Research Consultant At Integrity Watch Afghanistan

BACKGROUND

Integrity Watch is an Afghan civil society organization committed to increase transparency, accountability, and integrity in Afghanistan.

The mission of Integrity Watch is to put corruption under the spotlight through community monitoring, research, and advocacy. We mobilize and train communities to monitor infrastructure projects, public services, courts, and extractives industries. We develop community monitoring tools, provide policy-oriented research, facilitate policy dialogue, and advocate for integrity, transparency, and accountability in Afghanistan.

Integrity Watch was created in October 2005 and established itself as an independent civil society organization in 2006. It has approximately 80 staff members and over 3000 volunteers. The head office of Integrity Watch is in Kabul with provincial programmatic outreach in Badakhshan, Balkh, Bamyan, Ghor, Herat, Kabul, Kapisa, Logar, Nangarhar, Parwan, Panjshir, Samangan, and Wardak.

Integrity Watch’s work has three major components: (1) Community Monitoring, (2) Research, and (3) Advocacy. Integrity Watch tries to encourage active citizenship and community mobilization through its programs. Our community monitoring work includes development of community monitoring tools, mobilizing and training communities to monitor infrastructure projects, education and health services, and court trials.

Our research work is focused on policy-oriented research measuring trends, perceptions and experiences of corruption and covering a wide range of corruption related issues including public finance management, illicit financial flows, extractive industries, anti-corruption institutions, justice institutions integrity and access to information. The objective is to develop new, ground-breaking empirical research in order to set the agenda, influence decision-makers, bring to the public attention non-documented and non-explored issues.

The aim of our advocacy work is to enhance Integrity Watch’s pioneering role in advocating for knowledgeable decision-making and informed public debate on corruption and integrity. Our advocacy work includes facilitation of policy dialogue on issues related to integrity, transparency, and accountability. We advocate for issues arising out of our community monitoring and research work and other general anti-corruption issues.

STUDY BACKGROUND

Integrity Watch Afghanistan aims to conduct research and an inspection study in the focus provinces from the COVID-19 health facilities, the study seeks to understand what defects could be ascertained from visual inspection, to understand if the facilities haven been used for the purposed identified in the contract documents and being maintained, as well as to highlight the problems in the services provided within these health facilities. The project aims to fight the existing corruption in the health facilities and provide policy recommendation to help the Government, donors and related stakeholders in making better decisions.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Consultant is expected to prepare assessment tools and analyse the data, author the report and also develop a policy recommendation on the health Sector construction. The Consultant should provide a policy-oriented reports within the agreed timeline, after which and based upon comments from senior management of Integrity Watch, representatives of Integrity Watch’s Board and other external reviewers, the consultant will finalize the report based on the substantive comments.

TASKS

· Prepare a plan and research or data collection tools for the data collection and for the project in general;

· Review and analyse all relevant quantitative and qualitative data from the inspection study and associated literature and research

· To analyse the data and prepare detailed and well-balanced reports.

· The reports should include an executive summary of the key insights form the whole report, a section that provide an overview of the Anti-corruption issues and problem related to Health Sector.

· Liaise closely at all the times with the Integrity Watch Head of Research

· Write up high-quality and professional reports summarizing the findings of the study.

· Deliver the draft report to Integrity Watch Afghanistan and collect the committee’s comments and feedback for improving the report

· Incorporate internal, peer, and board reviewer’s comments in the report

ANALYZE AND WRITE UP OF THE RESEARCHES

· The Consultant is obliged to write a report based on the inspected data.

· The Consultant is responsible for reviewing the related literature, analyze the data (qualitative and quantitative) collected by Integrity Watch research team in different provinces.

QUALIFICATION

The successful candidate will possess some or all of the following characteristics:

· At least a master’s degree in Public Health Management, Policy, and Good Governance and/or other related fields

· Minimum 5-7 years of experience in research and data analysis.

· Substantial experience of analyzing and evaluating quantitative indexes and indicators.

· Proven interest in issues of Public Health, integrity and anti-corruptions in governance in Afghanistan;

· In-depth understanding of the social, institutional, and political environment in Afghanistan, including an understanding of local power and Health sector.

· Deep knowledge of key issues in corruption at the Afghanistan level.

· Advanced quantitative and qualitative data analysis and synthesis skills.

· Solid research and analytical skills, understanding of corruption and of the major concerns and constraints of the Afghan government.

· Ability to develop evidence-based policy recommendations.

KEY DELIVERABLES

· Complete all activities within approved timeline of the project

· Finalized operational research/assessment plan and the data collection tools

· The draft report of the inspection study and the final report after the incorporation of comments.

TIMELINES

The lead researcher will work with the Research Department of Integrity Watch in order to manage and complete the research project. The Head of Research department will work closely with the researcher to help her/him complete the task.

The researcher is obligate to submit all the deliverables, complete and submit final document and other related information no later than the approved timeline.