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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, HOPE

Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Roster for Knowledge, Learning and Communication Consultants on Climate, Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction (CEED)

Section/Division/Duty Station: NY HQ - Remote

Duration:, 16 October 2024 to 15 October 2027

 About UNICEF

 If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

 As part of UNICEF’s 2022-25 Strategic Plan and its Results Framework, disability inclusion is anchored as one of the guiding principles and disability inclusive programming is a cross cutting priority ensuring disability inclusion across the organizational mandate.  The new UNICEF Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy (DIPAS) 2022-2030 will guide the organization’s work on disability in both programmes and operations.  It's linked to UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, its Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS), and the UN 2030 Agenda.  The DIPAS specifically outlines UNICEF’s priorities for children with disabilities and provides strategic direction and a framework for accelerating disability-inclusive programming and results at scale, based on evidence, lessons learned and good practices. 

In order to scale up and mainstream disability inclusion across all its work, the Disability Section, aims to establish a roster of pre-vetted and technically qualified individual consultants to support this expanding area of work in headquarters, regions and countries.

 Purpose of Activity:

Advocating for and carrying out child-centred action on climate change, environment, energy, and disaster risk reduction (DRR) (CEED) benefits all targeted SDGs, and UNICEF has a unique comparative advantage not only to help reduce impacts on children/young people, but to also enable them as key agents of change—a true opportunity for a paradigm shift in countries’ socio-economic trajectory post-Covid. This is a time of great opportunity with growing child, adolescent and youth activism aimed at ensuring that economic recovery and development is sustainable, disaster and climate-smart, and environmentally sound. UNICEF is supporting this through well-established partnerships and innovative programming across multiple key sectors including WASH, education, health, nutrition, child protection, and social policy. As UNICEF carries out its Sustainability and Climate Action Plan 2023-2030, it is critical to continue to learn from what is working in countries around the world, to take stock, and to share good practices on CEED topics. Doing so will maximize UNICEF’s support to countries and communities with the best practical solutions that achieve ambitious targets for children globally. While a challenge remains to systematically collect results and evidence across the organization, given that CEED topics are cross-cutting areas and may not be adequately or explicitly addressed across sectors, having stronger knowledge management systems can help ensure results and evidence will be captured. Knowledge management (KM), learning, and communication are vital for advancing UNICEF’s open, inclusive learning culture underpinned by the cultivation and implementation of formal internal and external structures and incentives. The main purpose of the Knowledge, Learning and Communication Consultant on Climate, Environment, Energy and DRR roster is to build a database of consultants who can respond to future activities specific to CEED and SCAP activities through a proposal process that would go to people on the CEED roster. The roster participants will support ongoing knowledge management learning and communication efforts to foster and support an environment for staff to capture, organize, share, and use CEED knowledge that improves organizational performance toward development and humanitarian results for children. For the roster, UNICEF is seeking highly motivated, organized, and innovative thinkers. Future tasks will include activities connected to 4 pillars of knowledge management within UNICEF that will drive CEED’s 2023 KM strategy: knowledge generation; knowledge customization; communication, advocacy and use; and capacity building.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

 Objective 1: Contribute to knowledge management and learning

Deliverable 1: Research, write, develop and/or produce knowledge materials, such as technical reports, infographics, videos, briefs, white papers, handbooks, data platforms, toolkits, etc

Deliverable 2: Contribute to knowledge management strategic delivery, including assessing knowledge gaps, developing implementation plans and communicating with UNICEF’s global KM network.

Deliverable 3: Support the design of UNICEF CEED HQ-produced knowledge products to ensure quality in branding and design production

Deliverable 4: Produce high-quality webinars, managing technical delivery and facilitation as needed.

Deliverable 5: Ensure existing mechanisms for storing, sharing, and using results, evidence, and good practices within UNICEF and propose solutions for documentation and dissemination of useful, updated inputs (including systematically feeding into programme cycles in countries)

Deliverable 6: Support capacity-building efforts, such as webinars, training, and courses to ensure alignment with CEED and SCAP strategies, knowledge, and messaging.

Objective 2: Support communication and resource mobilization

Deliverable 7: Support the roll-out of internal communication plans for SCAP and CEED, including through newsletters, social media and UNICEF communication platforms.

Deliverable 8: Develop communication materials and campaigns for resource mobilization and presentations, including case studies, investment cases, concept notes and one-pagers.

Deliverable 9: Build and update content for internal and external communication sites, including technical sites by UNICEF and partners

Qualifications of Successful Candidates

Requirements:

An advanced degree in Communications, Public Relations, or a related field is required, preferably with academic and professional experience in Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate and Environmental Studies, International Affairs, Public Policy, or a closely related field. Alternatively, a bachelor’s degree in these fields combined with a minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience will be considered.

 Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required

• Excellent writing and communication skills

 • At least 3 years of experience in Disaster Risk Reduction, climate, environment, energy, or related topics.

 • Strong organizational, planning and prioritizing skills and abilities.

• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds

. • Proven experience in communication and project management

• Technical writing, research and reporting are a distinct advantage

 • Prior experience with a UN agency is a distinct advantage.

 • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

 Requirements: 

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide your CV and cover letter, including:

1. Clear indication of specialization area(s) you are applying for. Must clearly list which of the 18 areas of support you are applying for.
2. All-inclusive daily rate in USD
3. Language(s) you are fluent in (written and verbal).
4. Preferred work locations/regions.
5. Indicate date of availability.
6. Contact details of three professional referees (email and telephone number).

Application missing above elements will not be considered.  An initial screening and short listing based on evaluation criteria will be done; only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.  Successful applicants will be placed on a pre-approved roster which will remain valid for a period of 36 months.

• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

 U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

 To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.