Within the?project “Supporting the Western Balkan's collective leadership on reconciliation: building capacity and momentum for the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO)”,?UNDP is implementing a research and advocacy initiative which aims to create opportunities for young women and men from diverse backgrounds in the Western Balkans to identify common peace and security priorities and enter in constructive dialogue with their peers across divides, enhance their confidence in and dialogue with decision-makers and strengthen their capacity to become actors for change.

Under this heading, the initiative includes youth-led action research and advocacy, co-designed with and engaging young people across the Western Balkan 6 (WB 6; Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo,[1] Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia). The process will make available regionally comparable, youth-focused conflict analysis and data on youth perceptions on sustaining peace, serving to strengthen the evidence-base for RYCO and other peacebuilding programmes and activities. The research will inform youth-led advocacy to influence political agendas, policy and programmatic efforts and public discourse on youth’s role in sustaining peace. The initiative will help bridge and combine numerous peacebuilding efforts through active engagement with RYCO and UN projects in the design and roll-out process.      

The overall project is implemented with the joint participation of three UN Organisations of UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA and in close partnership with RYCO, with UNDP the leading the overall implementation and coordination of the joint project.?The implementation of this activity will be guided by UNDP who will closely coordinate inputs across the activities from a?task force, consisting of representatives of UN, RYCO and other stakeholders, and set up for the design and implementation of the study.?

[1] For the UN, all references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

For RYCO, this designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with Security Council Resolution 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

The study is centred around a regional?survey on youth perceptions, complemented with qualitative data collection. The survey has been designed by the UN with inputs from RYCO, a youth advisory group and a research advisory group. The survey will be rolled out by an external company with a sample size of 900 people between the ages of 15-29 in each WB 6.

The survey aims to discover issues that unite or divide different segments of young people; to identify factors and trends that can trigger or prevent conflict and insecurity; and to envisage potential scenarios for the region from the youth perspective. Moreover, the study aims to uncover young people’s current participation and interest in reconciliation, sustaining peace and security. This will be achieved by examining the following research questions:

• How do young people perceive the current situation, past and future in their societies and the Western Balkan region as a whole (economic, social, political, cultural, security)?
• What are issues and factors that they see as contributing to conflict or strengthening stability?
• Who do they see as the main players in creating just, peaceful and inclusive societies, and how do they see the roles of these players, including themselves?

The survey includes several thematic sections:

• Perceptions of and attitudes towards one’s own society, its institutions, prospects there, one’s values and their reflection in society
• Perceptions of and attitudes towards the Western Balkan region and the people who live there
• Attitude towards the international community and perceptions of its role in the region
• Perceptions and experiences of personal and community security and safety, the risk of armed conflict and potential for peace
• Perceptions and experiences of discrimination, bullying, hate speech, online and offline
• Perceptions of and attitudes towards gender norms, roles and expectations
• Perceptions of and attitudes towards reconciliation and the past
• Perceptions of economic and social mobility prospects as well as interest in regional mobility
• Attitudes towards political and civic participation and activism

The survey is scheduled to be rolled out in December 2020. Probability sampling will be applied allowing for the generalisation of the survey results on the total youth (aged 15–29) population in each WB 6. Sampling will?be stratified?along key socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, place of residence, nationality, citizenship, socio-economic background, and type of community (ethnic, religious, linguistic).?The samples will include booster samples for ethnic minorities.

The work of the statistician-data analysis consultant is part of the analytical work on the results of the survey. The consultant is expected to work closely with and under the supervision of the UNDP Youth, Peace and Security Specialist, and in collaboration with the experts designing the survey and analysing its results.

The consultant is expected to:

• Review questionnaire and get familiar with the context of the research and the research plan in discussion with UNDP and experts and submit a workplan for next steps;
• Review existing data sets on youth in the Western Balkans to assess their use to inform the current study and at the analysis stage;
• Provide expert opinion and quality assurance on the statistical validity of procedures used by the company and other technical matters;
• Construct indicators and provide, upon demand from the team, data analysis related to core indicators, and support the team in analysis and interpretation of data;
• Visualise the data in proposed tables and graphs to be used for the research report and communication materials and adjust them based on feedback;
• Work together on the research report for accurate interpretation and representation of data and analysis, review the final report.

The payments will be processed upon approval of the Youth, Peace and Security Specialist at UNDP IRH.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgement;
• Self-development, initiative-taking;
• Act as a team player and facilitate team work;
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
• Creating synergies through self-control;
• Managing conflict;
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;

Functional Competencies

• Excellent statistical, analytical and writing skills
• High IT literacy and ability to operate with on-line web-based applications
• Effective communication skills
• Proven ability to plan, to work under pressure and use time efficiently, identifies priority activities and adjust them as required
• Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards
• Cultural and gender sensitivity
• Knowledge and the ability to apply communication methods and techniques

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Master’s degree in the area of development economics, statistics, social science or related area.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant international work experience in data analysis using statistical techniques required;
• Proven knowledge of statistical packages (Stata, SPSS, etc.) for calculation of various statistics and of visualisations and representation of data is required;
• Proven experience working on peacebuilding research projects, supporting conflict analysis or analysing datasets related to governance or peacebuilding is required;
• Experience with the analysis of datasets on youth perceptions is an asset;
• Experience supporting data analysis in the context of the Western Balkans is an asset.

Language skills:

• English language proficiency required.
• Knowledge of languages spoken in the Western Balkans is an asset. 

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 35 points:

Criteria A (Minimum of 7 years of relevant international work experience in data analysis using statistical techniques required)– max points: 10;

Criteria B (Proven knowledge of statistical packages (Stata, SPSS, etc.) for calculation of various statistics and of visualisations and representation of data is required) – max points: 8;

Criteria C (Proven experience working on peacebuilding research projects, supporting conflict analysis or analysing datasets related to governance or peacebuilding is required) – max points: 8;

Criteria D (Experience with the analysis of datasets on youth perceptions is an asset) – max points: 3;

Criteria E (Experience supporting data analysis in the context of the Western Balkans is an asset) – max points: 3;

Criteria F (Language skills) – max points: 3;

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

Application Procedure

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form... www.un.org.al/sites/default/files/IC_Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx
• Latest personal CV, including past experience from similar projects or completed and signed UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SC) and Individual Contracts (IC) – Blank form Download here.
• Financial Proposal - specifying a total lump sum amount in USD for completion of the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal should indicate an all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template.  If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. http://www.un.org.al/doc/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc 
• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Merge your CV or P11, Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.