Data Specialist Consultant

Background

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. In Lebanon, UNFPA Country Office is at the forefront of addressing gender-based violence, reproductive health, and population dynamics within the framework of national framework and United Nations Strategic documents in Lebanon. 

In the wake of Lebanon’s protracted poly-crisis, the national data landscape has become increasingly fragmented; the historical absence of a census, combined with the recent erosion of technical capacity within public institutions, has created a "data vacuum" that obscures critical trends in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and youth migration.

Lebanon operates in a unique and challenging data environment, primarily characterized by the absence of a comprehensive Population and Housing Census since 1932. This nearly century-long gap has created a reliance on estimated projections, ad-hoc surveys, and fragmented datasets to inform national policy and humanitarian planning. The national statistical system faces significant structural constraints, including outdated frameworks and limited resources, which have been further exacerbated by the multifaceted economic and financial crisis that began in 2019. Consequently, the “data ecosystem” in Lebanon is often siloed, with varying standards of interoperability between government bodies (such as the Central Administration of Statistics - CAS), UN agencies, and civil society.

Within the 5th Country Programme Document (CPD 2023–2026), UNFPA Lebanon positions high-quality data as a critical enabler for achieving its three transformative results: ending unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths, and ending gender-based violence (GBV). The third output of the CPD focuses on the Strengthened national statistical system to generate and disseminate high-quality and timely multisectoral, disaggregated and harmonized data for evidence-based policymaking, at national and subnational levels, and for SDG monitoring. The targets under this output include establishing functional monitoring systems to track ICPD, SDG, and voluntary ICPD+25 commitments. This system strengthening extends to the national infrastructure, where it includes the development of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) enhancement framework. UNFPA has published a Situational Analysis on the CRVS system in Lebanon, which  comprehensively assesses Lebanon's Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system, aiming to identify modernization strategies and urgent priorities from diverse stakeholder perspectives. The findings and recommendations are intended to support the enhancement of this system in Lebanon, and UNFPA Lebanon currently aims at implementing recommendations of this report.

Parallel to system building, the CPD focuses on capacity development and strategic analysis. The objective is to capacitate three governmental entities to generate, analyze, and disseminate high-quality administrative population data. Moreover, UNFPA aims at supporting the Central Administration of Statistics in Geospatial Population Estimates.

Therefore, UNFPA Lebanon aims to recruit a Data Specialist to support in the implementation of the aforementioned support areas.

Scope of Work

Under the overall supervision and guidance of UNFPA Lebanon Head of Programmes and in close collaboration with the Population and Development focal point, the consultant is expected to deliver the below activities:

• Operationalize the CRVS Framework: Lead the technical implementation of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) enhancement plan. This includes coordinating with the Central Administration for Statistics, Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, and Ministry of Public Health to harmonize vital records and improve the timeliness of birth and death registration.
• Conduct an analysis of  the business process of CRVS in Lebanon, including the integrity of the files and the archives and the completeness of registration of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
• Support CRVS stakeholders in the collection of disaggregated administrative data, through capacity building, development of administrative templates and following up on its use at national and subnational levels.
• Conduct an assessment of birth and death registration for the CRVS system and support MoPH Statistical Department to undertake an in-depth assessment of the quality of data related to causes of death.  
• Conduct analysis of big data sources i.e. 2023 MICS to produce analytical products on SDG and ICPD related topics.
• Government Capacity Building: Assess, Design and deliver training curricula for three (3) key governmental entities (e.g., CAS, MoPH, MoSA) on administrative data generation, analysis, and dissemination, and other needs, as requested by them.
• Geospatial Population Estimates: Support technically the implementation of the recommendations of the Geospatial Estimates mission which includes mapping the available datasets and checking feasibility to utilize for Geospatial Population Estimates
• Support in the development of Concept Notes for Data strengthening including National Surveys, such as the Census of Dwellings, Buildings, and Establishments.

Duration working schedule: March 15 to September 15, 2026

Milestones & Deliverables

• Conduct a capacity assessment for relevant statistics units in ministries
• Develop capacity development materials and conducting the training as per the outlined priorities in the assessments

(Inception Report and Methodology is submitted, Capacity Assessment Reports for Ministries is submitted, Materials for training for ministries is submitted) 

• Carry out the trainings to selected ministries
• Test the feasibility of available datasets in Lebanon to conduct Geospatial Population Estimates
• Conduct analysis of big datasets (such as MICS 2023) to analyze the SDG and ICPD implementation.

(Training are carried out and training report with pre and post test is submitted, Available datasets for conducting geospatial population estimates are tested, Analysis report of SDG and ICPD commitments is submitted)

• Support in the harmonization of the CRVS data
• Conduct an analysis of  the business process of CRVS in Lebanon
• Develop  administrative templates for disaggregated data collection and provide necessary capacity building
• Provide technical support for MoPH on the Quality of Data

(Report of CRVS coordination meetings are submitted, Analysis of the CRVS business process submitted, Administrative template and capacity building reports submitted, Report on technical support to MoPH is submitted, Final consultancy report is submitted)

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of UNFPA Lebanon Head of Programmes

Education: 

• Post graduate degree in Statistics, Demography, Sociology or other related discipline. 

Experience: 

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in data collection, analysis, visualization, dissemination, database development and maintenance and research within an international/resource-poor setting
• Strong knowledge of database development, management, structures and methodologies
• Strong competencies in the use of statistical packages including SPSS, STATA, SAS, and R
• Strong data visualisation skills, including GIS PowerBI, and other similar applications is required. 
• Mastery of methods and techniques for monitoring and evaluation, data collection, compilation, quality assurance, and analysis of information derived from a variety of sources (e.g. DHS, MICS, population census and routine programme monitoring)
• Ability to provide advice and guidance on indicators, monitoring, quality assurance, analysis, interpretation and use of data.
• Experience with programming languages such as Python, R, SQL is an advantage
• Experience leading projects with a strong user-engagement component
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Excellent report writing and oral presentation skills
• Familiarity with the UN system desirable
• Strong writing and communication skills.
• Fluency in Arabic and English
• Excellent writing skills
• Current/Previous experience in working with governmental and public institutions