Statistics Coordination Officer

Title: Statistics Coordination Officer

Vacancy Notice No: CPH/VN/2022/031

Duty Station: Copenhagen, Denmark

Duration: 01/08/2022 – 31/12/2022 (with possibility of extension)

Contract Type: UNOPS IICA level 2 (International Individual Contractor Agreement)

Organizational Context

UNHCR’s mandate to protect and find solutions for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons increasingly relies on the availability of timely and reliable data and analysis. The Agency’s Global Data Service (GDS) based in Copenhagen, is the focal point in UNHCR for the implementation of its Data Transformation Strategy that has been put in place to facilitate this process over the next few years. Within this, the Statistics and Demographics Section (SDS), coordinates the collection, analysis and dissemination of UNHCR’s statistics, and provides technical statistical support to regional bureau and country offices. It aims to support the development of improved and more efficient systems for statistics on refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR, such as stateless people and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Increasingly, UNHCR’s data efforts are grounded in collaboration and joint engagements with partners to better achieve outcomes for those affected by forced displacement. In contexts of protracted displacement, working closely with governments and national statistical offices to enhance national ownership of data produced and better integrate refugees and IDPs into national statistical systems is a core priority. As part of this effort, UNHCR has taken a leading role in the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics (EGRISS), both as a Steering Committee member and through hosting its Secretariat. The EGRISS currently consists of 52 countries and 28 international/regional organisations. Other Steering Committee members include the World Bank, Eurostat, Statistics Norway, Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center (JDC), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), Ukraine, Colombia, Kurdistan Republic of Iraq and African Union (AU).

The EGRISS was established in 2016 by the UN Statistical Commission to develop recommendations on refugee and IDP statistics and produce guidance for their implementation at country level. The International Recommendations on Refugee (IRRS) and IDP (IRIS) Statistics were endorsed in 2018 and 2020, respectively, under EGRISS’ first two mandates. During 2020-2024, the EGRISS’ mandate has been expanded to focus on implementation of the recommendations which is ongoing through advocacy, capacity building, and further methodological development and testing. In addition, the EGRISS is also in the process of developing International Recommendations on Statelessness Statistics (IROSS) that will be discussed at the UN Statistical Commission in March 2023. Like the IRRS and IRIS, the IROSS is being developed collaboratively with affected states and statistical experts. The process was initiated in 2019 but suffered significant delays in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Statistics Coordination Officer (Technical Advisor EGRISS) will join the EGRISS Secretariat and support key activities, with a particular focus on providing support to countries implementing the IRRS, the IRIS and/or the (forthcoming) IROSS through a range of activities primarily at country and regional level. This role is part of a broader plan to strengthen the capacity of the EGRISS Secretariat to support the work of the group and to successfully fulfill its mandate from the UNSC, as recommended through a review process conducted in Nov-Dec 2021.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The Statistics Coordination Officer (Technical Advisor EGRISS) will support the work of the Expert Group on Refugee, IDP and Statelessness Statistics (EGRISS). This position is initially up to 31 December 2022 for administrative reasons, and subject to project extension in 2023 and 2024 based on the availability of funds and satisfactory performance. The candidate will report to the Senior Statistics Coordination Officer (EGRISS) and will work in close collaboration with other EGRISS Secretariat colleagues as well as members of the EGRISS Steering Committee, Subgroup 2 members and the wider EGRISS membership.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Statistics Coordination Officer (Technical Advisor EGRISS) will support the implementation of EGRISS’ third mandate in the following ways. Duties and responsibilities will be refined depending on the profile of the successful candidate:

1) Support for Country Implementation and capacity development:

• Provide advice and technical support to EGRISS country members and other partners to develop and implement strategies to implement the International Recommendations on Refugee Statistics (IRRS) and IDP Statistics (IRIS), including through remote and on-site support as relevant/possible. This advisory/technical support role should necessarily cover issues related to national statistical coordination as well as technical elements of the implementation plan. The delivery of support will require coordination with relevant partners at regional/national level.
• Maintain an overview of country-level and other implementation activities, including an up to date database of implementation examples (in coordination with Secretariat colleagues), as a central part of the EGRISS Secretariat’s monitoring function to facilitate reporting to the UN Statistical Commission on progress.
• Engage with country members of EGRISS to raise awareness of technical support opportunities and manage official support requests in collaboration with Subgroup 2 partners and facilitate peer-to-peer learning/sharing of experiences between countries.
• Contribute to EGRISS’ other capacity building activities, in collaboration with Subgroup 2 partners, particularly as these link up with specific technical support requests, including regional workshops and e-learning development/roll-out.
• Engage with UNHCR’s regional statistical focal points and relevant SDS colleagues to identify opportunities and build capacity to support country implementation with a particular focus on refugee contexts. This will likely include leading the organisation of a workshop to help build an internal ‘UNHCR EGRISS community of champions’.
• Support the development of case studies documenting lessons learned from country implementation that can be shared through EGRISS website and other relevant platforms/publications.
• Support development and implementation of a plan to integrate work on statelessness into implementation strategies/activities/products of EGRISS in 2023-2024, in collaboration with relevant EGRISS members and key stakeholders.

2) Technical input to other EGRISS activities:

• Support the development of International Recommendations on Statelessness Statistics in collaboration with EGRISS Secretariat colleagues and members of Subgroup 4.
• Support the revision of the Compilers’ Manual in collaboration with Subgroup 3 ensuring it meets guidance needs articulated by countries and other relevant stakeholders.
• Develop a proposal for a new workstream within EGRISS on one of the following topics, shaping concrete deliverables and integrating outputs if needed into workplans of existing Subgroups (NB final selection of topic would depend on experience of candidate and guidance from EGRISS Steering Committee):
  • Use of administrative data for official statistics on forced displacement and statelessness.
  • Sustainable Development Goals and how to enhance the inclusion/disagreggation of forced displacement/statelessness in national/global reporting and planning processes.
  • Urban displacement and official statistics at sub-national/urban-level.

3) Other support for EGRISS:

• Support general activities of the EGRISS Secretariat colleagues including coordination of partners, M&E, reporting, advocacy and communications as required.
• Contribute to all EGRISS-members meeting.
• Ad hoc requests from Head of EGRISS Secretariat and UNHCR’s Chief Statistician.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

Education and professional work Experience

Required

• 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years with Master’s degree, or 4 years with a Doctorate
• Demonstrated experience working on refugee, IDP and/or statelessness statistics in an operational, strategic, coordination or technical capacity.

Desirable

• Experience working with United Nations or an international organization (HQ or country level).
• Experience working with National Statistical Offices in various roles including statistical production or quantitative data collection, analysis or dissemination processes, or partnership coordination with national and international partners.
• Experience in the development/delivery of capacity development for improved quantitative data, social statistics production, or dissemination and use of official statistics.
• Experience supporting the organization of professional workshops or trainings, including in facilitation roles.
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder projects with significant coordination needs in an international environment.
• Experience developing written material in English. (e.g. reports, technical publications, guidance documents, analytical publications).
• Experience in conducting research, including desk review and key informant interviews.
• Organizational, Monitoring and Evaluation and/or change-management experience.

Functional Skills

Required

• Understanding of official statistics, including different data sources (surveys, administrative data and census).
• Knowledge of MS Office suite and relevant data analysis software.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work within established deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and interpersonal abilities with fluency in English and proficiency in at least one other UN language (ideally French and/or Spanish)

Location and Conditions

The successful candidate will be based in Copenhagen, Denmark. This position is up to the end of the year with possibility of extension. It is a full-time role (40 hours per week). Recruitment as a UNHCR staff member and engagement under a UNHCR affiliate scheme or as an intern is subject to proof of vaccination against Covid-19.