Country: Belarus
Closing date: 31 May 2019
An in-depth Analysis of the Belarus National Survey on People with Disabilities, Minsk, Belarus
Type of contract:Individual International Consultancy
Duration:June 2019 – August 2019
As in other countries of Europe and Central Asia, children with disabilities constitute one of the most vulnerable and social excluded groups of children in Belarus who face multiple discrimination and their families - stigma. With Belarus’s ratification of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2016, people with disabilities, including children, in the country have received stronger attention and many social and economic policies of Belarus have been reviewed and amended with aim to fulfil their rights, tackle discrimination and eliminate disparities. However, limited data and evidence on the life of children with disabilities (and people with disabilities in general) has made it difficult to monitor the effectiveness of existing policies and programmes, and to understand the need for reforms.
The country’s political commitment to continue reducing IMR rates drives the efforts to increase the survival rates of children with extremely low and low birth weights, but in turn contributes to higher risks of children having special education needs and/or disabilities. At the same time, early identification of developmental risks in younger children also contributes to the rising rate of children with special education needs (176,000 or 9.4% of all children as of beginning of 2018). These factors in turn place higher demand on the health sector to strengthen age appropriate rehabilitation interventions and reconsider the typical medical approach, by introducing family-centered services.
Policy makers and specialists across sectors have faced difficulties in utilizing accurate data on disability at the national level other than sectoral administrative data, in which the definition of disability for children is not the same. Available data on childhood disability cannot be used for reporting on basic indicators, such as the prevalence of disability or demographic information of children with disabilities and their well-being, simply because such data is based on the medical model of disability. Additionally, the available data does not exist to assist for planning and budgeting that is child-centered, but also the methodology of how the data is collected and processed suggests the duplication of budgeting in different sectors. It is also important to note that previous national surveys did not include questions specifically designed to explore child functioning, thus the available data cannot represent the situation of children with disabilities and the barriers that hinder their inclusion and participation are also not examined.
To fill this considerable data gap, the National statistical committee of Belarus (BELSTAT) and UNICEF Belarus conducted the first ever national household survey on people with disabilities, the Belarus Disability Survey (BDS), from January 2018 to December 2018. The BDS is one of the first national disability surveys in Belarus and in the world to fully incorporate both the Washington Group (WG) Extended Set of disability questions for adults and the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module for the identification of persons with disabilities via a survey. The BDS revealed that 20% of children with disabilities have intellectual disabilities, which is increasing: being in 2017 the cause of primary disability for every sixth child (17%); versus in 2011 when intellectual disabilities only accounted for every tenth primary disability (10%). Adolescents are especially vulnerable with the proportion of adolescents aged 15–17 years with mental illnesses associated with stress being 55% in 2017 versus 40% in 2014.
The BDS showed that the majority of children and adolescents with disabilities have access to healthcare, transportation and culture services. However, for every third respondent (32%), physical exercise and sports are more likely to be partially or completely inaccessible. The main barriers are non-adaptation of services to the physical capabilities of persons with disabilities, lack of information about services for people with disabilities, and high prices and unwillingness of staff to assist persons with disabilities in overcoming barriers that prevent them from receiving services on par with others.
The BDS dataset is rich in content and comprehensive enough to be mined for generating new evidence on situation of children with disabilities in Belarus. As planned in the project between UNICEF Belarus and the Ministry of Health, “Prevention of child disability and social inclusion of children with disability and special needs” (funded by the Government of Russian Federation), UNICEF Belarus is now commissioning a secondary data analysis of BDS focusing on the situation of children with disabilities. The evidence generated from this secondary data analysis is expected to inform development and reform of laws (specifically the Code on Education, Law on social assistance to persons with disability and their social integration, upcoming governmental programmes for 2021-2025), policies and programmes as well as monitor the country’s progress toward national goals, sustainable development goals (SDG) and international commitments toward the rights of children, especially those with disabilities as guided by the CRC, CRPD and other international documents, such as the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care.
The assignment is to generate new evidence on the situation of children with disabilities, focusing on gaps in access to and quality of services and meaningful participation between children with disabilities and those without disabilities through an in-depth analysis of the BDS dataset.
The study findings will be used to (a) strengthen evidence-based advocacy for the rights of children with disabilities; (b) inform disability laws, policy and programming, including UNICEF Belarus’ country programme 2021-2025; and (c) assist Belarus in monitoring the implementation of relevant SDG-related outcomes, the CRC and the CRPD.
Tasks
Deliverables
Location
Days
3.1. Design of an analysis and tabulation plan (statistical excel template outlining required indicators, cross-tabulations, correlation and regression analysis from the BDS).
Inception report including:
Home-based
7
3.2. Statistical analysis of the survey (micro-) datasets to extract cross-tabulations and populate the template (working closely with BELSTAT specialists to extract data tabulations and/or direct analysis of datasets in STATA, SPSS or other statistical software package).
Home based
&
Within 10 days mission to Belarus
20
3.3. 3.3. Production of the report, including interpreting the data, creating summary tables and graphs with key results, descriptive analysis, write-up of methodology and key messages.
Within 10 days mission to Belarus
8
Total days of the assignment
30
This consultancy is under the supervision of UNICEF Belarus. Technical oversight guidance will also be provided by BELSTAT. During the assignment, the selected consultant reports directly to the ECD Specialist/Disability focal point of UNICEF Belarus. Within UNICEF Belarus, the deliverables will be additionally reviewed by Deputy Representative and Child Rights Monitoring Specialist. The deliverables will also be reviewed and endorsed by specialists of BELSTAT.
If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform his or her assignment, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract: In cases where travel costs have not been set out in the individual contract, the consultant and individual contractors are expected to submit, within ten days of completion of a specific travel, a voucher for reimbursement of travel expenses to the Operations section. Reimbursements shall only be processed if travel was duly authorized in the individual contract or by an authorized manager of the contracting section, in writing and prior to the travel. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.
Consultant will be offered a remuneration based on daily rate of a consultant.
The payments will be made upon the satisfactory performance on each deliverable and provision of final written report in English language.
Payment of fees to the Contractor under this contractor, including each installment or periodic payment (if any), is subject to the Contractor’s full and complete performance of his or her obligations under this contract with regard to such payment to UNICEF’s satisfaction, and UNICEF’s certification to that effect.
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and that UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. This ToR is an integral part of the contract (SSA) signed with the consultant.
Given the highly technical nature of work, this assignment requires the services of a senior consultant with extensive experience in working with large datasets, strong analytical and writing skills as well as expertise in disability, to draft the survey report summarizing key findings. In addition, considering that the survey tools on functioning and disability, especially the newly launched UNICEF/WG Module on Child Functioning, are used in Belarus for the first time, this assignment needs to be undertaken by an international consultant who is familiar with the WG tools, and with relevant experience in analyzing data on disability.
Qualifications and Experience:
Knowledge and Skills:
Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/
1. Technical proposal which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables (preferably less than 20 pages);
2. Samples of writing, preferably on similar topics;
3. Financial proposal (consultancy rate and travel costs).
4. Three references of similar consultancy assignments (if available).
5. Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee, travel and miscellaneous cost for this assignment as per work assignment.
6. CV/P-11 form(UN Personal History Form)
The applicants should submit their applications in English by closing date 31 May 2019, 12:00to be eligible for consideration.
Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=522328