Data Analyst

Data Analysis of the Polls conducted on the Internet of Good Things (IoGT), TuneMe and U-Report as part of the UNFPA/UNICEF collaboration on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health & HIV Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) and Report Writing

Hiring Office: UNFPA ESARO - SRH Unit (Youth Team)

Purpose of consultancy:

The COVID-19 pandemic is a situation affecting billions of lives across the world. Effective management of the pandemic partly depends on communication and people’s knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and practices about it. Moreover, to facilitate the management of a pandemic it is also critical to understand these linkages over time and how they impact children and young people’s lives. This necessitates the need for immediately available community-sourced data that can be captured in a time-series manner.

Therefore, a Time Series Community-Sourced Data for Rapid Assessment of Behavioral Changes, Coping Strategies and Evolving Needs During COVID-19 was conducted in the ESA region. The aim is that this data complements other existing programme and field data to provide social and behavioral insights to inform COVID-19-related policy and programming decisions.

In addition, UNFPA East and Southern Africa in collaboration with UNICEF within the 2gether for SRH programme is in the process of developing new content for adolescents and young people on Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV for the Internet of Good Things (IoGT) and developing new polls on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health & HIV Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) for the three mobile platforms that the two agencies work with U-Report, IoGT and Tune Me. The polls will be rolled out in February and March 2021. The collaboration will also include a reference into IoGT AYP SRH/HIV pages on Tune Me and vice versa for cross-promotion among young people.

The purpose of this consultancy is to analyse data collected in polls on Tune Me, synthesized with findings from the Internet of Good Things (IoGT) and U-Report as part of the UNFPA/UNICEF collaboration on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health & HIV Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC).

About the three platforms

Internet of Good Things (IOGT) is a mobile-ready website that enables access to educational and lifesaving information. IOGT is available for free, without data charges, in 65 countries through partnerships with Mobile Network Operators and Free Basics by Facebook. To date, more than 40 million users have accessed IOGT since launch in 2015. IOGT hosts content modules in up to 14 languages and is configured to support unique user profiles, surveys, polls, comments, and open-ended questions. In Eastern and Southern Africa, IoGT has engaged over 8 million users across 12 countries.

IOGT’s users include frontline workers, educators, parents, caregivers, youths, and adolescents. IOGT sites are managed by UNICEF Country Offices and contain localized content. This typically includes content on maternal health, hygiene, emergency information on diseases, HIV and sexual health advice for adolescents, and internet safety. In response to COVID-19, IOGT content now includes information on how to prevent and identify symptoms of COVID-19, clinical guidelines for frontline health workers, and support for mitigating the secondary impacts of COVID-19 including GBV resources, anti-stigma messaging, and positive parenting strategies.

Tune Me (Tuneme.org) is a mobile site (mobisite) developed and rolled out by UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), under its flagship youth programme “Safeguard Young People” (SYP) and in collaboration with Praekelt Foundation, Ford Foundation and DFID. Tune Me is designed for low- and high-end devices in environments where high data charges and poor network coverage combine to limit access to online services. Tune Me is available in seven countries in southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe and has already reached over 4million unique users.

Through social features and content designed to be youthful and interactive for users, Tune Me aims to equip adolescents with the information and motivation they need to make informed choices. Adolescents access Tune Me through the Internet browser on their mobile phone or through Free Basics by Facebook, which allows any young person with a mobile phone to access the platform without the limitation of data or Wi-Fi connectivity (Facebook, 2018). The Tune Me platform also includes a GPS clinic finder feature and an M&E system ‘built in’ which allows routine reviews of the reach of the mobisite disaggregate by age and sex including bouncing rates, preferred articles – to mention a few.

U-Report is a messaging programme for adolescent, youth and community participation, designed to address any issue that affects children and young people - by collecting information from them to improve policy and programmes, and by directly providing life-saving information to the most vulnerable in a timely way. U-Report is run in collaboration with government partners, UNICEF programmes, and local NGOs or CSOs. UNICEF country offices and our partners use it to share information, raise awareness, and collect quantifiable data on specific areas that impact the most vulnerable - including child protection, health, education and emergency response. Responses received are analysed in real-time, mapped and displayed on a public dashboard.”[1] It aims to engage adolescents/youth and provide a safe space for them to raise their voice and concerns.

U-Report is currently active in 11 ESAR countries engaging about 2 million adolescents and young people in the region. Through polls and other ways of engagement, U-Report is meant to:

1. Empower young people to share opinions on issues that matter to them;
2. Provide valuable information to community members and government and strengthen structures to ensure this information is acted upon;
3. Amplify voices for advocacy at local, national, regional, and global levels;
4. Use citizen data to improve accountability towards them and strengthen programmes of UNICEF and partners;
5. Administrate the creation and distribution of relevant and high-quality written or graphic content in the form of e-newsletters, and or social media messages, and campaign;
6. Influence positive behaviour change;
7. Ensure U-Reporters are given feedback on how their data is used, as well as information to allow them to act in areas of interest or concern;

Use social monitoring tools to share/provide health, education and protection information/services to improve or save young people’s lives through access to accurate and engaging content.

Scope of work:

The Data Analyst will work for a maximum of 30 working days:

Under the terms of the agreement that will be reached with the successful candidate, the consultant will be responsible for undertaking the following: 

Phase 1: Preparatory meeting

• The Data Analyst will attend a preparatory call with the partners on a mutually agreed date at the beginning of the consultancy to go through the TORs and proposed plan;
• The Data Analyst will suggest a reporting format for review and approval by the partners;
• The Data Analyst will critically review the consultancy objectives as well as all the background notes, and meeting materials to be provided by UNFPA and UNICEF.

Phase 2: Analysis of Data

• Analysis of data collected through the poll run on TuneMe, Internet of Good Things and U-Report
• Synthesis of the findings from all three platforms; Internet of Good Things, Tune Me and U-Report.

Phase 3: Finalizing and Reporting

• Production of a report discussing the findings of the analysis and conclusions.
• The report will include visualization of the data in the form of infographics.

Duration and working schedule:

The contract will start on 10 May 2021 or upon signing of the contract and will end on the 15th of June 2021. The consultant will be working for a maximum of 30 days within the timeframe of the contract.

Place where services are to be delivered: Virtually

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Supervisory arrangements: The consultant works under the guidance of the SYP Regional Coordinator and the SYP M&E Specialist. He/she will collaborate with the UNFPA SYP Communications Analyst and UNICEF partners.

Expected travel: None

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

Education:

University degree in information management systems/statistics, social sciences, demography, or equivalent qualification; 

Work Experience:

• At least 4 years of experience in the area of research, monitoring and evaluation, policy development, management information systems, data analysis.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English language;
• Knowledge and skills in statistical analysis and presentation of research findings;
• Experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health research will be an asset;
• Knowledge of demographic, political, social and economic conditions in East and Southern Africa;
• Familiarity with UNFPA work in the field of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights is an asset.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g. support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

UNFPA and UNICEF will provide expert and technical support as needed.

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any: 

The consultant will be expected to use their own equipment and facilities for the entire consultancy.

The deadline for applications is 29 April 2021, 5pm South African time.

• Submit your application with a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) and motivational letter to jobs.esaro@unfpa.org.  Please specify in the email subject “National Consultant - Data Analysis”.
• UNFPA does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training) or other fee, or request information on applicants’ bank accounts.
• UNFPA will only respond to those applicants in whom the Regional Office has further interest. In the event that UNFPA does not contact you by 30 April 2021, please consider your application unsuccessful.