UN Youth Volunteer in Statistics and Data Analysis

General

Description of assignment title

UN Youth Volunteer in Statistics and Data Analysis

Assignment country

Togo

Expected start date

25/10/2024

Sustainable Development Goal

17. Partnerships for the goals

Volunteer category

International UN Youth Volunteer

Host entity

UNHCR

Type

Onsite

Duration

12 months (with possibility of extension)

Number of assignments

1

Duty stations

Lome

  Details

Mission and objectives

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency’s mandate is to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee and stateless problems worldwide. Its main aim is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, it ensures that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and to find refuge in another State, with the possibility of returning home voluntarily, s integrate locally or resettle in a third country. UNHCR Togo National Office under the Cote d’Ivoire multicountry office focuses its mandate on the protection of refugees as well as the prevention and reduction of statelessness, more than 60,000 refugees and asylum seekers are estimated in Togo.

Context

As the situation in Burkina Faso increases in complexity and scale, the Republic of Togo continues to welcome refugees and asylum-seekers as it has done since December 2021 when the initial overspills from the Sahel crisis commenced. Since the start of 2023 alone, some 23,526 refugees and asylum-seekers have been forced to flee Burkina Faso to Togo. The initial first large wave of displacement started in June 2022, and was made up primarily of Togolese returnees, followed in July by those with family ties in the north of Togo. A later third wave of arrivals in August 2022 occurred as a result of intensified military operations in the Centre-Est and Est regions of Burkina Faso, with fewer social ties to Togo observed. To date as registration continues, there is an estimated total of 39,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Burkina Faso in Togo out of which an estimate of 90% are women and children. To meet the needs of the forcibly displaced, humanitarian actors have bolstered their presence in the north of the country in support of the Government, notably in the Savanes region, where the majority of Burkinabés are hosted by the local community. It is estimated that a total of 2,600 households in the Savanes region are currently providing accommodation to refugees and asylum-seekers, both rural and urban settings, concentrated primarily around the prefectures of Cinkassé, Tône and Kpendjal. The Savanes region of Togo faces a number of development challenges, with high poverty rates and limited access to basic social and welfare services resources. The recent displacement risks placing additional strain on the already rudimentary services and their access for refuges and host communities. In an effort to counter the effects of these challenges, the Government of Togo has established the Programme d’urgence de renfor To achieve this, UNHCR will ensure evidence-based programming in the above-mentioned context. The Assistant Statistics and Data Analysis Officer is responsible for supporting statistical and data analysis activities in the relevant offices or service for evidence-informed planning, advocacy, and coordination. He/she will provide technical support for the design, data collection, processing, analysis and dissemination stages of the statistical process. In coordination with others in the DIMA, S/he will provide technical inputs to facilitate the necessary quality assurance and technical support for statistical and data analysis activities to Headquarters, the Regional Bureau, and operations; help ensure these processes are in accordance with technical and ethical statistical standards; and undertake regional or country-specific statistical and data analysis activities. Relevant activities include coordination of or support to: the production of official statistics; statistical support for assessment, targeting, and monitoring activities; indicator development and reporting; application and evaluation of statistical and analytical methodologies and tools; statistical analysis and dissemination; sampling and survey design; statistical estimation and triangulation; data anonymization; and promotion and monitoring of ethical standards for statistics in UNHCR and partner activities

Task description

In order to carry out this work, the UN Volunteer will be properly trained both formally, through available workshops, seminars, e-Learning platforms; and informally through on-the-job training, intensive coaching/mentoring, shadowing other colleagues to familiarize his/herself with the relevant global and local policy and procedures related to community based protection activities. The UN Volunteer will be closely supervised by both senior and middle level management within the unit and it is expected that within a few months s/he will have the necessary skills to carry out many of the daily tasks with limited guidance. Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: – Learn how to contribute to data, information management and registration strategies with statistical and data analysis elements with a vision on the use of statistics and analytical data products, particularly in planning, programming and advocacy, at the country, regional and HQ levels as appropriate. – Learn how to implement UNHCR’s policies and procedures on planning and reporting on UNHCR’s operational activities (results-based management and planning figures). – Support quality assurance and provide technical advice on statistical analyses and indicators; take part in relevant planning processes as appropriate and where support is needed. – Learn how to contribute to the development or revision of statistical concepts, definition, standards and classifications used in UNHCR for research and decision-making. – Contribute to the development or improvement of statistical methods and quantitative models for analyses and projections on forced displacement and statelessness. – Support implementation of coherence and compliance with organisational standards, methodologies, and support for data analysis activities such as surveys, secondary data reviews, targeting and vulnerability assessments, indicator definition, population estimation, statistical analysis, predictive analytics, big data, international recommendations, data visualisation, official statistics and other statistical and data analysis activities. – For all data collection or statistical analysis activities, contribute to developing plans and monitor implementation to ensure statistics and analysis are of highest standards. – Learn how to ensure statistical and analytical products produced by UNHCR or with partners meet required standards and are compliant with relevant policies to uphold integrity, veracity, reliability and credibility. – Support in compilation, consolidation, of official statistics on populations of concern to UNHCR at country, region or global level, including annual statistics. – Learn how to support the development or revision of methodological approaches and standards for statistical surveys conducted by UNHCR or partner organizations in support of monitoring, assessment, targeting, evaluation, operational plans and results reporting. – Support the design and implementation of relevant statistical analytical products and oversee their production, including quality assurance. – Undertake data analysis activities, including on persons of concern derived from UNHCR’s data systems such as, registration and identity management, results-based management, back office or other sectoral data systems. – In coordination with sectoral and other data staff, apply statistical scenarios and models based on historical, recent and seasonal information to support comparative country, regional and global analysis, including political and sociodemographic trends. – Contribute to technical and sectoral reports and to recommendations for follow-up actions with regard to the strengthening of statistics and data analysis. – Learn how to provide input to statistical and analytical reports for UNHCR and/or with partners, manuals and websites within the Area of Responsibility (AoR). – With information management staff, support consistency in the analytical approach at global, regional and/or country level, including for the purpose of cross-border analysis and response. – Contribute to partnerships and activities relevant to statistics and data analysis within the AoR. – Provide administrative support to capacity strengthening activities for UNHCR and other stakeholders, including national statistical partners on statistics. – Organize and participate in missions, workshops, seminars, working groups and meetings

 Eligibility criteria

Age

18 – 80

Additional eligibility criteria

This assignment is funded by the Government of Sweden and therefore specific criteria apply: ELIGIBILITY – Candidates must be Swedish nationals. – Candidates must be between 18 and 29 years of age at the time of application (the above-mentioned age range does not apply). – Candidates who already served on a UN Youth Volunteer assignment funded by the Government of Sweden are not eligible. APPLICATION – If you are above the age of 26, a notification will be displayed that you are not eligible to apply. You may ignore this and proceed with submitting your application. – You may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form. – Application deadline: 14 July 2024 SELECTION – Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment. Interviews will be conducted by the UN Host Entities in August. MANDATORY TRAINING IN SWEDEN Prior to deployment, selected candidates must attend a mandatory preparation training in Sweden, organized by Sida. The training will take place from 14 to 18 October. +++ UN Volunteer entitlement calculator: https://app.unv.org/calculator +++

Nationality

Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Donor priorities

.

 Requirements

Required experience

1 years of experience in or demonstrated interest in data or statistical field or relevant academic training. Knowledge of national and/or international statistical systems. Experience with data analysis, ideally in developmental or humanitarian contexts. Understanding of the principles and concepts of international protection and UNHCR. Experience with data collection and analysis, ideally in field situations. Ability to translate planning-specifications into technical briefs for data collection and analysis, and vice versa. Understanding of different data collection methodologies. Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded.

Area(s) of expertise

Crisis and emergency response, Development programmes, Information technology

Driving license

–

Languages

French, Level: Fluent, Required English, Level: Working knowledge, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in data sciences: Social Sciences; Statistics; Demography; Geography/GIS;Epidemiology; Economics; Physical Sciences; Data Science.

Competencies and values

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Technological Awareness

 Other information

Living conditions and remarks

1. **General Situation:** Lomé, the capital of Togo, is currently free of travel re-strictions. The security level in the capital is minimal-1 (SLS 1), and low (SLS 2) in the northern regions, with some precautionary measures in place. Cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country since March 19, 2020, and both local authorities and the UN system have implemented preventive measures to safeguard staff. 2. **Crime:** Lomé and its surroundings, like most major cities, experience sporadic criminal incidents, including thefts in residences and on streets. Pickpocketing is common in beach areas and markets, prompting increased security presence at popu-lar beaches. Armed robberies are infrequent and primarily target foreign exchange agents, individuals carrying significant amounts of money, and city shops. 3. **Terrorism:** The UNDSS office in Lomé assesses the southern areas as having a minimal terrorist threat, while the north is considered low-risk due to the security situa-tion near the Burkina Faso border. Togo’s government acknowledges the regional ter-rorist threat, particularly along its border with Burkina Faso, and has taken measures to protect infrastructure and public spaces. UN staff and visitors are advised to report their travels in border areas to the security advisor. 4. **Demonstrations:** Following the 2019 local elections, the political landscape in Togo has remained relatively calm. The presidential election process is underway, with active participation from various political opposition parties. While it is expected that demonstrations during the electoral process will be peaceful, there is a potential risk of disruptions due to dissatisfaction among certain opposition groups. Staff mem-bers should exercise vigilance. 5. **Road Traffic Accidents:** Road traffic accidents, particularly in Lomé, pose a sig-nificant security risk, with a high number of casualties. The proliferation of motorcycle taxi drivers who disregard traffic regulations has been a primary cause. Awareness campaigns and the introduction of motorcycle driver’s licenses have contributed to a decrease in accidents. Security forces have been conducting alcohol tests for drivers nationwide since December 16, 2019, enhancing road safety. It’s essential for UN staff in Togo to stay informed about these security aspects and follow recommended safety measures. The country hosts significant number of Muslims and Christians, with the former concentrated, but not exclusively, in the North of the country. Places of wor-ship exist in all duty stations. Expatriates based in the country composed of large in-ternational community enjoy visiting beaches in Badiga and other local attractions on weekends. Togo is hot and humid, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 35 degrees Celsius depending on the period of the year. It is therefore advised to carry light cloth-ing. The security level is classified 2 while the hardship of Lomé is A with no family restrictions. Banking services including ATMs are offered by most of commercial banks like BACI, NSIA, ECOBANK, BICICI, SIB, Charter Bank etc. Some supermarkets offer the ATM and modern paying devices to customers in their premises. Togo is a unique country and is a unique (humanitarian) operation. It provides for an interesting and enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more stamina and commitment than elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in harsh and potentially hazardous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are essential.

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

This UNV assignment is subject to proof of vaccination against Covid-19 with WHO approved vaccine, unless the UNHCR Medical Service approves an exemption from this requirement on medical grounds

 

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