Consultancy to conduct a mapping exercise to improve data collection mechanisms to strengthen disaster-related data and statistics in Comoros

By 30 June • Concept note for mapping, describing the methodology of the work, execution schedule, and key actors of potential interest (Output 1) By 30 August • A draft disaster data catalogue and profile report with the presentation of the NSS actors consulted and submit it for review and validation by INSEED, and UNSD (Output 2) • Presentation to key stakeholders for review and feedback (Output 3) By 30 September • Final disaster data catalogue and profile report, including recommendations for strengthening and standardizing disaster data collection mechanisms and tools, and ensuring consistency and comparability across agencies and jurisdictions (in close consultation with national stakeholders and under UNDRR guidance to align with global standards). The report will also identify a preferred national or open-source platform to support data management and reporting (Output 4) • Final report on the progress of the activities, including practical steps for building national capacity to generate, update, and institutionalize SDG 11.5.1 and 11.5.2 (Output 5) Performance indicators A clearly defined methodological approach. Quality of the meeting materials and documentation provided with every output. Degree to which reports are reader-friendly, concise, clearly structured and written. Timeliness of delivery of outputs.

The consultancy is home-based with regular phone and web conference meetings with staff members of INSEED, UNSD, UNDRR, DGSC, Volcanic Observatory of Karthala and other partners and stakeholders, as well as in-country visits to partners and government offices. The consultant must be available for regular technical meetings to monitor the progress of the work with the INSEED and the UNSD team. Travel or return travel time to the headquarters of the United Nations, INSEED or NSS member institutions, as well as related expenses, are not part of the consultation.

The consultant will work in the period between 15 June 2026 and 30 September 2026.

Background Data and statistics are essential in understanding, managing and mitigating the economic, environmental, and human and social of external shocks and stressors and for designing appropriate responses and accelerated actions to put countries back on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ten years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, countries still rely on out-of-date and incomplete statistics to inform implementation and review progress. Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in particular, are facing a unique set of challenges. These are well documented and are underlined in the recent “Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States (ABAS): A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity”, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), the Paris Agreement, and the 2018 OECD report “Making Development Co-operation Work for Small Island Developing States”. To support SIDS to address their data capacity challenges, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) launched the Data for SIDS (DATAS) initiative to support SIDS in strengthening the capacities of national statistical systems to produce and disseminate better and more timely data and statistics to inform decision making through four components: national data governance and coordination, national data production and availability, national data dissemination and reporting, and SIDS to SIDS collaboration and experience exchange. It draws from the Data for Now initiative approach, which in particular emphasize country ownership and multi-stakeholder collaboration to fill critical data gaps and meet policy needs. Comoros joined DATAS in 2025, with the National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) serving as the national lead for project implementation. INSEED has strongly advocated for shifting toward administrative data systems rather than relying primarily on surveys and censuses. The latter are costly and, in the context of declining resource availability, increasingly difficult to carry out. The DATAS project is therefore timely and directly addresses a national statistical priority. In this context, INSEED, together with other relevant stakeholders in the national statistical system (NSS), identified disaster-related data as a priority area. To support the generation of high-quality data for efficient and timely decision-making in disaster response and early recovery, and to address challenges such as the limited availability of early warning systems and the lack of systematic data sharing, INSEED has established a dedicated working group bringing together relevant NSS members working in this area. The group is tasked with identifying a set of priority indicators aligned with the country's information needs, assessing the availability and quality of the data sources needed for their production, and ultimately producing the corresponding estimates and analysis. Within the framework of the working group, the stakeholders involved identified SDG indicators 11.5.1 (number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population) and 11.5.2 (direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product) as priority indicators. Work assignment In close collaboration with UNSD, INSEED, the working group, and other relevant national stakeholders, the consultant will undertake the following tasks: 1. Develop a concept note describing the methodology, implementation schedule, and an indicative list of key data providers or custodians to be included in the data catalogue and profile report relevant to estimating the direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product; and the number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons. 2. Assess the methodology and tools for data collection to ensure consistency and comparability across agencies and jurisdictions, aligning them with SDG and Sendai Framework methodologies (targets A, B, and C of the Framework) to enable both global and national reporting where applicable. 3. Identify stakeholders across the NSS involved in the data production system related to the two indicators and make an inventory of the challenges encountered in reporting data. 4. Identify, in collaboration with INSEED and other relevant national agencies, additional available sources of data on disasters and assess their relevance and quality for production of indicators. 5. Develop a profile of each data source identified, including information on format, structure, topics covered, levels of representativeness, levels of data disaggregation, frequency of data collection and updates, the data quality, and other relevant attributes. The consultant will draw on relevant sections of the existing tools, such as the Data Readiness and Maturity Assessment Tool developed under DELTA Resilience-UNDRR. 6. Assess the data collection mechanisms and/or platforms used to collect data from various sources and make recommendations for improving data collection and estimation to ensure completeness, accuracy, timeliness and disaggregation. The assessment should also include recommendations on how to calculate missing data and propose strategies to scale up methodologies to cover missing information relevant to the two indicators. 7. Draft a disaster data catalogue and profile report, in consultation with national stakeholders, and submit it for review and validation by INSEED, Direction Générale de la Sécurité Civile (DGSC), Volcanic Observatory of Karthala (as the National Sendai Focal Point), UNSD, UNDRR and others as relevant. 8. Present the disaster data cataloguing, profiling, and diagnosis report for feedback and validation to key stakeholders. 9. Develop capacity for the calculation and estimation of disaster-related indicators, particularly SDG 11.5.1 and 11.5.2. 10. Review the current data sharing environment among all stakeholders and propose recommendations to enhance sustainable, efficient, and secure data sharing and indicator computations. 11. Finalize the disaster data catalogue and profile report incorporating feedback from INSEED and UNSD and provide recommendations on data collection mechanisms and preferred national platforms. The deliverable should also include practical steps for building national capacity to generate, update, and institutionalize the disaster-related indicators SDG 11.5.1 and 11.5.2. 12. Carry out other related tasks as identified by the INSEED and UNSD teams.

An advanced university degree in economics, statistics, mathematics, environmental sciences, social sciences or a related field, with five (5) years of experience in data analysis and/or data management. A bachelor’s degree and two additional years of experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree. Experience working with the national statistical system, with a particular focus on disaster data, is required. Experience working with data disaggregated by geography, sex and specific population groups of interest for sustainable development is required. Full command of spoken and written French is required. Experience working on issues relevant to environmental change and/or disaster risk reduction/management is desirable.

Full command of spoken and written French is required. Full command of spoken and written English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an advantage.

Not available.