Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to undertake the analysis of primary data on vital events and assessment of their quality

Vacancy Number: Pr12/00165

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	10 Aug 2012, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	23 Aug 2012
Reference to the project:	Strengthening the National Statistical System
Expected Duration of Assignment:	20 working days during August-September 2012
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted by email to vacancies-moldova@undp.org, no later than 10 August 2012. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: aurelia.spataru@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of References Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Joint UN Project on Strengthening the National Statistical System of RM (Statistics Project) is currently implemented by the UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA and ILO, in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and aims at improving data production, dissemination and use of statistical information with particular attention to national needs and overall conformity of official statistics with international standards. One of the Statistics Project’s intended results is the improved capacity of the National Bureau of Statistics and other line ministries, involved in production of information (through administrative reporting system, surveys and censuses) to produce, in a timely manner, multi-dimensionally disaggregated data of appropriate quality.

Any decision-making process and continuous monitoring of achievements would not be possible without the availability of qualitative and timely statistical data. The role of NBS becomes increasingly important for the implementation of national development strategies & programs, given its mandate and responsibilities to measure the impact of the major challenges that are affecting the Moldovan society and to support evidence-based policy-making.

The transition process in the Republic of Moldova had negative socio-economic consequences, which affected the demographic situation of the country characterized by a negative population growth in the last decade because of the low level of births (fertility), , and higher mortality rates. The migration flows, in particular those originated from rural areas, had a negative impact on the integrity of families which resulted in the increase of divorce rate, growing number of children raised in in disintegrated families, reduction of life expectancy, aging, increase of infant morbidity cases and premature mortality among men of working age, etc.

The National Commission on Population and Development (NCPD) is an institutional body of analysis, synthesis and coordination of sectorial policies with impact on demographic situation of the country and one of its main task is to analyse the demographic phenomena, population development trends and their medium and long-term impact on society on the basis of identified mechanisms of disaggregated data collection and exchange.

In order to improve the demographic situation it is necessary to make an in-depth analysis of it and to prevent the respective threats through application of the advanced methodologies in the field. In this respect, the National Strategic Plan on demographic security of Moldova (2011-2025), approved by the Government Decision no. 768 as of 12 October 2011, provides for the application of 10 indicators for monitoring the demographic security, among which are: birth rate, mortality rate, marriage rate and divorce rate, etc.

Scope of work

To address the aforementioned issue and to ensure the quality and completeness of data production effort undertaken by national stakeholders, the national consultant with relevant experience, will:

1. undertake the analysis of available information contained in (printed) statistical bulletins on vital events (births, deaths, marriages and divorces) produced by the offices of Civil Registration Service and check its compliance with the datasets in electronic format provided by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (and State Enterprise “Registru”) through the Common Object interface;

2. perform the quality evaluation of micro data received by NBS and used for the production of vital statistics.

The main objective of assignment is to ensure the completeness and quality of data on demographic processes to increase the effectiveness of its electronic transmission, receipt and storage of output information.

Respectively, the final objective would be to establish the appropriate prerequisites for NBS to complete the transition to new technologies on demographic statistics production, which will provide timely and accurate records of vital events and allow the development of an efficient, at low cost and less time-consuming production system.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

1. Academic Qualifications:
• Masters degree or higher education in the area of social sciences (in particular demography, etc.) and/or other science related to areas of assignment;
• Other formal education relevant for the assignment;
2. Years of experience:
• At least 4 years of proved previous working experience of work related to the use of population & demography statistical data, evidences and informative materials, but also related to data collection and/or production;
• Proved practical experience consisting of participation in analytical (thematic analysis, assessments, evaluations and/or reviews, etc.) and/or policy advisory works in the area of present assignment - on population and demography;
• Experience in working with development partners (in particular UN/UNDP);
3. Competencies:
• Excellent analytical, writing and communication skills;
• Ability to work with large datasets, on-line web-based applications;
• Familiarity with the national context (legal and policy framework) related to the areas of assignment concern and international practice;
• Romanian and English languages proficiency;
• Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively orally and in writing, draft reports, solve problems, organize and meet expected results, adapt to different environments (cultural, economic, political and social);
4. Personal Qualities and other requirements:
• Good interpersonal skills, solid judgment/decision making, initiative and creativity;
• Ability to be independent, impartial and credible in a challenging environment;
• Availability to work with UN and Project’s national stakeholders during the indicated/approved period;
• Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Cultural and gender sensitivity.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Technical Proposal:
• explaining how applicant responds to each of the qualification requirements and why he/she is the most suitable for the work;
• describing a short vision on achievement of tasks.
2. Personal information (as a detailed CV or as a Personal History Form /P11) including records on past experience in similar projects/assignments and concrete outputs obtained;
3. Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days).

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.

In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including all related costs e.g. fees, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days.

 

Disclaimer In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

Notice UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website. UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.