MICS Coordinator
Background
UNICEF assists countries in collecting and analyzing data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women through its international household survey initiative the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). MICS enables countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, child protection, water and sanitation and HIV and AIDS. MICS findings are typically one of the most important sources of data within a country used as a basis for policy decisions and programme interventions, and for influencing public opinion on the situation of children and women.
MICS surveys are usually carried out by government organizations, with the support and technical assistance of UNICEF. The whole MICS process can last the duration of 12 months or more with UNICEF working closely with the implementing partner to ensure that MICS guidelines and international standards are being met at all stages. In 2011, Ghana is preparing to participate in the fourth round of MICS. In order to ensure that the MICS runs smoothly and that the implementing partner receives the assistance necessary to produce statistically sound reliable data, the UNICEF Ghana will hire a full time consultant to oversee the MICS process.
Purpose
Under the overall supervision of the UNICEF Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the UNICEF MICS Consultant (UMC) has the responsibility for supporting and providing guidance and technical assistance for the preparation, implementation and completion of the MICS in Ghana to UNICEF Ghana Office and Ghana Statistic Service (GSS) the implementing partner. The UMC will advise the implementing partner (especially the GSS MICS coordinator, sampling and data processing experts) during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, fieldwork, data processing, data analysis and dissemination, ensuring that MICS protocols are being followed at all times. The UMC will communicate effectively between the UNICEF CO and the implementing partner, responding promptly to MICS related needs and issues as they arise.
The UMC will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of other resource persons hired by UNICEF to provide technical assistance to the MICS process. He/she will work in close collaboration with the national technical team, the stakeholders and the steering committee and will represent UNICEF in meetings and workshops in relation to the survey.
Justification
As part of the overall global MICS recommendations to ensure quality of the survey and build national capacity, we seek a national or international, experienced survey manager with strong knowledge of household surveys implementation. The Survey manager will work in close collaboration with the national implementing partner, GSS, with the objective of providing direct in-house support in the effective management of the overall survey process, and build national capacity. This requires the manager to work full-time on the survey. The UNICEF core staff in the Section has a lot of other duties and responsibilities, and thus is unable to provide full-time support to the GSS in the implementation of the MICS.
Main Tasks related to the Job
1. Provide the technical and managerial support to MICS;
2. Present the MICS methodology, tools and guidelines to partners/stakeholders (Ministries, UN agencies and others);
3. Oversee each stage of the survey process and ensure that the MICS protocols are being followed and the survey standards are being met by the implementing partner;
4. Communicate regularly with the UNICEF CO (and Regional Office (RO) and/or MICS Global at HQ, if needed) responding to all MICS related issues in a timely manner;
5. Provide MICS progress reports to the UNICEF CO/RO/HQ on a bi-monthly basis;
6. Co-ordinate the work of implementing partner experts and UNICEF Regional Consultants and other resource persons assigned by the UNICEF CO and/or RO to support different survey stages;
7. Provide all necessary information to any other experts (Regional Sampling Consultant, Regional Data Processing Consultant, and Regional Household Survey Consultant) who will be coming to support the survey ; their visits are well managed and coordinated;
8. Ensure that external technical reviews of experts (i.e., Regional Sampling Consultant, Regional Data Processing Consultant, and Regional Household Survey Consultant) are carried out at key survey stages and coordinate the feedback and response between the CO/RO/HQ and the implementing partner;
9. Ensure that all recommendations from these experts are strictly implemented and in standardized way by all relevant parties (field teams and field supervisors for Household expert recommendations, data entry teams and supervisors for data processing expert recommendations);
10. Ensure that all survey-related documents and deliverables (questionnaires, manuals, expert reports, final report and datasets) are properly archived throughout the survey process;
11. Participate in all MICS steering and technical committee meetings;
12. Ensure that lesson learned, problems and good practices are documented throughout the MICS process.
Specific Tasks
In consultation and collaboration with the UNICEF Ghana and GSS, the UMC will be responsible for ensuring the following activities have been undertaken following the MICS4 guidelines and contributing to the coordination of these activities:
1. Survey Planning:
- A survey plan/document, survey timetable and budget have been finalized;
- The Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and the implementing partner has been understood by both parties and signed;
- A steering committee has been formulated and the relevant line ministries/UN agencies are invited to participate;
- A technical committee has been formed and the relevant technical experts are invited to participate;
- Survey supplies have been procured and distributed in time for training and data collection;
- MICS questionnaires:
o Appropriate UNICEF programme staff and other key stakeholders are involved in reviewing the customization of relevant sections of the MICS questionnaire;
o Questionnaires undergo translation and back translation process;
o Questionnaires have been pre-tested and pre-test report produced;
o Questionnaires have undergone technical review by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
- Sample design:
o UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant is provided with necessary information and his/her visit is well managed and coordinated within survey plans;
o Sample design is finalized by the sampling expert of the implementing partner with the guidance of UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant;
o Sample design has undergone the technical review process by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
- Data Entry Templates:
o Data entry template is customized by the data processing expert of the implementing partner with the guidance of UNICEF Regional Data Processing Consultant;
o Data entry template has undergone the review process by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
o Ensure that constant communication flows between RO data processing expert and the national data entry team and the MICS global data processing expert in HQ
o Field check tables are regularly run by data entry supervisor, their results discussed with the technical teams involved, shared with field supervisors and used during field supervision missions to improve the overall quality of the survey.
- Manuals:
o MICS supervisor and interviewer manuals have been customized for the country specific context.
o MICS supervisor and interviewer manuals have been extensively used during training
o Field forms (Interviewer’s control sheet, Supervisor’s cluster control sheet, GPS forms, etc.) have been adapted to country context, have been used during training and made available to all teams for use during data collection
2. Listing, Training, Field Work, Data Entry:
- Listing is planned and performed according to MICS guidelines;
- Training schedules are adequately adapted to meet the county context;
- Appropriate resource persons are identified to facilitate training (i.e. nutritionists for anthropometry training, sampling expert for methodology);
- Contribute to the fieldwork personnel training;
- Fieldwork is planned and performed according to MICS guidelines;
- Further monitor the fieldwork based on data from field check tables;
- Participation from the UNICEF CO staff has been organized to assist in monitoring data collection;
- Field Check tables are regularly used for field supervision and shared with RO and HQ
- UNICEF Data Processing Consultant’s visit is well managed and coordinated;
- Data entry room, hardware, and software are properly arranged and a working data entry and backup system is established;
- Monitor data entry and processing.
3. Data Analysis and Report Writing:
- UNICEF Regional Data Processing Consultant is provided with necessary information and, if a visit is required, his/her visit is well managed and coordinated;
- UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant is provided with necessary information and, if a visit is required, his/her visit is well managed and coordinated;
- Weights are included in the datasets and datasets are reviewed by UNICEF RO and/or HQ before the final report writing commences;
- Final datasets undergo the technical review process by the RO;
- Preliminary tabulations are reviewed by CO, RO, and HQ;
- Coordinate and participate in the preliminary report writing so that it is written according to MICS standards;
- Organize presentation of preliminary findings if and as requested
- Coordinate and participate in the report writing so that final report is written according to MICS standards;
- Final report undergoes the technical review process by the RO and/or HQ;
- Coordinate the production and distribution of the final report;
- Coordinate the implementation of the dissemination plan (posters, CDS, leaflets, etc) with CO, RO and HQ
- Organize and facilitate presentation of final report through national and regional seminars;
- Organize wide dissemination of the final report and main results;
- MICS4 survey archive (questionnaires, manuals, sampling frame, field reports, database, tables, final reports, dissemination materials, etc.) has been produced.
Methodology
The UMC should be recruited at the start of MICS planning and should remain until the final report has been produced. With no significant unforeseen delays in the MICS process the MICS can be conducted over a 12 month period. He/she will work on a day-to-day basis with the GSS Team implementing the survey. The GSS Team comprises MICS Technical Director, Sampling expert and data processing expert, as well as the wider staff that will be involved in the survey process including consultants.
Expected Deliverables
1. Included into or in addition to the monthly report, provide progress reports at the end of each survey activity: Sample design, Questionnaire design, Listing (if done), Fieldwork staff training, Data collection, Data entry and editing, Data processing and tabulation, Report writing, Dissemination.
2. Field trip reports;
3. Regional workshop trip report;
4. Presentations and training materials used in trainings, workshops and other meetings.
Reporting
The UMC will report directly to the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of UNICEF Ghana.
Estimated Duration of the Contract
The contract should be for a minimum period of 12 months. It is expected to commence on 1st May 2011 until 29th April 2012.
Confidentiality of Data and MICS Documents
The UMC should respect the confidentiality of the MICS data as well as any country specific MICS documents that will be produced throughout the MICS process. The UMC can use the documents and the datasets only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.
Expected background and Experience
Education
Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, Epidemiology or any other related technical field.
Skills and Experience
- At least five years experience in the coordination and/or management of quantitative household surveys (prior MICS or Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) coordination experience highly desirable);
- Strong computer skills and strong expertise in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly CSPro and SPSS);
- Training experience and ability to organize and facilitate training and presentations;
- Experience in survey report writing;
- Excellent oral and written communications in English;
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Familiarity and previous experience of working in Ghana or in the west African region highly desirable.
- Ability and willingness to travel extensively in-country and, if necessary, internationally.
Other competencies
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships both within and outside the organization;
- Demonstrated leadership, managerial and supervisory ability.
Policy both parties should be aware of:
• This is a 364 Days Temporary Appointment (TA) contract, with no expectancy of extension or renewal beyond its present expiration date, as the services are of a strictly temporary nature.
UNICEF assists countries in collecting and analyzing data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women through its international household survey initiative the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). MICS enables countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, child protection, water and sanitation and HIV and AIDS. MICS findings are typically one of the most important sources of data within a country used as a basis for policy decisions and programme interventions, and for influencing public opinion on the situation of children and women.
MICS surveys are usually carried out by government organizations, with the support and technical assistance of UNICEF. The whole MICS process can last the duration of 12 months or more with UNICEF working closely with the implementing partner to ensure that MICS guidelines and international standards are being met at all stages. In 2011, Ghana is preparing to participate in the fourth round of MICS. In order to ensure that the MICS runs smoothly and that the implementing partner receives the assistance necessary to produce statistically sound reliable data, the UNICEF Ghana will hire a full time consultant to oversee the MICS process.
Purpose
Under the overall supervision of the UNICEF Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the UNICEF MICS Consultant (UMC) has the responsibility for supporting and providing guidance and technical assistance for the preparation, implementation and completion of the MICS in Ghana to UNICEF Ghana Office and Ghana Statistic Service (GSS) the implementing partner. The UMC will advise the implementing partner (especially the GSS MICS coordinator, sampling and data processing experts) during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, fieldwork, data processing, data analysis and dissemination, ensuring that MICS protocols are being followed at all times. The UMC will communicate effectively between the UNICEF CO and the implementing partner, responding promptly to MICS related needs and issues as they arise.
The UMC will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of other resource persons hired by UNICEF to provide technical assistance to the MICS process. He/she will work in close collaboration with the national technical team, the stakeholders and the steering committee and will represent UNICEF in meetings and workshops in relation to the survey.
Justification
As part of the overall global MICS recommendations to ensure quality of the survey and build national capacity, we seek a national or international, experienced survey manager with strong knowledge of household surveys implementation. The Survey manager will work in close collaboration with the national implementing partner, GSS, with the objective of providing direct in-house support in the effective management of the overall survey process, and build national capacity. This requires the manager to work full-time on the survey. The UNICEF core staff in the Section has a lot of other duties and responsibilities, and thus is unable to provide full-time support to the GSS in the implementation of the MICS.
Main Tasks related to the Job
1. Provide the technical and managerial support to MICS;
2. Present the MICS methodology, tools and guidelines to partners/stakeholders (Ministries, UN agencies and others);
3. Oversee each stage of the survey process and ensure that the MICS protocols are being followed and the survey standards are being met by the implementing partner;
4. Communicate regularly with the UNICEF CO (and Regional Office (RO) and/or MICS Global at HQ, if needed) responding to all MICS related issues in a timely manner;
5. Provide MICS progress reports to the UNICEF CO/RO/HQ on a bi-monthly basis;
6. Co-ordinate the work of implementing partner experts and UNICEF Regional Consultants and other resource persons assigned by the UNICEF CO and/or RO to support different survey stages;
7. Provide all necessary information to any other experts (Regional Sampling Consultant, Regional Data Processing Consultant, and Regional Household Survey Consultant) who will be coming to support the survey ; their visits are well managed and coordinated;
8. Ensure that external technical reviews of experts (i.e., Regional Sampling Consultant, Regional Data Processing Consultant, and Regional Household Survey Consultant) are carried out at key survey stages and coordinate the feedback and response between the CO/RO/HQ and the implementing partner;
9. Ensure that all recommendations from these experts are strictly implemented and in standardized way by all relevant parties (field teams and field supervisors for Household expert recommendations, data entry teams and supervisors for data processing expert recommendations);
10. Ensure that all survey-related documents and deliverables (questionnaires, manuals, expert reports, final report and datasets) are properly archived throughout the survey process;
11. Participate in all MICS steering and technical committee meetings;
12. Ensure that lesson learned, problems and good practices are documented throughout the MICS process.
Specific Tasks
In consultation and collaboration with the UNICEF Ghana and GSS, the UMC will be responsible for ensuring the following activities have been undertaken following the MICS4 guidelines and contributing to the coordination of these activities:
1. Survey Planning:
- A survey plan/document, survey timetable and budget have been finalized;
- The Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and the implementing partner has been understood by both parties and signed;
- A steering committee has been formulated and the relevant line ministries/UN agencies are invited to participate;
- A technical committee has been formed and the relevant technical experts are invited to participate;
- Survey supplies have been procured and distributed in time for training and data collection;
- MICS questionnaires:
o Appropriate UNICEF programme staff and other key stakeholders are involved in reviewing the customization of relevant sections of the MICS questionnaire;
o Questionnaires undergo translation and back translation process;
o Questionnaires have been pre-tested and pre-test report produced;
o Questionnaires have undergone technical review by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
- Sample design:
o UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant is provided with necessary information and his/her visit is well managed and coordinated within survey plans;
o Sample design is finalized by the sampling expert of the implementing partner with the guidance of UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant;
o Sample design has undergone the technical review process by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
- Data Entry Templates:
o Data entry template is customized by the data processing expert of the implementing partner with the guidance of UNICEF Regional Data Processing Consultant;
o Data entry template has undergone the review process by the UNICEF RO and/or HQ before finalization.
o Ensure that constant communication flows between RO data processing expert and the national data entry team and the MICS global data processing expert in HQ
o Field check tables are regularly run by data entry supervisor, their results discussed with the technical teams involved, shared with field supervisors and used during field supervision missions to improve the overall quality of the survey.
- Manuals:
o MICS supervisor and interviewer manuals have been customized for the country specific context.
o MICS supervisor and interviewer manuals have been extensively used during training
o Field forms (Interviewer’s control sheet, Supervisor’s cluster control sheet, GPS forms, etc.) have been adapted to country context, have been used during training and made available to all teams for use during data collection
2. Listing, Training, Field Work, Data Entry:
- Listing is planned and performed according to MICS guidelines;
- Training schedules are adequately adapted to meet the county context;
- Appropriate resource persons are identified to facilitate training (i.e. nutritionists for anthropometry training, sampling expert for methodology);
- Contribute to the fieldwork personnel training;
- Fieldwork is planned and performed according to MICS guidelines;
- Further monitor the fieldwork based on data from field check tables;
- Participation from the UNICEF CO staff has been organized to assist in monitoring data collection;
- Field Check tables are regularly used for field supervision and shared with RO and HQ
- UNICEF Data Processing Consultant’s visit is well managed and coordinated;
- Data entry room, hardware, and software are properly arranged and a working data entry and backup system is established;
- Monitor data entry and processing.
3. Data Analysis and Report Writing:
- UNICEF Regional Data Processing Consultant is provided with necessary information and, if a visit is required, his/her visit is well managed and coordinated;
- UNICEF Regional Sampling Consultant is provided with necessary information and, if a visit is required, his/her visit is well managed and coordinated;
- Weights are included in the datasets and datasets are reviewed by UNICEF RO and/or HQ before the final report writing commences;
- Final datasets undergo the technical review process by the RO;
- Preliminary tabulations are reviewed by CO, RO, and HQ;
- Coordinate and participate in the preliminary report writing so that it is written according to MICS standards;
- Organize presentation of preliminary findings if and as requested
- Coordinate and participate in the report writing so that final report is written according to MICS standards;
- Final report undergoes the technical review process by the RO and/or HQ;
- Coordinate the production and distribution of the final report;
- Coordinate the implementation of the dissemination plan (posters, CDS, leaflets, etc) with CO, RO and HQ
- Organize and facilitate presentation of final report through national and regional seminars;
- Organize wide dissemination of the final report and main results;
- MICS4 survey archive (questionnaires, manuals, sampling frame, field reports, database, tables, final reports, dissemination materials, etc.) has been produced.
Methodology
The UMC should be recruited at the start of MICS planning and should remain until the final report has been produced. With no significant unforeseen delays in the MICS process the MICS can be conducted over a 12 month period. He/she will work on a day-to-day basis with the GSS Team implementing the survey. The GSS Team comprises MICS Technical Director, Sampling expert and data processing expert, as well as the wider staff that will be involved in the survey process including consultants.
Expected Deliverables
1. Included into or in addition to the monthly report, provide progress reports at the end of each survey activity: Sample design, Questionnaire design, Listing (if done), Fieldwork staff training, Data collection, Data entry and editing, Data processing and tabulation, Report writing, Dissemination.
2. Field trip reports;
3. Regional workshop trip report;
4. Presentations and training materials used in trainings, workshops and other meetings.
Reporting
The UMC will report directly to the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of UNICEF Ghana.
Estimated Duration of the Contract
The contract should be for a minimum period of 12 months. It is expected to commence on 1st May 2011 until 29th April 2012.
Confidentiality of Data and MICS Documents
The UMC should respect the confidentiality of the MICS data as well as any country specific MICS documents that will be produced throughout the MICS process. The UMC can use the documents and the datasets only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.
Expected background and Experience
Education
Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Demography, Statistics, Epidemiology or any other related technical field.
Skills and Experience
- At least five years experience in the coordination and/or management of quantitative household surveys (prior MICS or Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) coordination experience highly desirable);
- Strong computer skills and strong expertise in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly CSPro and SPSS);
- Training experience and ability to organize and facilitate training and presentations;
- Experience in survey report writing;
- Excellent oral and written communications in English;
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Familiarity and previous experience of working in Ghana or in the west African region highly desirable.
- Ability and willingness to travel extensively in-country and, if necessary, internationally.
Other competencies
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships both within and outside the organization;
- Demonstrated leadership, managerial and supervisory ability.
Policy both parties should be aware of:
• This is a 364 Days Temporary Appointment (TA) contract, with no expectancy of extension or renewal beyond its present expiration date, as the services are of a strictly temporary nature.
How to apply
Email a completed UN P11 Form and/or CV to accra@unicef.org. Kindly mention the post title in the subject line of the email application
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