disabilities in their daily life
2. What are the perceptions of people towards Persons with Disabilities/Children with Disabilities
3. What is the magnitude of people’s knowledge, attitude and practices towards children with disability? Why is it happening? Who supports/hinders attitudes and current practices towards CwD? Why? What other factors influence the existing practices? How, when and where?

5. What are the bottlenecks and other factors that hinder children with disabilities’ access to basic services across: support for early learning; education (primary, secondary, vocational or other); sports; child protection; health and other social services?

6. Are there any existing initiative for, inclusive community development (do they cover children with disabilities) and what is the interest for such initiatives?
7. What kind of support or service exists for parents and families to care for their children with disabilities?
8. How conducive is the public and institutional environment in including Persons with Disabilities/Children with Disabilities in decision making process regarding issues that concern their lives and wellbeing?
9. What are the existing communication practices, networks, influencers and channels we can use to influence change?

 Considering the complexity of the KAP study, a combined international experts and national research team will provide technical support to complete this study.

Assignment Tasks

This survey will be undertaken as joint research of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, with the involvement of other relevant ministries and NGOs/CSOs. The local research team needs to work closely with UNICEF Office, UNICEF international consultant and supervising team of the Ministry of Education.

The timeframe is September – November 2017.

The key tasks and assignment to the national research team will include:

 Preparation work:

• Prepare a survey proposal with detailed plan for the outlined assignments as per Terms of Referenсe, including field team compositions and timeframe within the first week after the signing of the contract.
• Form a project team compositions for each step of the survey covering sampling, training, pre-test, field interview, quality control, data entry and data processing along with assigned roles and responsibilities. Team leaders are to be nominated to liaise with UNICEF and Ministry of Education.
• In cooperation with the international experts, finalize the work plan for the survey including activities, timeframe, resource persons and budget.

Training and pre-test:

• Translate the training and survey materials from English into Azerbaijani language.
• With the support of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, coordinate and schedule with the selected local communities to arrange field work activities based on the sampling results and timeframe.
• Support the international consultant to conduct a one-day pre-test of the survey tools including logistic arrangement.
• Prepare for organizing and carrying out survey training logistically, administratively/financially and assign fieldwork teams to attend.
• As a results of the training facilitated by the UNICEF international consultant, ensure that the assigned fieldwork teams are trained on the survey methodology and sample requirements, demonstrate full familiarity of the questionnaires, proficiency of interviewing skills and techniques, data entry, as well as following ethical guidelines..
• Arrange and administer the translating and printing of the survey tools, including survey questionnaires if data collection will be paper-based. Or prepare and test data collection interface if digital (tablet based) data collection will be used.

Field data collection:

• Conduct field data collection with the sampled households and within the agreed timeframe, including all coordination, monitoring and quality control. Transportation and logistics expenses for all survey teams should be covered and coordinated by a local research institute.

Data entry and data processing:

• Develop data entry program (if paper-based data collection is used);
• Accurately undertake data entry of the questionnaires into the e-database (if paper-based data collection is used);
• Conduct data cleaning and data validation.
• Conduct preliminary data processing and tabulation based on the analytical framework and outlines provided by the international consultant.

Final reporting:

• Complete a detailed consultancy report and financial reports, and photographs upon completion of the survey field work and data entry.

For more details, please refer to the full Terms of Reference (TOR) attached.

Expected Deliverables

The below key deliverables are expected:

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

A local research institute should offer a research team with below qualifications:

• A team leader with at least university Degree in social sciences with focus on audience research, and business administration, and statistics;
• Experience in conducting the household survey and face-to-face interviews and community research. Be familiar with survey methodology and process;
• Availability of sufficient and qualified human resources to form up the fieldwork teams with strong knowledge of national context and cultural norms of Azerbaijan.
• Availability of technical professionals and capacity on supervision, quality control and date entry and processing including knowledge on SPSS, STATA or other analytical software.
• Experience in organizing training and planning of studies;
• Experience in working with International organizations/clients on social development related surveys. Working experience with UN/UNICEF or other international development organizations will be an asset.
• Team leader and team members with good English and Azerbaijani.

Education

Years of relevant experience

Competencies of Successful Candidate

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.