U-Report and Innovations for Adolescents and Youth Consultant for ECARO. 12 months, part-time, home-based with possible travels
Job no:574892
Contract type:Consultant
Duty Station: Geneva
Level: Consultancy
Location:Switzerland
Categories:Adolescent Development
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.
For every child, every right
In recent years UNICEF has increased its focus on young people. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2022-2025 recognizes the whole spectrum of young people, including young adults or youth over 18. It includes in its Change Strategies: “working with children, adolescents, families, communities, public systems and private stakeholders towards more peaceful, equitable, inclusive and resilient societies, with people-centered decision-making mechanisms and increased uptake of protective practices.”
U-Report is one of UNICEF’s flagship initiatives to engage and empower young people. It is designed to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement and access to and use of real-time monitoring and participation platforms. U-Report allows youth to speak out via SMS and other channels – through polls and unsolicited messages – on what is happening in their communities. It provides a forum to amplify their voices through local and national media and acts as a citizen-sourced, real-time data point for key stakeholders, service providers and decision-makers about the issues being faced in communities. The platform also feeds back valuable information to the U-Report participants, so they are empowered to work for change and improvements in their localities themselves.
uSupport is another UNICEF ECARO’s innovative on-demand digital mental health solution and system-change framework which has been designed to help reduce a significant gap in access to MHPSS care for young people in the region and beyond. Minimum Viable Product for uSupport has been developed and tested, and the solution is now on the verge of being piloted in Kazakhstan, with the subsequent scale-up to Poland and Armenia as the first batch of countries in the pipeline.
How can you make a difference?
The purpose of this contract is to support the cross-sectoral innovation agenda within ECARO, nested within ADAP.
The consultancy services will contribute to supporting digital transformation initiatives led by ECARO and Country Offices (Cos) teams of ADAP, Social Behavior Change (SBC), Health, Education, Emergency/Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), etc., including the technical lead role for U-Report[1], and the Business Analyst role for uSupport[2]. The consultant will also support strategic youth engagement and dialogue with youth in Europe and Central Asia, including for social cohesion, climate action, learning to earning and digital transitions (e.g. PATHWAYS and other initiatives in the pipeline).
The consultancy will:
- Support ADAP ECARO in providing technical guidance, supervision, and quality assurance on RapidPro and U-Report to COs and Regional Response Offices (RROs) with active U-Report platforms by:
o Supporting survey design for U-Report polls (e.g. Question design, question logic) relating to topics including citizen participation, democratisation, EU accession, green skills etc.
o Supporting communication and dissemination plans for the launch of U-Report polls in the region
o Supporting collection and cleaning of U-Report data, in preparation for analysis
- The two specific tasks that will require immediate support are:
o Lead the deployment of the multi-country, multi-sectorial regional survey on Climate change and Green skills (in the pipeline, in collaboration with different partners and stakeholders, including the European Training Fund (ETF), ECARO Climate, Education, Emergency/DRR and Communication teams, COs and RROs, Global Communication and Advocacy team (GCA), YOUNGO and Government partners. The findings will be included in the Youth policy statement and Position paper for COP 29 and presented at EFDRR Youth and Children Forum in November 2024.
o Lead the design and deployment of the ECARO’s survey titled Youth perspectives on accession, democracy and rule of law to be conducted in preparation for the Friends of Europe Western Balkans Summit (December 2024).
- Provide technical guidance and support to the German NatCom on the design and implementation of the next phase of implementing U-Report Europe in Germany.
- Lead on promotion of and extension of U-Report Europe to countries in the ECA Region without a standard youth engagement platform and supporting them with deployment, management of the platform and capacity building of staff and partners. Countries in the pipeline are Cyprus, Armenia and Azerbaijan (ongoing).
- Act as business analyst for the ECARO uSupport eMH digital solution for adolescents and youth by acting as focal point on product design, maintenance, testing and piloting in close collaboration with the technical partner 7Digits and technical teams of COs.
[1] U-Report is UNICEF's digital community for young people, by young people, where they can raise their voices and share opinions on topics that matter to them. ECAR has more than half a million U-Reporters registered in 14 countries through individual U-Report platforms, as well as the Western Balkans sub-regional platform and U-Report Europe established as part of the response to the Ukraine humanitarian crisis.
[2] uSupport is UNICEF ECARO’s innovative on-demand digital mental health solution and system-change framework which has been designed to help reduce a significant gap in access to MHPSS care for young people in the region and beyond. uSupport is on the verge of being piloted in Kazakhstan, with the subsequent scale-up to Poland, Albania, and Bulgaria as the first batch of countries in the pipeline.
Work Assignment/Deliverables/Deadlines
Work assignment Overview
Deliverables/Outputs
Delivery deadline
Number of working days
Task 1: Support ADAP ECARO in providing technical guidance, supervision, and quality assurance on RapidPro and U-Report to COs and RROs with active U-Report platforms
Support survey design for U-Report polls (e.g. Question design, question logic) relating to topics including citizen participation, democratisation, EU accession, green skills etc.
Support communication and dissemination plans for the launch of U-Report polls in the region
Support collection and cleaning of U-Report data, in preparation for analysis
Design of at least 3 regional and 5 national survey questionnaires’ supported for U-Report polls planned in the reporting period (e.g. on democratization, EU accession, green skills, etc.)
At least 12 monthly communication and dissemination plans prepared for the launch of U-Report polls in the region
Regular (daily/weekly, as necessary) meetings conducted with COsto support collection and consolidation of U-Report data
Contributions made to the cleaning and final analyses of all U-Report polls planned in the reporting period in the region.
31 August 2025
60 days
Task 2: Lead the deployment of the multi-country, multi-sectorial regional survey on Climate change and Green skills (in the pipeline, in collaboration with different partners and stakeholders, including the European Training Fund (ETF), ECARO Climate, Education, Emergency/DRR and Communication teams, COs and RROs, Global Communication and Advocacy team (GCA), YOUNGO and Government partners. The findings will be included in the Youth policy statement and Position paper for COP 29 and presented at EFDRR Youth and Children Forum in November 2024.
Analysis for the multi-county, multi-sectoral regional survey on Climate and Green Skills completed
Duly contributions made to drafting the policy statement for the Global Youth Position Paper for the COP 29 based on the findings from the survey
31 October 2024
30 days
Task 3: Lead the design and deployment of the ECARO’s survey titled Youth perspectives on accession, democracy and rule of law to be conducted in preparation for the Friends of Europe Western Balkans Summit (December 2024).
Survey on Youth perspectives on accession, democracy and rule of law led and coordinated in a duly fashion.
Survey deployed and coordinated with 6 WB COs.
31 December 2024
20 days
Task 4: Provide technical guidance and support to the German NatCom
Support design and implementation of the next phase of implementing U-Report Europe in Germany.
Duly contribution made for the preparation of the Strategy document for the implementation of the next phase of U-Report Europe and Germany.
31 March 2025
15 days
Task 5: Lead on promotion of and extension of U-Report Europe to countries in the ECA Region without a standard youth engagement platform.
Support onboarding countries with deployment, management of the platform and capacity building of staff and partners. Countries in the pipeline are Cyprus, Armenia and Azerbaijan (ongoing).
3 new U-Report onboarding countries are supportedwith deployment, management of the platform and capacity building of staff and partners.
31 August 2025
20 days
Task 6: Act as business analyst for the ECARO uSupport eMH digital solution for adolescents and youth.
Act as focal point on product design, maintenance, testing and piloting in close collaboration with the technical partner 7Digits and technical teams of COs/RROs.
Regular coordination with 7Digits and technical teams of COs/RROs ensured. Security testing and maintenance of the uSupport platform monitored regularly. All contract-related issues pertaining to 7Digits coordinated in a duly fashion.
31 August 2025
35 days
Travel: The consultant might be required to undertake a travel to Nicosia, Cyprus.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- A bachelors degree in a relevant area such as Communications, Digital Marketing Journalism, Public Relations, Statistics, Computer Science or a related field is required.
- A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in data science, statistics, or software development.
- Experience analysing data/behaviour of users generated by internet-based services.
- Experience conducting statistical analysis of raw data.
- Experience in data visualisation and quantitative report writing.
- Experience in working on mobile technology platforms. Working knowledge of U-Report or RapidPro in any context is required.
- Information technology management and business operations in a large international organisation and/or corporation are required.
- Experience with SQL and associated skills, such as developing efficient queries and working with views and triggers.
- Proficiency in Python, Git, Superset, and Facebook Marketing API.
- Close familiarity with social listening methodologies and tools.
- Excellent inter-personal and written communication skills in the English language is required.
Fluency in other UN languages is an asset.
Experience working in the UN or a non-profit organisation is a plus.
How to apply:
Interested candidates meeting minimum requirements should apply online and duly complete the online profile and indicate their fees. Applications without fees will not be considered further.
Please upload the following documents as attachments:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Academic certificate(s) relevant to the assignment
- A recent report or document you have developed in a similar area. This should showcase your ability to draft survey questionnaires and/or analyse data
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit?here.
?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.
Advertised:23 Aug 2024 W. Europe Daylight Time
Deadline:29 Aug 2024 W. Europe Daylight Time
Refer a friend
