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Background:
The Institute for Population Studies (IPS), formerly the Demographic Unit, was established in 1973 through the assistance of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the then Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA) and the University of Liberia. Prior to, during and after the 15-year Liberian conflict, UNFPA trained faculty members at Masters and PhD levels (from 1974 to 2007) before the Fund’s global training programme was abolished. However, a country-specific training at projects levels are still being funded by UNFPA. 

The strategic focus is for UNFPA to provide a medium-term support to build national capacities for data analysis, dissemination and utilization. This three-year planned intervention includes the support to the assessment of national and country plans for evidence of integration of gender disaggregated data to address the needs of women and youth, capacity building of national institutions for data management including gender statistics and support to the implementation of the National Population Policy and other sectoral policies. Some key support areas are to assess the needs of the IPS to improve the Institute’s teaching and research capacity, including revision of curriculum and development, learning environment, faculty/staff, teaching and research in demography and statistics. The support also covers the training of middle level statisticians, researchers, gender and youth coordinators and demographers from sectoral ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organizations on data collection, analysis and disaggregated statistics and utilization for mainstreaming in development framework.

The IPS/UL is therefore looking for a highly qualified needs assessment and curriculum development consultant to review the curriculum of the undergraduate degree demography at the University of Liberia for standardization.
 

Objectives
The main objective of this consultancy is to: 

  • Review the existing human, material and financial capacity of the IPS for the training of demographers and statisticians;
  • Review the current curricula of the undergraduate degree in demography (that was established in 2009); and ensure courses offered are relevant and address key international standards of demographic education at the undergraduate level;
  • Review the research capacity of the faculty; and
  • Review the teaching and learning environment at the IPS.

Scope of work:

  • Conduct needs assessment and review of the curricula framework (for undergraduate degree programme in demography to gather inputs/feedback from learners, facilitators and other relevant organizations);
  • Utilize feedbacks to improve the draft curricula with focus on competency, market relevant and international standards of statistics education;
  • Working with curriculum revision taskforce, lead the writing of draft reviewed curriculum framework;
  • Conduct one workshop (final) consultation with UL and other partners, and provide recommendations;
  • Produce the final assessment report and present it to the relevant UL Authority;
  •  Advise and recommend, to the IPS key reference textbooks, and learning resources.  

Duration:

The duration of the assignment:

  • 7 weeks (42 days), covering 6 days a week.

Delivery dates:

  • See attached ToR for details

Required Expertise and Qualification:

  • Must have Ph.D./Master degree in Demography, Population Studies, Statistics, Applied Statistics, Economics, Applied Mathematics, Actuarial Science from a reputable university;
  • Must have experience in similar assignment, particularly at the university level;
  • Should be at least a senior lecturer in Demography, Statistics, Econometrics, Applied Mathematics, Actuarial Science/ in their current university or had been in their previous university for those not currently in academia;
  • Have published at least 1-5 articles in leading peer-reviewed statistics, Economics, Applied Mathematics, Demography, development studies or Actuarial Science journals; 
  • Excellent knowledge of statistical computing packages (SPSS, STATA, Python, and R, Mat lab) as well as statistical digital competencies in LaText; Mathematica, Demproj, Mortpark and Maple will be advantageous;
  • Experience in curriculum development is desirable;
  • A solid background in computer science especially in data science and machine learning will be an added advantage;
  •  A thorough understanding of higher education administration as demonstrated by a university administrative position(s) being held or previously held is highly desirable; and
  • A demonstrated experience as demographer / statistician in industry or as official demographer / statistician will be a great advantage.

 How to Apply & Deadline:

Candidates should submit their applications indicating post, attach an updated CV, or a completed United Nations Personnel History Form (From P.11) obtainable from the UNFPA website at  www.unfpa.org

ALL APPLICATIONS, WITH RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS, SHOULD BE EMAILED TO: hr.liberia@unfpa.org   The last date to receive applications is 15 April 2021. UNFPA will only respond to applicants who will meet the stated job requirements.