National Consultant-Policy Support for strengthening Birth and Death Registration (Only for Bangladeshi)

Registrar General’s Office for Birth and Death Registration, Cabinet Division and UNICEF is working together to develop a National Strategy for Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh to provide authorities with guidance and instruction for multisectoral collaboration and commitment. In addition to this UNICEF is supporting ORG, Cabinet Division and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to establish linkage between BDRIS2 and health sector database. To support Office of Registrar General for Birth and Death Registration to develop birth and death registration multi-year strategy and resume birth registration in Cox’s Bazar.

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.

Background:

Recent MICS 2019 data shows that birth registration of children below 5 years has increased to 56% from 37% in 2013 MICS. Near to 10 million children under the age of five years do not officially exist due to missed out from registration officially in the country. MICS 2019 reveals that birth registration of children under 5 years are highest in Sylhet which is 72.3% and lowest in Khulna which is 47.6%. Children in some divisions are more likely to be registered than children in other divisions, meaning that more children in some divisions are denied their rights to an identity through birth registration. Regardless of urban and rural status of the households, wealth quintile or mother’s education; low levels of birth reporting within 45 days of birth is ubiquitous across the country. Reason for low level of timely registration which is registration within 45 days of birth according to Birth and Death Registration Act 2004 is not lack of knowledge of the importance of registration or lack of knowledge on process of registration. More information is needed to understand the barriers faced by people regarding registration. Presumably due to complex process of registration parents or guardians must pay several times visits to a local registrar office to obtain a certificate and therefore are getting demotivated for timely registration.

There are missing opportunities to make the birth and death registration process simple and one step based in Bangladesh. These opportunities are laying at the health facilities where birth and death is occurring at facilities and with “Expanded Programme on Immunization” under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare where 92% of children are encountering health or family welfare frontline workers for vaccination. DHS 2014 data reveals that around 37% of birth are occurring at facilities, hospitals or clinics in Bangladesh. Despite this, coverage of birth registration within 45 days of birth is still as low as 3% nationally in Bangladesh in 2013.

Near about 900,000 deaths occurring in Bangladesh every year but only 125,000+ deaths are reported in DGHS through public facilities and only 11% deaths are registered (99871 deaths) in 2015. Only 103 443 cumulative deaths of all age groups ever registered in BRIS since the time of its inception from October 2010 to February 2014. Therefore, government needs to improve overall death registration to capture causes of death data.

The Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Asia and the Pacific adopted a Ministerial Declaration to ‘Get Every One in the Picture’ and proclaimed the ‘Asian and Pacific CRVS Decade’ for 2015-2024. Bangladesh government has a commitment to this declaration to achieve 100% birth registration and 50% death registration within 45 days of occurrence by 2024. To fulfil the commitment, multisectoral approaches will have to be taken by respective authorities and the process of registration has to be made simple and one step-based service.

Therefore, Registrar General’s Office for Birth and Death Registration, Cabinet Division and UNICEF is working together to develop a National Strategy for Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh to provide authorities with guidance and instruction for multisectoral collaboration and commitment.   In addition to this UNICEF is supporting ORG, Cabinet Division and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to establish linkage between BDRIS2 and health sector database.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: To support Office of Registrar General for Birth and Death Registration to develop birth and death registration multi-year strategy and resume birth registration in Cox’s Bazar.

Miscellaneous

• Any other task related to coordination, document preparation and process facilitation, upon request by the Chief, Child protection Section or the Representative of UNICEF.
• The consultant should be well versed in UNICEF’s ethics and guidelines on research with children, Do No Harm, and child safeguarding.

Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Masters of Social Science-Sociology, Social Welfare, Law, International Relations or any other relevant subject or  Master of Science degree-in  Mathematics, Informatics or any other relevant subject.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive work experience in relevant area of work. Specific field experience on birth and death registration, related law and policies.
• Knowledge and experience in policy drafting, conducting training and multisectoral coordination.
• Fieldwork experience and/or policy design in the area of CRVS.

Duty Station: Dhaka, Bangladesh (home based) with foreseeable travel to Cox’s Bazar.

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 functional competencies required for this post are...

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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:

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.