Research Assistant-Human-Capacity, Vulnerability and Social-Protection Analysis in Two Arab developing countries

Result of ServiceThe individual contractor should provide the required research support on areas 1–4 to be delivered in a timely manner. The individual contractor should also help in finalizing all comments provided and should provide all statistical-software codes and data sets and programs related to the projects by the end of the contract in an organized manner. Work LocationUN-House ESCWA Expected duration3 Months Duties and ResponsibilitiesBackground Alleviating socioeconomic vulnerabilities in their various forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and the Arab region in particular. Between 1990 and 2015, income poverty increased in Arab States, where too many people, especially in conflict areas, are still struggling for the most basic human needs. Tracking, monitoring and alleviating vulnerability in ESCWA Member States is thus an important means of implementation toward achieving the SDGs, particularly the areas of basic services in which the 2030 Agenda aims for ensuring universal access. Given this background, UN ESCWA assists its member States to make progress on several targets under a number of SDGs, including 1 and 10. For example, under the SDG 1 on poverty reduction, the targets (1.2) “By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions” and (1.3) “Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.” Under the SDG 10 on reducing inequality, targets (10.2) “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status”; (10.3) “By 2030, ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequality of outcome including through eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and actions in this regard” and (10.4) “Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.” Over the past six years, the Arab region has faced a number of man-made and natural adverse shocks, not least the COVID-19 pandemic, recurring conflicts, financial crises, and natural and climate disasters. These have affected business and personal earnings, unemployment, living conditions, and vulnerability broadly. Existing evidence suggests that the elderly and chronically ill, the poor, migrants and refugees are particularly susceptible to socioeconomic consequences of the crises. This means that the socioeconomic effects of the shocks must be considered in tandem with the existing conditions that households face, as deprivations in various spheres of households’ wellbeing aggravate the hazard and impact of new shocks, and indeed mutually reinforce one another. Current work at ESCWA on vulnerability alleviation is based on money metric and multidimensional indices of human capacities, poverty and inequality. In this regard we aim to recruit an individual contractor to assist our work with mapping the overlap of money metric and multidimensional indicators of socioeconomic vulnerabilities in member States (tentatively Morocco and Somalia), and proposing policy solutions toward a robust and sustainable development and toward ensuring that nobody is left behind. The outcomes of this individual contract position will be shared with the beneficiary ESCWA member States (tentatively Morocco and Somalia) to enable them to formulate better policy measures addressing the projected vulnerabilities. Duties and responsibilities: Reporting to the Poverty and Inequality Project Coordinator, under the broad supervision of the Cluster Leader, the individual contractor will work closely with the teams of the Poverty and Social Protection Projects assisting in the following areas: 1- Collect, synthesize, and analyze data on socioeconomic vulnerabilities and poverty levels including trends across time. Contribute to the analysis of results including aggregation at regional level. 2- Help with drafting summary reports for the Moroccan and Somali policymakers that address the national and regional poverty, vulnerability and inequality incidence and trends, and approaches for their alleviation. 3- Help with updating the statistical codes that are needed in the vulnerability analysis, and money-metric and multidimensional poverty analysis for the Arab region, including as inputs to ESCWA’s online policymaking tools. 4- Assist in other related tasks as requested by the supervisor. Qualifications/special skillsA Bachelor's i degree in economics, statistics or related area is required. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of 1 year of professional work experience in in conducting quantitative analysis of data using statistical software, economic data analysis, presentation, drafting and visualization is required. LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, knowledge of English and Arabic is required Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas. Additional InformationRecruitment for this position is on a local basis. The incumbent is required to have the legal right to live and work in the specified working location. No FeeTHE 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.