Consultant - Child Protection at UNICEF

Job Number: 511306
Work Type : Consultancy

Major Tasks to be accomplished

• The consultant will be expected to plan and carry on the work in close consultation with the International Lead Consultant, the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist in charge of the portfolio on Public Financing for Child Protection and the key Governmental Partners, including Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning. The key objective of the consultancy being increased ownership of the findings of the Study on the Economic Burden of Violence against Children (with specific focus on Health and Education- related outcomes), carrying on close consultations with all the parties involved would be crucial to ensure use of the data and support for the related advocacy messages amongst stakeholders.
• The Economic Burden of VAC study, which the consultant will be expected to review and disseminate, is based on the following methodology:
  • Calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) by type of violence:Based on available data, primarily data from National VAC Survey (2014), information needed for the calculation of PAFs was extracted and compiled into a data set for analysis.
  • PAFs were estimated by major type of violence against children (physical violence, emotional violence, sexual violence), the overlap between types of violence against children, and for each of the major categories of impact. These categories are: 1) mental distress; 2) STI ( including HIV);3) self-harm;4) drug use; 5)smoking ; 6)problem drinking and 7)perpetration of interpersonal violence.
  • The PAF is an epidemiologic concept which is widely used to attribute the proportion of morbidity or mortality to a risk factor.
  • Three steps were applied to estimate PAFs: 1) estimate the prevalence of violence against children for each major type of violence; 2) estimate violence against children outcome relationships for each type of violence and each selected outcome; and 3) use the standard formula to calculate population attributable fractions.
  • Apply the costing model to the Nigerian context:PAFs represent a proportion, and are scaled from 0.0-1.0. For translation into public health policy and communication to stakeholders, PAFs are multiplied by a measure of total burden (e.g., deaths, DALYs, or economic costs) to estimate the burden that is responsible to the risk factors.
  • For example, a PAF of 0.4 would imply a 40% of the burden attributable to the risk factor.
  • If the total burden is $100 million, then $40 million is attributable to the risk factor.
  • For this study, two different estimates of total burden were used to provide multiple measures of the burden of violence against children in Nigeria.
  • DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Years).The non-fatal burden of health from child maltreatment is substantial. DALYs formally capture this by adding together morbidity and mortality. Morbidity is defined in terms of years lived with disability (YLD)”reduced health and mortality in terms of years of life lost (YLL) relative to the expected lifespan. DALYs are widely used in international health comparisons and may be especially valuable as a common metric. DALY estimates from the WHO were used. PAFs for each outcome were multiplied by the most closely corresponding category of the WHO GBD reports.
  • Economic costs: Economic costs are a desirable measure since they are influential for policymakers. They present a significant challenge for this application since reliable costs data are not available for Nigeria; cost estimates are also generally not available for Nigeria at the level of individual health conditions, a requirement for multiplying by the corresponding PAF. As an alternative, the DALY estimates will be monetized to indirectly estimate the costs of morbidity (and mortality). Regarding the estimate of the value of a DALY, this study used the method taken by WHO (2001), Brown (2008), and others, which assumes that a year lost to disability (YLD) is equal to the country's per-capita GDP; in other words, this is a human capital approach to valuing YLDs.
• The consultant will be responsible for developing a work plan with proposed advocacy strategy, simplify the methodology and review the findings of the Nigeria Economic Burden of VAC study so as to present them in a clear and concise manner to key stakeholders.
• He/ she will be expected to lead the presentation of findings in an open forum in close consultation and collaboration with they Government Partner.
• The consultant will be required to provide technical support to FMBNP to establish review committee through personal network with other Public Health and/or Economics experts in Nigeria.
• The consultant will support the consolidation of advocacy materials and participate as needed in key advocacy meetings to present the study findings and advocate for increased, sustainable and specific public investment in the Child Protection system in Nigeria on the basis of the findings and recommendations of the study.

End Product/Deliverables:

• Work plan submitted to UNICEF Nigeria with agreed strategy, tasks, deliverables and timeframe for the completion of the assignment.
• Powerpoint presentation and Word draft of simplified methodology and findings submitted to UNICEF Nigeria.
• Brief Advocacy strategy for the dissemination and use of key findings including key steps, expected results and timeframe submitted to UNICEF Nigeria.
• A Report of the Validation event completed successfully .
• Technical inputs provided to the consolidation of advocacy materials based on the Economic Burden of VAC Findings
• A Report of advocacy meetings attended and facilitated successfully in Abuja and the 4 Focus States (Gombe, Plateau, Lagos, Cross River) based on findings from the Economic Burden of VAC Study for Nigeria.

Qualifications or Specialized knowledge/Experience Required

• Advanced University Degree (Masters and above) in Public Health, Economics, Statistics or related science
• Over 10 years of research and advocacy experience in the field of health macroeconomics and statistical analysis
• Experience and expertise in the field of child welfare, violence against children or interpersonal violence as a public health issue is an asset
• Demonstrable Experience working and advocating with Nigerian government at Federal and/or State level is a strong asset
• Experience in undertaking research and advocacy on the subject matter for other international organizations is an asset
• Strong English report writing skills and a proven record of producing high quality research and advocacy materials
• Strong communication and advocacy skills - both oral and written
• Experience with UNICEF and/or other UN agencies is desirable
• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.
• Fluency in any of the local languages prevalent in 4 Focus States ( Lagos, Cross River, Gombe, Plateau) is an asset.