28 August 2014
Terms of Reference
Local consultancy to support research on child poverty and deprivation analysis
in low, middle and high income countries and other empirical studies of childwell -being and the impact of social protection on children
1 October 2014 - 31 August 2015
OFFICE OF RESEARCH - Social and Economic Policies (SEP)
1. Background
The UNICEF Office of Research, Innocenti undertakes research- and study- related
activities to ensure that high quality research contributes to evidence-informed policy
making within UNICEF activity programming as well as to evidence informed policy
design by its partners.
Research on child wellbeing in low-, middle- and high-income countries is at the
heart of the agenda of the Social and Economic Policy (SEP) section with the Office
of Research Innocenti. The following research activities are being carried out:
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The Report Card series, focusing on the well-being of children in rich
countries;
Advanced studies on the basis of Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analyses
(MODA) in low-, middle- and high income countries;
Preparatory studies for setting up the next generation of data surveys focusing
on children in low- and middle- income countries;
Studies on the theory and measurement of child wellbeing;
Studies on the impact of social cash transfers and other social protection
policy interventions on child wellbeing in low-, middle- and high-income
countries;
Responses to queries and requests for research assistance from HQ, Regional
Offices and Country Offices.
With regard to the advanced studies on the basis of- Multiple Overlapping Deprivation
Analyses (MODA) for low-, middle and high-income countries, the SEP section will
maintain the Cross-Country MODA (CC-MODA) web portal, and support country
offices in conducting MODA (N-MODA) studies, on theoretical and empirical studies
leading to improvements in the MODA methodology, on in depth analyses linking
MODA results with other data in order to advance our understanding of the
determinants of child poverty and -deprivation. The SEP section will also continue its
consultations with academia and other researchers in relation to the theoretical and
empirical studies on the determinants of child wellbeing, and will continue to contribute
by writing theoretical and empirical papers based on in depth literature surveys and
analytical papers partially also stemming from its work on the Report Cards and on
MODA.
With regards to studies on the impact of social cash transfers and other social protection
instruments on the wellbeing of children, the SEP section implements the Transfer
Project, a multi-country initiative to study the impact of social cash transfers in subSaharan Africa (SSA). This includes designing rigorous impact evaluations of largescale national programs, analysing data derived from such evaluations, working with
governments and other development partners to understand the implications of these
analyses for programming, and to prepare cross-country comparisons and focused
country-level studies on specific topics of interest to UNICEF and its programming
efforts. The SEP team will also begin to expand its evaluation activity to other program
areas and possibly other regions.
2. Objective(s):
The consultant will conduct research on those projects relating to child deprivation,
monetary poverty and equity in low- and middle income countries. S/he will support
and continue to develop and expand the existing research programme on child poverty
and deprivation analysis including the multiple overlapping deprivations analysis
(MODA) approach in the national context, as well as analyses related to the
determinants of child well-being and development, including inter-generational and
longitudinal research.
Child Poverty and Deprivation
1) Ensure that the CC-MODA web portal is functioning smoothly, and respond to
queries from end-users;
2) Perform secondary analyses using CC-MODA data;
3) Contribute to country specific N-MODA studies;
4) Contribute to the analyses and the publication of the analyses linking child
monetary poverty and deprivation and analysing the determinants of child
poverty and child deprivation;
5) Contribute to technical, theoretical and empirical improvements in measuring
child deprivation including the MODA methodology;
OTHER PROJECTS
6) Contribute to analysis of the impacts of cash transfer programs on children’s
well-being;
7) Contribute to the other research activities in the SEP section of the Office of
Research Innocenti.
3. Specific activities to be completed to achieve the objectives
Under the supervision of the Chief Social and Economic Policy the consultant will carry
out the following activities:
For the Cross-country MODA study:
(1) Making adjustments to the CC MODA web portal as necessary including
running the do-files, adjusting the country–specific texts, providing the DES
files to Devinfo and responding to end-user queries.
(2) Assist the country offices to use CC MODA for analytical purposes and for
providing the elements for their Situation Analysis, including training sessions
at a national and regional level when needed.
(3) Do further analytical analyses of the results originating from CC MODA.
Further study on the robustness and sensitivities of the (CC-) MODA
methodology.
For the National MODA studies
(4) Assist UNICEF country offices and/or their counterparts (e.g., national
statistics offices, national research centres, ministries) in making N-MODAs,
either using MICS/DHS data or national survey data (e.g., LSMS, household
budget surveys, poverty surveys, etc.); assist in selecting and adapting
country–specific domains/indicators/thresholds/age groups/profiling variables
for the analysis; introduce to and train on the use of the methodology; give
technical training on the statistical analysis; assist with interpreting results and
writing of reports; provide feedback and review the entire process.
(5) Perform further analyses on the outcomes resulting from N-MODAs; write
background papers; further analysis on particular findings beyond the scope
of the initial study; evaluate the process.
Other further research
(6) Extend MODA methodology by using different data and data treatment, by
including monetary poverty measurement and analyzing deprivation and
monetary poverty overlap;
(7) Study particular sub-groups of a society to provide thematic research and to test
the MODA methodology at a local level;
(8) Analyze the impact of social protection on reducing multidimensional
deprivation and monetary poverty;
(9) Apply MODA methodology to longitudinal data and analyze the dynamics of
overlapping deprivations;
(10) Provide input to the workshops, meetings and training events planned by the
Office of Research in 2014, as appropriate;
(11) Contribute to other Office of Research activities related to research, as
appropriate.
4. Specific outputs/products/results with specific delivery dates:
Under the guidance of the supervisor the consultant will be responsible for contributing
to all the activities that lead to the delivery of:
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Update the FAQ document for CC-MODA based on user feedback; prepare dofiles and deliver DES templates for ‘new releases’ of existing country profiles
(throughout 2014);
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Work and finalization of a set of country specific MODA (N-MODA),
cooperating with colleagues from country offices and, when possible, national
statistics offices, local consultants, and other counterparts.
Four CC-MODA Research Briefs: 30 October 2014, 30 April, 31 May and 30
June 2015
Five N-MODA Research Briefs: 30 April, 31 May, 30 June, 31 July and 31
August 2015
2 N-MODA papers: 28 February and 31 May 2015
1 N-MODA comparative analytical paper: 31 August 2015
2 Social Protection briefs: 31 December 2014 and 31 May 2015
1 paper on supply and demand side determinants of child welfare: 31 March
2015
Any other MODA-related output as appropriate
5. Qualifications and/or specialized knowledge/experience required and desirable
for undertaking the assignment:
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At least a Master degree in statistics, economics, public policy or related field
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Demonstrated experience at analysing large-scale household survey data,
preferably in regard to poverty analysis with a focus on children; experience with
longitudinal data an asset
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Ability to carry out statistical analyses autonomously
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Excellent quantitative/statistical and analytical skills
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Substantive knowledge on measurement of child deprivation and poverty, and
determinants of child well-being
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Ability to organize own work and to carry out a research project with limited
supervision according to deadlines
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Ability to speak and write fluently in English; good working knowledge of French
or Spanish an asset; working knowledge of Italian desirable,
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Excellent knowledge of Stata and other statistical packages
Desirable:
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Current knowledge of key issues in international development policy, notably as
these are related to multidimensional child poverty, social policies and
development assistance
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Experience with field work and data collection
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Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and
effective working relationships both within and outside the organisation.
6. Duration of the consultancy: the consultant will work 18 days per month in the
period between 1 October 2014 and 31 August 2015.
7. Supervision and work arrangements:
The consultant will work under the supervision of Sudhanshu Handa, the Chief of the
Social and Economic Policy Unit.
The consultant will work 18 days per month; approximately 80 % of the working time
will be spent at the IRC premises in a shared office or at other UNICEF offices. The
work may include incidental travel to participate in workshops or conferences or to
facilitate the coordination with country offices or national governments included in the
MODA study.
9. Payment schedule
Monthly, based on deliverables and brief monthly progress reports against all tasks.
11. Special Instructions: As the need for travel cannot be planned at this stage,
travel- related costs (including DSA, visa and vaccination costs) will be paid under
the Travel Authorisation.