Result of Service
ESCAP seeks to engage an individual contractor in order to deliver on these commitments. Under the direct supervision of the Programme/Project Officer and general supervision of the Chief of the Population and Social Statistics Section (PSS), Statistics Division, the Individual Contractor will specifically undertake the following duties related to Project ID: 2023-SD-002: 1.) Assist with the collection and review of papers produced as part of the 2026 CRVS Research Forum and CART initiative; 2.) Produce a compendium of research papers produced as part of the CART and CRVS Research Forum 3.) Assist the responsible staff member with the CART initiative and other research related tasks. 4.) Support to other activities and presentations about the implementation of the agreements made as part of the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific and subsequent ministerial declarations 5.) Perform other duties as assigned.
Duties and Responsibilities
ESCAP has been supporting members and associate members to enhance their Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems to achieve universal civil registration and legal documentation of all vital events, and production of accurate, complete and timely vital statistics. In Bangkok, Thailand, November 2014, governments attended the first Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Asia and the Pacific and proclaimed the Asian and Pacific CRVS Decade, 2015-2024. Through the declaration of the CRVS Decade, governments marked 2015-2024 as a timeframe for realizing their shared vision that all people in Asia and the Pacific will benefit from universal and responsive CRVS systems facilitating the realization of their rights and supporting good governance, health and development. During the 2014 Ministerial Conference, Governments also adopted the Ministerial Declaration to “Get Every One in the Picture” in Asia and the Pacific and committed to focusing their efforts on improving national CRVS systems by endorsing the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific. The Regional Action Framework responds to a request for regional action in support of the improvement of CRVS systems and acts as a catalyst for Governments and development partners to focus efforts on meeting the targets of the three goals. During the Third Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, held in Bangkok in 2025, the region made additional commitments towards more resilient and inclusive CRVS systems though the Ministerial Declaration on a Decade of Action for Inclusive and Resilient Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific. There is a need to improve the ability and strengthen the capacity of practitioners to produce research, as evidenced by the first Asia Pacific CRVS Research Forum held in 2023. Writing up study protocols, seeking funding, collecting and analysing data, writing manuscripts, dealing with peer review, revision of papers and communicating and disseminating results are all essential components of taking a research project from conception to completion and into use, but capacity and time for such activities within most programme settings are often lacking and prevent quality research being carried out and used. There is also an issue in creating a critical mass of trained researchers to sustain an applied research programme. Many talented local individuals do not become involved in research even if they have the skills to do so which further reduces the research capacity or, alternatively, they go to study in universities abroad and often either do not return to work in their countries or move to the private sector. The CRVS Applied Research Training initiative provides modular research training courses for CRVS practitioners in the ECA and ESCAP regions. To move to the next module, a defined product of sufficient quality needs to be submitted. Each participant is also assigned a mentor or supervisor to support their research journey. Eventually, each participant will be expected to submit a paper to a peer-reviewed journal at the end of the course and to create appropriate dissemination products such as policy briefs, posters etc. Other key indicators of success, in addition to papers published, will be research disseminated at conferences and improvements in programmatic and service delivery. The applied research produced will be used to strengthen and improve CRVS systems through the production and uptake of relevant and targeted evidence. In order to support researchers, ESCAP is creating a compendium of research papers for publication.
Qualifications/special skills
Bachelor's degree in statistics, demography, sociology or related fields. Minimum 1 year of experience in the research and analysis of data and statistics; working experience in the United Nations system is preferable. Strong skills in statistical analysis (in R), research, writing and communication, with the ability to work in a diverse work environment.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
