Consultancy – Ethics in Evidence Specialist – 135 days over 10 months. Office of Global Research & Foresight (GORaF) Remote location

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, Research

Background:
The position reports to the Snr Advisor for Ethics in Evidence Generation, who sits under the Deputy Director of Innocenti. UNICEF Innocenti undertakes and commissions research on current issues of relevance for children to inform the strategic directions, policies and programmes of UNICEF and its partners. The office also explores emerging issues, identifies research gaps, and brings together existing researchers to support or undertake new research, data collection and analysis to address critical questions. Both UNICEF Innocenti, and the broader organisation (through the current UNICEF Strategic Plan) recognise the importance of research and other evidence generation activities in ensuring impact for children on the issues most important to them.

We also recognise however that while it is critical that we undertake evidence generation on difficult topics and in difficult settings – these activities themselves can pose a risk to childrens rights and safety. UNICEFs Ethics in Evidence Generation Procedure (2021, but currently being updated) provides a clear commitment to ensuring that the work is carried out ethically and outlines a set of principles that provide the framework for understanding risks and designing programs in order to achieve this.

Alongside work to update the Ethics Procedure and continue to reflect the most up to date standards and community expectations in our work, the demand from offices and teams for ethics support is continuing to grow. This reflects both a growing interest in improving practices in existing areas or topics of work, as well as a range of emerging issues as our scope of evidence generation expands into new topics, new technologies and methods, and new settings – all of which pose their own challenges and risks. Recent work to update and re-vitalise the internal sharepoint site has highlighted a number of key gaps and needs. UNICEF Innocenti also has a significant opportunity to explicitly and visibly model good practice in how we do research and foresight, strengthening our reputation as a trustworthy leader in evidence generation for children and influencing both broader organizational practice and global dialogue. This requires a strengthened focus on capturing and learning from ethical issues and solutions encountered in our work, and linking these to the broader set of resources and support available.

Objectives of the consultancy

The consultant will be required to undertake five related activities to provide supplementary capacity to the ethics function in Innocenti, and develop supporting materials and resources.

1. Develop/ draft a series of guidance notes on priority topics breaking down the “how to” of the updated Ethics in Evidence Generation Policy in easily findable and digestible format for non-specialist staff across UNICEF offices, including ensuring alignment with related divisions and policies (25 %)
2. Engage with Innocenti teams to capture and document short and compelling case studies, challenges and good practices that illustrate the ethics principles for incorporation into both internal and external resources; including (internal and external) web pages, training content, webinars (including public sessions), and discussion papers. (20%)
3. Support the Snr Advisor to design and update content for training materials and capacity- building curriculum that support uptake and implementation of the Ethics in Evidence Generation Policy and Procedure – including the mandated Agora courses. (25%)
4. Researching and drafting of 1-2 discussion / guidance papers on emerging issues on ethics in evidence generation (for example – collecting data using wearable tech, and ethical standards and issues regarding working with partners). Final topics will be jointly determined and confirmed based on emerging needs and competencies. One of these is anticipated to be developed as a supported outcome of an external webinar planned for Q1 2024. (20%)
5. Update and curate content for the UNICEF Ethics in Evidence Generation internal SharePoint site, Yammer, and other key internal knowledge management platforms (10%)

Tasks/Milestone Deliverables/Outputs
1. Develop Inception report and Workplan 
2. Draft guidance notes (2-4 pages max) on agreed key topics 
3. Finalised guidance notes incorporating feedback from related
divisions), including updating relevant platforms
4. Develop and draft an updated outline and content for the
Agora Basic Ethics training, and test with selected audiences over at least 2 training sessions.
5. Develop final Agora content for the Basic Ethics course based
on review and feedback for handover to site developers.
6. Develop and draft an updated outline and content for the Agora Basic Ethics training, and test with selected audiences
7. Develop final Agora content for the Basic Ethics course based
on review and feedback for handover to site developers.

Conditions of Consultancy
The consultant should note the following:
6. UNICEF Innocenti does not issue computer equipment to consultants. The consultant will be responsible for providing the necessary computer equipment for the consultancy themselves and should include the cost implications of this responsibility in their bid for the consultancy. The cost of software and subscriptions that may be necessary to complete the consultancy (e.g., Microsoft Word) also needs to be factored into the bid for the consultancy.
7. This consultancy requires the consultant to travel in order to complete the required deliverables effectively and efficiently (estimated 2 x 1-2 weeks). The full cost of travel should be included into the bid for the contract. While UNICEF Innocenti does not make travel arrangements for consultants, there are value for money rules that apply to consultant travel. The consultant will arrange their own travel, clear the anticipated cost with UNICEF and invoice UNICEF for the travel cost as soon as the travel has been completed.
8. UNICEF Innocenti will assist consultants with arrangements for visas, work permits, vaccinations, etc.
9. UNICEF does not regard Individuals engaged under a consultancy contract as “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures. Consultants are therefore not entitled to benefits such as leave, pension 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.

Minimum Qualifications required:  Masters or PhD in Applied Science, Social Sciences, Population Science, or related field (must include research, ethics and communication experience)

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Essential skills:

• 8+ years of relevant work experience – including direct experience in addressing ethical issues, responsible data applications, safeguarding or related skills.
• Demonstrated research and analytical skills – including complex literature reviews, qualitative interviews or analyses, and ability to extract and simplify complex issues for communication.
• Excellent communication skills including development of clear and concise technical writing for a general audience, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated experience in engaging with stakeholders or partners across a broad range of disciplines.
• Demonstrated organizational skills and experience in project management, and delivering in a fast-moving environment.
• Understanding and exposure to planning and implementing a range of research, evaluation or survey methodologies.
• Fluency in English. Working knowledge of at least one additional UN languages is considered an advantage.

Desirable qualifications:
• Experience working in low resource or humanitarian settings.
• Ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment; experience working in the UN or other international development organization.
• Experience working with Sharepoint and/or Agora.
• Fluency in other UN languages

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.