The Position: Individual consultant for 2025 Census Thematic Report – Mortality Report

Reports to: Policy & Census Coordinator

Job Purpose

The UNFPA Country Office in Lao PDR is seeking an international consultant to provide advanced technical assistance and demographic expertise to the Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB) for the computation, validation, structural modelling, and narrative write-up of the official Population and Housing Census Thematic Report on Mortality, including a high-impact Policy Brief and interactive geospatial dissemination products.

Key Responsibilities

The International Consultant will be embedded within the LSB analytical structure via an Expert Pairing Modality, working 1-to-1 with a LSB counterpart and mentoring a dedicated cohort of 2–3 junior LSB experts to maximize institutional knowledge transfer. The scope of analysis is bound by the information captured in the 2025 PHC questionnaires.

Key Indicators and Analytical Dimensions to be Modelled:

• Infant and Child Mortality: Direct and indirect estimation of the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Child Mortality Rate and Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR).
• Adult and Maternal Mortality: Computation of Crude Death Rates (CDR) and Age-Specific Mortality Rates (ASMR).
• Life Tables and Life Expectancy: Construction of complete and abridged Life Tables for the national population, disaggregated by sex and geographical areas.
• Mortality Differentials and Determinants: Cross-tabulation of mortality indicators against background variables (mother’s educational attainment, household wealth quintiles, WASH access, etc.).
• Geospatial and GIS Mapping Integration: Integrating localized indicators directly with LSB’s GIS infrastructure to produce high-resolution choropleth maps.

Expected Outputs/Deliverables

• Output 1: An approved Inception Report detailing the methodological framework, life table equations, and indirect estimation techniques.
• Output 2: A complete set of populated dummy tables and the fully reproducible, clean SPSS/R syntax files.
• Output 3: A comprehensive, publication-ready Mortality Thematic Monograph.
• Output 4: A 2-to-3 page high-impact Policy Brief with actionable policy recommendations.
• Output 5: A final package of geospatial products for integration into the Census Atlas.

Duration and Place of Assignment

35 working days during the period (3rd August to 30th November 2026). The international consultant is expected to perform this work on a hybrid modality including remote working and on-site missions to Lao PDR.