Consultancy - Generating a global estimate of the number of children with disabilities, Data & Analytics (D&A), DAPM NYHQ (home based)

The CRC, CRPD, and most recently, the SDGs, underscore the importance of collecting reliable and accurate disability data. The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals mandate of leaving no one behind fully recognizes the importance of addressing the needs of people with disability. Identifying inequities that specifically affect children with disabilities, within the SDG framework, provides useful information for designing and monitoring the implementation of targeted interventions that guarantee their full social participation.

Consultancy Title: Generating a global estimate of the number of children with disabilities

Section/Division/Duty Station: Data & Analytics Section – Data Analysis and Innovation Unit/ DAPM NYHQ

Duration: 24 days between 28 December 2020 and 9 April 2021

About UNICEF

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. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

The CRC, CRPD, and most recently, the SDGs, underscore the importance of collecting reliable and accurate disability data. The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals mandate of leaving no one behind fully recognizes the importance of addressing the needs of people with disability. Identifying inequities that specifically affect children with disabilities, within the SDG framework, provides useful information for designing and monitoring the implementation of targeted interventions that guarantee their full social participation.   

Despite this, the availability of data on children with disabilities has been a longstanding challenge due to limitations related with a lack of standardization of data collection methodology and challenges in producing reliable and comparable data. While most countries have produced estimates of disability prevalence, the reliability and validity of the data are questionable due to the utilization of outdated and varying methods and approaches to measurement. These challenges have resulted on significant disparities in prevalence of disability, across countries but also across different surveys within countries. Disability prevalence variability is mostly due to the use of different instruments, and can be attributed to differences in terms of:

• • Instrument conceptual framework;
  • Number of questions;
  • Questionnaire structure, including use of filter questions;
  • Type of response scales employed;
  • Eligible respondent.

Since 2011 UNICEF, in collaboration with the Washington Group for Disability Measurement has undertaken methodological work to develop a comprehensive set of tools to strengthen capacities for countries to collect, analyze, understand, use, and disseminate data on children with disabilities. This includes the Module on Child Functioning (CFM), which reflects current thinking around disability and allows to produce internationally comparable data on the percentage of children 2 to 17 years of age with functional difficulties in the domains of communication, hearing, vision, learning, mobility and motor skills, and emotions. The module has been included in the current round of MICS, and in a number of other national surveys.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Considering the current uptake of the CFM, and the recent release of data for more than 20 countries, the sixth round of MICS has become the largest source of cross-nationally comparable data on children with disabilities available globally. These data, however, is still insufficient to allow for the generation of a global estimate of the number of children with disabilities, for which reason, we are aiming to undertake the necessary statistical work to equate or calibrate the different available estimates available at global level.

The objective of the consultancy is to generate a global estimate of children with disabilities, which involves:

• Summarizing existing estimates at global level and main differences across and within countries;
• Generating a technical note outlining the available strategies to equate or calibrate the available estimates and describing a feasible and robust statistical approach for the current study;
• Undertaking the required statistical work to calibrate the prevalence estimates.

To carry out the previously described activities, we are aiming to recruit a consultant with proven experience in similar methodological work, preferably around the calibration of population-level estimates derived from different instruments.

Scope of Work:

This consultancy involves the development of a methodological strategy to generate a global estimate of children with disabilities using available data at global level. Statistical work will be required to calibrate the estimates derived from the different instruments used at global level, under the assumption that the CFM is hypothesized to capture the “true scores”. 

Qualifications

(1) Education

• A university degree (Master's or higher) in demography, statistics, actuarial sciences, mathematics or epidemiology; PhD desirable;

2) Work experience

• A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience at the national or international levels in statistical data processing and analysis of population level data;
• Proven experience of working with child disability data is an asset;
• Familiarity with global estimates of health-related indicators, including estimations of burden of disease, and quantification of Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) is an asset;
• Previous research work using the International Classification of Functioning is an asset;
• Proven experience with meta-regression analyses of prevalence estimates is an asset.

3) Competencies

• Publication record in demography, public health or epidemiology is required;
• Fluency in English. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset

Requirements: 

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference (can be downloaded here: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html 
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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.

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:

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

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.