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 fordeveloping 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 is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.
Consultancy: Climate Finance Youth Engagement Consultant
Duty Station: Programme Group CEED
Duration: Dec 15, 2025 – Dec 15, 2026
Home/ Office Based: NYHQ, office based
BACKGROUND
Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:
Disasters, climate change, and environmental degradation present significant and escalating threats to the well-being of children globally, jeopardizing the progress achieved in child survival and development. Over a billion children are exposed to severe risks from climate and environmental hazards such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and cyclones. Consequently, it is imperative for countries to establish climate-resilient, low-carbon social services encompassing water and sanitation, healthcare, education, nutrition, social protection, and child protection to tackle current threats and prepare for increasingly severe impacts.
In alignment with our commitment to protect children and young people worldwide, UNICEF launched its Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan (SCAP) 2023 - 2030. The SCAP prioritizes urgent climate action through systematic partnerships with public and private sector institutions to prioritize the needs of children and young people and build their resilience to the climate threats at hand. The SCAP strives to mainstream sustainability and climate action both internally and externally, through protecting the lives, health and well-being of children and their communities; empowering children with developmental opportunities and skills; and reducing emissions and the environmental footprint within UNICEF.
UNICEF seeks a consultant to strengthen its engagement with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other climate finance mechanisms. The consultant will support UNICEF’s growing portfolio of climate finance engagement aligned with child-centred outcomes, with a focus on pipeline development, proposal preparation, implementation support, and institutional strengthening. The consultant will need to work closely with the Climate Team, Generation Unlimited and Green Rising Team, and with PG Leadership based in New-York
Scope of Work:
The consultant will work under the supervision of the NY-based Climate, Energy, Environment and DRR (CEED) Programme Officer and in close collaboration with other members of the climate finance unit. The consultant would support the climate finance unit in three areas: Climate Finance for Young People, Climate Finance Systems Building and Curate and Disseminate Technical Green Climate Fund Knowledge Products.
Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline
1. Inception report
- Inception report detailing the Climate Finance Systems Building approach and workplan, following in-person consultations with NYHQ units (Programme Group Teams)
16 Dec 2025
2. Orchestrate cross-sector Climate Rationale development for UNICEF
- Documented comments and validation from at least 3 Centres of Excellence (e.g. WASH, Education, Health) or sectors to the Climate Rationale Toolkit (80 pages), completed through in-person and hybrid briefing and one-on-one working sessions held at NYHQ
20 Dec 2025
- 1 hybrid/in-person briefing event and knowledge-sharing session at NYHQ for the Climate Rationale knowledge products.
20 Jan 2026
3. Prepare child- and youth-friendly climate finance resources for Climate Finance programming
- Toolkit or guidance note developed through in-person design labs with GenU and UNICEF NYHQ Programme Group Focals.
31 Mar 2026
4. Develop safeguarding mechanisms for child and youth engagement in GCF programming
- Child and youth safeguarding protocol/checklist integrated into GCF proposal templates after in-person and hybrid interdivisional consultations and validation meetings (with ESS, Gender, PG Leadership, etc.).
30 Apr 2026
5. Ensure quality assurance of youth components and other aspects of technical robustness in climate finance proposals (esp. GCF)
- Reviewed 5 project notes, concept notes or funding proposals
1st of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec 2026
6. Prepare and deliver briefs, talking points, and event materials for senior management
- 4 presentations prepared and delivered with event briefs on climate finance prepared, delivered and supported through attendance at internal and external NY-based events.
15th of Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec 2026
7. Liaise with the institutional contractor on the design and implementation of Climate Finance training and capacity-building modules and ensure senior leadership is informed for decision making
- Completed quality assurance of the Climate Finance Capacity Building module Quarterly Reports presented on Climate Finance Capacity Building Initiative for senior management in person
30 Jun 2026
8. Capture and integrate lessons from Climate Finance projects into design guidance
- 1 synthesis report produced through knowledge capture sessions and brown-bag meetings held (in –person + hybrid) at NYHQ with cross-sector participation
31 Oct 2026
9. Support development of donor funding pools (UNICEF Project Preparation Facility, co-financing)
- Triannual 1-page report summarizing in-person and virtual donor meetings (UNGA, NY Climate Week, other NY events).
1st of Mar, Jul, Nov 2026
10. Conduct a benchmarking review of existing technical assistance capacities (UN and multilateral) and provide recommendations for the Centre’s roster design.
- Comparative analysis and recommended technical assistance structure for the Climate Finance workstream under the CoE presented to PG leadership.
31 May 2026
11. Collaborate with Generation Unlimited (GenU) on the Climate Fund for Young People; serve as Climate Youth Focal Point and advise UNICEF on youth engagement
- Developed workplan on the Climate Fund for Young People following two in-person deep dives and coordination meetings with the GenU Team (based at NYHQ
28 Mar 2026
- Prepare and participate in the quarterly briefs for the Director of Programme Group and CEO of Generation Unlimited on the Fund Progress, including key programmatic developments, donors engaged, fund pipeline
31 March, 30 June, 30 September, and 14 December 2026.
- 12 Monthly readout of the Gen U and UNICEF collaboration meetings
31 Jan, 29 Feb, 31 Mar, 30 Apr, 31 May, 30 Jun 31 Jul, 31 Aug, 30 Sep, 31 Oct, 30 Nov, 14 Dec 2026).
12. Closing Report
- End-of-assignment knowledge synthesis report summarizing key outputs, lessons, and recommendations
15 Dec 2026
Qualifications
Education:
Advanced university degree in sustainable development, climate change, climate policy, economics, environmental management, international development, or related field.
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:
- At least 5 years of working in or with multilateral organizations, preferably UNICEF in the fields of climate, environment and/or youth engagement.
- Experience of preparing meaningful youth engagement in the field of climate change and environment required.
- Experience working on child-sensitive climate finance required.
- Experience working with cross-cultural teams dispersed across various geographic locations required.
- Ability to translate technical content into practical guidance for diverse audiences.
- Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.
Requirements:
Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and
- Upload copy of academic credentials
- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
-
- the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
- travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
- Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
- Indicate your availability
- 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 core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here
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 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. Consultants 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.