Chief Technical Advisor Population and Housing Census – Mogadishu, Somalia

Closing date: 14 April 2022

Duty station: Mogadishu, Somalia

Post type: Fixed Term

Duration: One year renewable (*)

(*) Possibility for contract renewal based on need, performance, and availability of funds and in accordance with UN Staff Regulations 4.5

As Somalia makes a political and economic transition, credible and timely official statistical information on population, social, economic, and environmental conditions will play a fundamental role in effective policymaking, planning, and monitoring for economic growth, poverty reduction, and attainment of such development targets as the NDP9 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To date, the Population and Housing Census was carried out twice in Somalia, the 1974 population and livestock census in which the results were adjusted for under-enumeration and limited data released and the 1986 census whose results were never released. The Population and Housing Census (PHC) is one of the main pillars of national statistical systems, and provide invaluable data for policy development, planning, research, and other purposes. This underscores the importance of a PHC for Somalia – a country with weak statistical systems and lack of routine vital statistics. The PHC is expected to be the main (or even the only) source of data on all people at the national, state and lower levels in many social and demographic domains for planning thereby promoting accountability and good governance. It is against this background that the Federal Government of Somalia plans to conduct the Population and Household Census in 2023.

It is against this background that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with other UN agencies and development partners is geared to provide robust technical support in conducting the PHC – through building national technical and management capacities to plan and implement high quality censuses in accordance with scientifically established and internationally recognized standards and procedures and in full harmonization with internationally established standards and recommendations for census undertaking and related activities.

With the support of UNFPA, other UN agencies and Development Partners, a number of initiatives will be implemented to ensure a quality, participatory and inclusive census. The success of the census will thus hinge on the mutual commitment by both the Government and the international community. The donor community recognizes the importance of this exercise and financial commitments will be mobilized towards the funding of the PHC. With the commitment of other Development Partners, a multi-donor fund for the Census will be established, managed and led by UNFPA, to which donors can contribute, based on an agreed framework, priorities and budget lines. At the request of donor countries, UNFPA will set up a Donor Forum for reporting, sharing information and consultation with donors on the Population and Housing Census.

Organizational Setting:

The Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) post is located in the Somalia National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS), Mogadishu, Somalia, and is under the overall guidance of the Director General of the SNBS and the direct supervision of the UNFPA Representative. S/He will work with the Census Technical Team based in SNBS and also liaise with other national and international stakeholders and development partners, including United Nations agencies.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2022-2025), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Main Tasks and Responsibilites:

In line with UN/UNFPA policies and guidelines, and in full harmonization with internationally established standards and recommendations for census undertaking, the Chief Technical Adviser will perform various tasks and provide vital technical inputs to all activities pertaining to the census operations throughout all stages of the process. In addition, the incumbent will provide support in implementing and documenting activities aimed at increasing stakeholder participation throughout the census process.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The overall responsibility of the CTA is to provide technical support to SNBS to maintain state-of-the-art scientific and internationally recognized standards (and more specifically the round 2020 census rules) throughout the census process and to support national capacities in ensuring high quality data production, analysis and dissemination. It is planned that the CTA will also provide capacity building to staff at the SNBS, taking full advantage of the opportunity for on-the-job training for staff involved in this exercise.

Specifically, the CTA will carry out the following duties and responsibilities:

1. Assist SNBS in the planning, organization, execution and management of the 2023 Somalia Population and Housing Census;
2. Regularly review the Implementation Plan (including the census roadmap/activity calendar), Resource Mobilization Strategy, Quality Control Plan and other documents and make necessary amendments and revisions;
3. Participate in census advocacy and resources mobilization by coordinating the preparation of relevant documents;
4. Assist in the development of technical documents for the census: administrative guidelines, questionnaires, checklists, training manuals and procedures (for census personnel), analysis and tabulation plans, and all instructions relating to electronic data processing;
5. Identify technical assistance needs and coordinate relevant technical support (national and international experts) on various aspects of the census undertaking;
6. Develop a training plan and lead the planning, organization, execution and management of training activities for national counterparts, as needed;
7. Advise the SNBS on equipment needs and assist with the acquisition of required equipment and materials;
8. Collaborate with the census cartography/GIS division, UNFPA cartographic focal points on the development of the census cartographic plan as well as management of cartographic fieldwork and GIS outputs;
9. In consultation with stakeholders, assist in the review of the PHC and Post Enumeration Survey (PES) instruments and ensure efficient sampling for pre-tests, pilot census and PES;
10. Supervise the implementation of the pilot census activities and prepare a report to guide the main census activities;
11. In consultation with UNFPA statistician and demographer, assist SNBS in the development of analysis and tabulation plans and in the preparation of coding and other manuals of instruction;
12. In consultation with UNFPA statistician and demographer, support the data processing staff of SNBS (and the Data Processing Technical Specialist) to prepare data capture and data processing plans and in timely implementation of data processing schedules;
13. In consultation with UNFPA statistician and demographer, support the, assist SNBS to process and analyze pre-test, pilot census and census data and to produce preliminary, final and thematic analysis reports;
14. Guide SNBS staff in designing, organizing and implementing short courses and workshops on the utilization of census data for development planning and policy formulation;
15. Monitor and evaluate progress and challenges of the 2023 PHC, prepare and submit monthly progress reports on the 2023 PHC activities to the Federal Government of Somalia and UNFPA, and consolidate quarterly progress reports for submission to stakeholders;
16. Coordinate and participate in the elaboration of the census administrative and management report
17. Coordinate the development and implementation of PES schedule of activities, analysis of the PES data and production of reports including documenting lessons learned and best practices;
18. Assisted by UNFPA P&D unit, conduct field visits inside Somalia to monitor and validate quality of cartographic and enumeration fieldwork;
19. Identify technical assistance needs and coordinate relevant technical support (national and international experts) on various aspects of the census undertaking;
20. Provide overall administrative and financial supervision to the 2023 Census;
21. Encourage teamwork and communication among SNBS staff;
22. Undertake any other tasks relevant to the 2023 PHC as may be required by the SNBS Director General and the Census Director in consultation with the UNFPA Representative.

Qualifications and Experience:

Advanced university degree in Demography, Statistics, Population Studies, Social Sciences or related subjects- PhD preferable or equivalent professional experience

· At least 10 years of progressive experience in social and demographic data collection, processing and analysis, preferably in population and housing censuses, particularly in a developing country. Experience with census implementation in a challenging context will be an advantage.

· Knowledge and experience in use of new technologies for data collection and in GIS and geospatial data

· Experience in providing on-the-job training to local staff in data quality, analysis and report writing;

· Experience in the dissemination of census data and socio-demographic analyses to broad audiences as well as in motivating the utilization of data and results in development planning and policy issues;

· Knowledge and experience with census data processing software (CSPro, REDATAM, etc.), demographic data analysis (MORTPAK, FERTPAK, PAS), statistical packages (SPSS, STATA, R, etc.) and population projection programs (People, Spectrum, RUP);

· Experience in using GIS software (QGIS, ARCGIS) will be an asset

• Communication skills especially for transfer of knowledge

Languages: Fluency in spoken and written English.

Required Competencies:

Values:

• Exemplifying integrity
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system
• Embracing diversity in all its forms
• Embracing change

Core Competencies:

• Achieving Results
• Being Accountable
• Developing and Applying Professional Expertise/Business Acumen
• Thinking analytically and Strategically
• Working in Teams/Managing Ourselves and our Relationships
• Communicating for Impact

Functional Competencies:

• Delivering results based programmes,

• Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners/building strategic alliances and partnerships,

• Internal and external communication and resource mobilization;

• Providing conceptual innovation to support programme effectiveness;

• Providing a technical support system;

• Facilitating quality programme results

Managerial Competencies:

• Engaging in internal/external partners and stakeholders,

• Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance

• Making decisions and exercising judgment

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package commensurate with the level of the post. The package includes a competitive net salary plus cost of living adjustment, housing allowance, home leave, health insurance and other benefits.