International Consultant to support the implementation of the Time Use Survey in Turkmenistan

Time Use Surveys (TUS) are internationally recognized statistical instruments that provide comprehensive information on how individuals allocate their time across various activities, including paid work, unpaid domestic and care work, education, leisure, social participation, and personal care. TUS data are critical for evidence-based policymaking and support governments in designing inclusive economic, labour, social, and gender-responsive policies.

In accordance with the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) Guide to Producing Statistics on Time Use[1]establishing a time-use methodology is paramount for ensuring that data are accurate, reliable, and internationally comparable. Aligning the national framework with global standards allows for the precise measurement of unpaid care and domestic work, which remains underrepresented in conventional economic statistics despite its substantial contribution to household well-being and national economies. Time-use data are also essential for understanding labour market participation, informal employment, work-life balance, and social inequalities.

In Turkmenistan, the growing demand for high-quality social and gender statistics underscores the need to establish a nationally adapted and internationally comparable TUS framework. Strengthening the national statistical system to conduct TUS will support the Government in advancing gender equality, labour market analysis, social policy planning, and SDG monitoring.

The proposed TUS represents a strategic investment in strengthening Turkmenistan’s national statistical system and advancing evidence-based policymaking aligned with national development priorities and international commitments. The initiative is being supported and facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), within the regional CISPop project, in close partnership with the Government of Turkmenistan, particularly the State Statistics Committee (TurkmenStat), with the support of key national ministries and organizations.

The implementation of a national Time Use Survey will therefore provide the Government with internationally comparable data for SDG monitoring; evidence for gender-responsive policymaking; data for valuation of unpaid household and care work; evidence for labour and social protection planning and programming; data for monitoring women’s economic empowerment; analytical foundations for family and population policies. The TUS will particularly contribute to SDG indicator 5.4.1: “Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location.”

The TUS will also support the implementation and monitoring of national commitments under:

• the National Action Plan on Gender Equality;
• the Sustainable Development Goals;
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);
• the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.

Furthermore, the survey will contribute to the broader agenda of strengthening the national culture of evidence-based policymaking by providing reliable and internationally comparable data for government institutions, researchers, development partners, and civil society organizations.

Against this background, the Government of Turkmenistan, with technical support from UNFPA and in collaboration with relevant national and international stakeholders, seeks to engage an International Consultant to support the Time Use Survey in Turkmenistan. 

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide high-level technical expertise and methodological guidance to support the preparation, sampling, piloting, implementation, analysis, and reporting of the National Time Use Survey (TUS) in Turkmenistan.

The consultant will support the Government of Turkmenistan and TurkmenStat in ensuring that the survey methodology, operational procedures, coding systems, analytical outputs, and reporting frameworks are aligned with international statistical standards and adapted to the national context.

Under the overall guidance of UNFPA and in close coordination with relevant government institutions, as well as international organizations and partners, the international consultant will provide technical assistance to prepare and support in organizing the National Time Use Survey (TUS) in Turkmenistan:

Phase I. Methodology Adaptation (3 working days)

• Assess TurkmenStat’s technical, operational, and institutional capacities relevant to implementation of the Time Use Survey.
• Provide technical and methodological guidance to UNFPA, TurkmenStat, and relevant national stakeholders on the design and implementation of the National Time Use Survey, including the adaptation and development of survey methodology and questionnaire, building on international best practices and established TUS methodologies, including UN Guidelines for the Time Use Survey[2], ensuring gender-sensitive and ethical approaches throughout the survey methodology.
• Develop and finalize household questionnaires, time diary instruments, respondent selection procedures, interviewer manuals, coding manuals, quality assurance tools, operational procedures and field guidelines.

Phase II. Sampling Design and Survey Planning (5 working days)

• Based on the agreed survey methodology and institutional capacity assessment, provide technical recommendations on sampling design and operational planning, including:
  • sampling frame requirements;
  • sample stratification;
  • sample size determination;
  • household selection methodology;
  • respondent selection procedures;
  • urban/rural representation;
  • regional representativeness;
  • weighting methodology.
• Develop and/or provide technical guidance on a sample design that allows for production of nationally representative and gender-disaggregated indicators, including SDG indicator 5.4.1.
• Develop a detailed implementation action plan for the survey based on TurkmenStat’s capacities. The action plan should serve as an operational roadmap of preparatory activities; pilot testing; recruitment and training; fieldwork; coding and data processing; data validation; analysis and reporting; dissemination activities.

Phase III. Training and Capacity Building (4 working days)

• Develop training materials for interviewers and training of coders, ensuring that all methodological and ethical considerations are reflected in the data collection process, and to guide and support TurkmenStat in the implementation of the training.
• Conduct online training sessions with practical guidance on interviewing techniques; diary completion procedures; coding methodologies; quality control procedures; ethical considerations and confidentiality.

Phase IV. Pilot Survey and Methodological Alignment (4 working days)

• Support organization and implementation of the pilot survey.
• Provide technical supervision and methodological guidance during piloting activities.
• Assess pilot survey results and identify methodological or operational gaps.
• Revise and finalize survey instruments and operational procedures based on pilot findings.

Phase V. Field Work Advisory Support and Quality Assurance (7 working days)

• Provision of technical support and practical guidance to the national survey team during fieldwork.
• Troubleshoot and advice on how to overcome any challenges and difficulties in the implementation of the survey methodology and data analysis.
• Assist in monitoring data collection processes and quality assurance activities, and support in preparation of fieldwork monitoring reports.
• Develop tabulation plans specifying the exact layout of core working tables with necessary disaggregation such as by sex, age groups, urban/rural location, and day of the week etc.
• Provide advisory support to TurkmenStat in coding, cleaning of survey data and preparing a database in line with international standards.

Deliverable 1: Comprehensive TUS methodological package developed and finalized in consultation with UNFPA, TurkmenStat and relevant stakeholders, including survey methodology, household questionnaires, time diary instruments, respondent selection procedures, interviewer and coding manuals, operational procedures, field guidelines, quality assurance tools, ethical considerations framework by July 20th, 2026. 

Deliverable 2: Sampling design and survey implementation framework developed, including recommendations on sampling frame, sample stratification, sample size determination, weighting methodology, regional and urban/rural representation, and preparation of a detailed implementation Action Plan and operational roadmap covering preparatory activities, pilot testing, recruitment and training, fieldwork, coding, data processing, data validation, analysis, reporting and dissemination activities by July 31st, 2026.

Deliverable 3: Training tools and materials developed; training sessions conducted for interviewers, supervisors, coders, analysts and data processors by August 21st, 2026.

Deliverable 4: Pilot assessment conducted; revised and finalized survey instruments and operational procedures submitted based on pilot findings by September 21st, 2026.

Deliverable 5: A TUS Tabulation Plan detailing tables for SDG 5.4.1 indicator disaggregations, active vs. supervisory care tables, participation rates, and average time spent matrices crossed by sex, age, region, and day-of-the-week type by May 10th 2027.

Deliverable 6: Technical support and guidance provided during fieldwork implementation, including preparation of fieldwork monitoring, quality assurance and coding by May 10th 2027.

The UNFPA Turkmenistan Head of Office and Programme Coordination Associate will monitor the International Consultant’s work through reviewing submitted materials. The consultant will provide an update on progress by email, on challenges encountered and support needed on a weekly basis or ad-hoc upon need. 

Ethical Considerations

UNFPA requires its consultants to adhere to ethical principles and standards when doing research. The selected consultant should clearly identify any potential ethical issues and approaches, as well as the processes for ethical review in the inception report.

National Ownership

The involvement of appropriate national partners will be a critical condition for the development of all the consultancy outcome materials in ensuring stakeholder ownership and its subsequent utilisation.

• Advanced university degree in Demography, Statistics, Economics, Sociology, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or a related field is required.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in the design and implementation of large-scale household surveys, social research, statistical analysis, monitoring and evaluation, or evidence-based policy development.
• Proven technical expertise in the development and implementation of household survey methodologies, such as  MICS, DHS, or similar large-scale household survey datasets is mandatory.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and/or implementing Time Use Surveys (TUS) or comparable nationally representative household surveys is required.
• Strong knowledge of international standards recommendations on production of time use statistics 
• Proven experience in the use of statistical softwares (such as STATA, SPSS or R) for the analysis of Time Use Surveys
• Proven experience in development of analytical reports and ability to translate complex statistical findings into clear, policy-oriented analysis and recommendations for government and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated experience in training and capacity-building of national statistical staff, interviewers, coders, analysts, and data processors.
• Experience working in Central Asia or similar cultural contexts is an asset
• Experience working with national statistical offices, government institutions, UN agencies, or other international organizations is highly desirable.
• Fluency in oral and written English. Knowledge of Russian is highly desirable.

The consultancy fee will be calculated based on the P-4 level of the of the UN Salary Scale for Professional and higher categories effective 1 January 2026 and will be paid in two installments upon quality provision of the deliverables as follows:

Instalment 1 upon completion of Deliverables 1-4 by September 21st, 2026 (16 w/d)

Instalment 2 upon completion of Deliverables 5-6 by May 10th, 2027 (7 w/d)