Support to Civil Registration Reform in Tajikistan

TERMS OF REFERENCES (TOR) UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Title of the Assignment: Ethnographic and Behavioural Insight Research for Civil Registration

Description of Assignment: Conduct Action Research to review the barriers to Civil Registration in Tajikistan and who is affected most.

Programme title: “Support to Civil Registration System Reform in Tajikistan”

Period of assignment/services: The estimated duration of the assignment is 60 days, including at least 30 days in country (1 country mission with possible missions to the field) over 5 months.

I. BACKGROUND

The ‘Support to Civil Registration Reform in Tajikistan’ project builds on the outcomes of the Functional Review of Civil Registration Offices initiated by UNDP Tajikistan in 2014 under the ongoing ‘Access to Justice in Tajikistan’ project funded by SDC, and also based on extensive consultations with the state institutions at the national and local levels, UN Agencies, international and local NGOs, as well as the population. The project is in line with the Judicial and Legal Reform Programme of the Government of Tajikistan (2015-2017) and directly contributes to implementation of the ongoing reform of civil registration offices (ZAGS).

The functional review of the notary and civil registration systems in Tajikistan reveals important capacity gaps in the implementation of the ZAGS Reform Programme in general and in service delivery in particular, resulting from the weak implementation of policies and laws and lack of procedures and mechanisms for evidence based planning and decision making. These problems are especially prominent in remote and hard to access areas of Tajikistan whereas the service provision is complicated by different accessibility factors, such as distance to the district centre, variable capacities of ZAGS and Jamoat officers to provide high quality services and lack of awareness among the population, further making the service unavailable and/or unaffordable, in particular for women, children, persons with disabilities, stateless persons and else vulnerable population groups.

The Civil Registry System covers all vital statistics; however, large numbers of people in Tajikistan struggle with access to services and protection of their rights as a result of lack of access to registration. One of the biggest issues is considered to be in the area of birth registration. UNDP’s baseline study found that around 16.8% of children up to the age of 2 did not have a birth certificate, which was corroborated by an innovation mission by UNDP IRH in March 2018 – whereby a representative of the Health Statistics Institute stated that the gap between registered births and deaths in the health system was around 20%. According to the baseline study, about 40% of people do not register their children because the process is too time-consuming, and over 30% do not have the necessary financial resources to do it. The study found that in order to attend school, 1

children cannot be issued certificates of school completion without being registered. Registering a child after the first year of their life is a rather cumbersome process - requiring multiple travels to state institutions which carries associated costs. This further disenfranchises families that struggle with the financial burden of accessing civil registration service in the first place.

From existing background documents and the above-mentioned innovation mission, an innovative action research initiative is planned to improve the targeting, efficiency and effectiveness of the civil registration project’s interventions. These include:

a) Re-defining the problem statement with a new data-set (traditional /existing data combined with new non-traditional data). The potential to use existing data sources to understand the depth and characteristics of the problem on non-registration and the impact this has. This will require identifying existing datasets within the civil registry, household book, health information system, legal aid database, baseline study & socio-economic indicators. The data should be triangulated to understand geographic, urban/rural and socio-economic differences in the use of civil registry systems. These then should be matched with satellite imagery, using lights & terrain (subject to availability and access to data) as complementary sources of data for development and geography, respectively. b) Once the geographical differences have been identified based on the quantitative (data) analysis, there is a need to compare the results with qualitative analysis and observations (ethnographic research) to understand if the demographic infrastructures are in place or accessible to all groups and how different groups of population experience and perceive their limitations with regards to accessing these services. Ethnographic research into user-journeys, of people who have registered, others who have not registered their children, or some who have registered their children late, would provide insights into access for different parts of the population (i.e. women whose husbands are labour migrants, families in remote areas of the country) and an in-depth understanding of the type of constraints faced by different parts of the population and how future interventions could be tailor-made to address these issues. c) Applying behavioural insights to nudge registration of children and conducting randomized control trials to assess what type of interventions work better. The Behavioural Insights methodology will not only enable identifying the behaviour we would like to change for our policy challenge, but also help define targets that is specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-related. The application of behavioural insights has brought significant results in a diverse range of policy areas (i.e. council tax collection, organ donor registration, etc), and testing out some of these methods could generate insights into the most effective ways in raising the numbers of registrations. d) Working closely with UNDP staff to build in-house capacity to design, manage, carry out, and evaluate high quality impact evaluations and apply behavioural perspectives onto the project. The operationalization of the Strategic Plan calls for reformed core teams trained in hands-on application of analytical methods for policy design and evaluation. Through the close collaboration and learning opportunities, the capacity of UNDP Tajikistan staff will be enhanced with knowledge in applying behavioural insights onto policy design and impact evaluation relevant to civil registry reforms.

Following these 4 main steps UNDP is seeking to engage a company or companies to conduct this innovative action research to unlock the problem of low birth registration in Tajikistan.

II. SCOPE OF WORK The overall objective is to increase the effectiveness of efforts of the Government of Tajikistan in improving civil registration and birth registrations. The goal is to lower the birth registration gap by 20% in 5-6 jamoats (see below for preliminary list of jamoats) which register the highest discrepancy between official registration 2

and the health database by using a combination of ethnography, data innovation and nudging.

In particular, the interventions seek to answer the following two-part question: What specific constraints different parts of the population feel and experience, and what are the most effective means of addressing them?

Ethnographic Research The research company shall: • Develop a final methodology and workplan, review the defined problem statement (Scoping specific constraints different parts of the population feel and experience, and the most effective means of addressing them) and the target setting with proposed deliverables, consult with the relevant partners (Ministry of Justice); • Review existing documentation around the project, investigate potential data sources and data-sets (some data subject to availability), conduct at least two virtual consultations with the in-country project team to understand the context of the problem, gather inputs (virtual consultations or online surveys) from the different partners to comprehend the political economy of the problem on non-registration; • In-depth analysis of historic and cross-sectional data (quantitative and qualitative data) to understand trends, mostly at local and regional levels and identify factors that might influence target behaviours; • Adopt a combination of ethnographic research and ‘design thinking’ to understand the context and the perspective of the individuals whose behaviour we seek to change, engaging in field-work & prioritisation of at least 5-6 jamoats where field-work will take place; • Provide quality assurance and remote support to the ethnographers in the process of conducting the research; • Compile the findings of the research into a draft report, to be reviewed by the Project Team; • Design and finalise the report with the findings from the research, as well as prepare a dissemination workshop for government and concerned stakeholders.

Behavioural Insights • Develop a methodology, combined qualitative and quantitative data analysis report, final workplan and conduct consultations with the ethnographic research and Project teams; • Share concept for possible behavioural change insights and intervention options with Project team; • Review existing documentation, coordinating closely with ethnographic data innovation specialists to develop pilot interventions in selected jamoats; • Conduct field mission to Dushanbe - identify gaps in information, conduct workshop and field research with relevant partners on behavioural insights, design Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the pilot interventions; • Based on results of the piloting exercise, design full interventions – identifying geographic locations where interventions will be rolled out, design the experiments & review with Project team and stakeholders / partners; • Roll out at least three different experiments on how to address discrepancy in civil registry, in at least 5-6 jamoats with Project teams • Summarize findings from the qualitative and quantitative data analysis, monitoring, evaluation and learning, concluding with a dissemination workshop for government and concerned stakeholders.

Capacity Building • Develop a syllabus tailored to the needs of the team UNDP Tajikistan • Provide a list of minimum qualifications required to fully benefit from the capacity building • Conduct the capacity building activities • Evaluate the performance of the trainees 3

III. DELIVERABLES The following deliverables will be produced during the Action Research: 1) Ethnographic and Behavioural Insight Work Plan including and Inception report confirming proposed deliverables, timelines and products. 2) Conducting capacity building workshop on theory and practice for Behavioural Insight Work relevant to the project 3) Conducting Behavioural Insight interventions and measuring their impact in changing the behaviours of the citizens towards civil registry; 4) Ethnographic and Behavioural insight interim report describing research approaches, challenges, risks, preliminary results and highlighting areas of innovation. 5) Final Action Research Report including all results, conclusions, datasets, recommendations for scaling up and presentations.

IV. LOCATIONS The research should cover 5-6 jamoats from at least 2-3 districts and regions: # Jamoat District Region 1. Jamoat Chorgulteppa Rudaki District Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS) 2. Jamoat Esanboy Rudaki District Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS) 3. Jamoat Rohati Rudaki District Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS) 4. Jamoat Histevarz Bobojon Ghafurov District Sughd Region 5. Jamoat Yova Bobojon Ghafurov District Sughd Region 6. Jamoat Kulob Kulob district Khatlon Region 7. Villages /mahallas Abdulloev and Bokhtar city Khatlon Region Vahdat

Please note that the list of jamoats/location are subject to negotiation and confirmation during the planning stage (Work plan and Inception Report) upon awarding a contract. Nevertheless, the composition of districts (Rudaki, Ghafurov, Kulob, Bokhtar) and number of jamoats/locations remains the same.

V. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 5 years of previous experience at the international level conducting Action Research and analysis; • Previous experience of working in behavioural change and innovative projects especially ethnographic research and/or the behavioural sciences; • Proven technical, administrative and programmatic competencies for the delivery of research services which meet the requirements of this ToR; • Experience in working with international development partners (donors, UN agencies, etc);

VI. DURATION

The services under this sub-project shall be provided on or about July 2019 concluding in December 2019. 4

VII. REPORTING

Reporting to the Project Manager and Team Leader/Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights.

Annex A

Civil Registration Reform Project Baseline indicators

PROJECT INDICATORS

Project: Support to Civil Registration System Reform in Tajikistan

Outcome 1: The reformed civil registry system of Tajikistan is effectively managed and provides quality and affordable services to the population and qualitative vital statistical data for the State Outcome Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Indicator 1: Number of ZAGS offices that are fully functional, able to carry 0 (ZAGS) 3 ZAGS Offices out all activities required by law and regulations. Indicator 2: % of users of civil • 48,2% of users in rural areas registration services (disaggregated by and 48,5% of users in urban gender and rural/urban, including areas are satisfied with changes in absolute values) who are quality and affordability of satisfied with the quality and services of civil registry affordability of the civil registry system system. • 48,3% of men and 48,4% of women who used services are satisfied with quality and affordability of services of civil registry system. • 44,7% of users of civil increase from baseline registration services are by 20% satisfied with quality and affordability of services on registration of birth. • 52% of users of registration services satisfied with quality and affordability of services on registration of marriage. • 45% of users of civil registration services are satisfied with quality and affordability of services on registration of death Indicator 3: Discrepancy between birth data in civil registry and birth data in the 25,176 10,000 Ministry of Health and Social Protection Indicator 4: Number of procedures (i.e., 5 and more procedures 3 procedures individual visits, different documents (individual visits) required (individual visits) required, different authorizations for registration of civil acts, required for 6

needed) required for registration of civil submitted supporting registration of civil acts documents de-facto acts submitted correspond to de-jure list of supporting documents supporting documents (as de-facto correspond prescribed by the Law of the to de-jure list of RT ‘On State Registration of supporting Acts of Civil Status. documents. Output 1: Legislative framework for civil registration is compliant with international best practices Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Legislation on Civil Legislation is revised Registration exists, but is and adopted. outdated, inconsistent with Regulations to other laws, and not support Indicator 1: The legislation on civil compliant with international implementation of the registration, and the regulations best practices. There are legislation are drafted implementing that legislation, are no regulations to support and adopted. revised and adopted in line with the implementation of existing international best practices legislation on civil registration. National ZAGS Reform Programme was adopted in 2014. Output 2: New internal regulations defining roles, responsibilities and processes are applied by civil registry offices Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 No internal rules and Internal rules and Indicator 1: Internal rules and regulations regulations are regulations are developed and adopted elaborated and consistent with national legislation adopted Indicator 2: % of ZAGS implementing 0 40% ZAGS serving at the new rules and regulations least 30% of the population Indicator 3: Number of people served 0 40% ZAGS serving at by these ZAGS least 30% of the population Output 3: Civil registry offices staff have enhanced capacities to provide quality services to the population Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Capacity needs assessment Indicator 1: % of ZAGS staff responsible • Absence of systematic completed; training for civil registration system participated training for ZAGS staff in the programmes and in induction course prior to provision of Institute of Improvement of Qualification for workers of induction course for services and training on improvement of justice system. staff who are qualification once every 4 years. responsible for civil Frequency of participation of ZAGS staff registration in training and the coverage. developed. All ZAGS staff participate in

training once every 2 years (i.e. twice until 2019). Indicator 2: % of ZAGS offices that show improved conditions of work (infrastructure, equipment, 0 20% administration, access to rules and information, etc.)

Output 4: Civil registration and archiving of data is managed through an electronic system Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 • Digitization model adjusted to the specific conditions of the country developed • Piloting digitization of Indicator 1: Electronic systems for 178,000 Civil registration and archiving are 0 Registration records introduced and are functional across all (historical archives) ZAGS offices conducted • Information system CROIS2 deployed and functional in ZAGS Offices in districts and cities • Digitization model adjusted to the specific conditions of Indicator 2: % of paper-based records the country developed transferred to electronic archive 0 • Piloting digitization of 178,000 Civil Registration records (historical archives) conducted Outcome 2: The population of Tajikistan know how to have their vital events timely recorded in the civil registry system. Outcome Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Indicator 1: % of children under 2 years 84,3% of boys and 81,9% of 90% boys and girls old with a birth certificates girls under 2 years of age (disaggregated by gender) have birth certificates Indicator 2: % of untimely birth and • 80% births are registered on • 85% births are death registrations in ZAGS is time. registered on time. decreasing • 80% of deaths are • 85% of deaths are registered on time registered on time • 82,3% of households have • 85,3% of households Indicator 3: % of households have all all their vital events have all their vital their vital events registered registered including: events registered (disaggregated by sex of head of • 82,3% of male- and 81,9% of including: household and province) female-headed households • 85,3% of male- and 84,9% of female- 8

have all their vital events headed households registered. have all their vital • 75,6 % of households in events registered. DRS, 78,4% of households in • 78,6 % of households Dushanbe, 80,6% of in DRS, 81,4% of households in Khatlon, 88% households in of households in GBAO and Dushanbe, 83,6% of 90,2% of household in Sogd households in have all their vital events Khatlon, 90% of registered. households in GBAO and 93,2% of household in Sogd have all their vital events registered Output 5: Ministry of Justice makes use of new communication strategies to proactively incentivise the population to register their vital acts Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Indicator 1: A coherent, comprehensive Lack of communication Communication and inclusive strategy for strategy strategy developed communication has been adopted by and adopted by MoJ; Ministry of Justice Mechanism of implementation of Communication strategy developed. Indicator 2: % of population that are General population 70% of the population aware of the necessity of registering awareness is low (Inception are aware of the civil acts and of how to do so. Survey). More precise necessity of information TBD as part of registering civil acts the baseline survey to be and of how to do so conducted in 2016 Output 6: Outreach awareness raising campaigns by selected civil society organisations complement the Ministry of Justice communication strategies Output Indicator Baseline Target 2019 Indicator 1: % of identified population TBD residing in districts where isolated to be established by CSOs communities can be found are assisted upon identification of to obtain missing civil registration population with problems documents.