Chief Technical Adviser, Census

Note: This post is being re-opened to widen the pool of candidates.  All candidates who have already applied need not re-apply.  Thank you.

The Position:

You will guide and coordinate the technical and programmatic support to the planning, organization, execution and management of the forthcoming population census in Uzbekistan under the overall leadership of the UNFPA Representative in Uzbekistan, and in close coordination with the Population and Development (P&D) teams at the country, sub-region, region and HQ offices of UNFPA as well as other key development partners supporting the census. He/she will work closely with the management and the staff of the State Statistics Committee (SSC), the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Land Resources, Geodesy, Cartography and State Cadaster (GosComCadaster) and when needed other relevant government agencies and local authorities.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every

childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2018-2021), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and to end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

The Technical Adviser is a principled leader with high ethical standards and technical competency who promotes and transfers knowledge of the United Nations Principles and Recommendation to Population and Housing Census.

Job Purpose:

The United Nations recommends countries to conduct a population and housing census every 10 years. Census data is indispensable to form policy, to plan services for specific groups of people, and to enable the government to direct resources to where they are most needed. For such purposes, the information must be authoritative, accurate and comparable for all parts of the country.

Uzbekistan is one of a few countries which did not conduct census for several decades. The last census was conducted 30 years ago in 1989 when the country was part of the Soviet Union. Since that time population dynamics changed significantly, internal and external migration increased and diversified geographically.

On 5 February, 2019 the President of Uzbekistan signed a Decree to conduct population and housing census in the country in 2022. The Decree established the Republican Commission headed by the Prime-Minister as responsible for the census, and the Chairperson of the Statistics Committee as Deputy Chair. The Decree also approved the major phases, activities, milestones and responsible government agencies to successfully conduct, and report on results of the census. There is commitment to bring together all branches of the government together and successfully conduct census. (the Decree in Russian language is available at http://lex.uz/docs/4190061)

Nevertheless, census is still a complex and massive operation even for countries which regularly conduct it. Therefore, lacking such direct experience in census for over three decades the Statistics office and other relevant government agencies need to quickly strengthen their capacity to conduct a census of international standards and quality, as well as need experienced international adviser who would guide the whole of the government throughout the process.

Given the above, you will play a key role in the following areas:

You will ensure that the Population and Housing Census in Uzbekistan is undertaken with the highest quality and standards in accordance to the UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and House Census, results of which are put into use for thematic analysis, national programmes and plans as well as SDG monitoring.

You will ensure capacity building and transfer of knowledge and best practices in Population and Housing Census in line with UN Principles and Recommendations for Census to the Government of Uzbekistan, especially the SSC, GosComCadaster and other relevant ministries and academic institutions.

You will bridge communication, ensure transparency and mutual accountability between Development partners supporting census and the institutions in the Government of Uzbekistan responsible for and involved in the census.  

Education: 

Advanced University Degree, preferably PhD, in Demography, Statistics, Populations Studies, Social Sciences or other related discipline.

Knowledge and Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of relevant, progressive experience in the field of population and housing censuses: particularly;

Knowledge and experience in population and housing census preparation and implementation phases in developing countries especially in Central Asia;

Knowledge of programming for using new technologies, especially with digital census operations, would be an asset;

Knowledge and experience with census data processing software (CSPro, REDATAM), demographic data analysis (Mortpak, Fertpak, PAS), statistical packages (SPSS, Stata) and projection programmes (e.g. Demdiv, People, Spectrum, RUP);

Experience in the dissemination of census data and socio-demographic analyses to broad audiences as well as in motivating the utilization of data and results in development planning and policy issues;

Experience in providing on-the-job training to local staff on data quality, analysis and report writing;

Experience working with the United Nations System and demographic household surveys and censuses will be an asset, and

Communication skills especially for transfer of knowledge.

Languages:

Fluency in Russian is required, English is an asset