Consultant – Climate and Environment Consultant (Child-responsive policies), 11 months, Home-Based, Brasilia, Brazil

JOB CONTEXT AND PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY/ASSIGNMENT

Climate change poses a disproportionate threat to children in Brazil, affecting their health, nutrition, education, and development. Despite the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters, children’s specific needs and rights remain largely absent from climate adaptation planning and disaster risk reduction frameworks at both federal and municipal levels.

UNICEF Brazil’s Climate and Environment team works at the intersection of child rights and climate action, supporting government partners and municipalities to develop child-responsive policies and programmes. Strategic partnerships — including with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and municipal programmes Agenda Cidade UNICEF and Selo UNICEF — create opportunities to mainstream child-responsive approaches across multiple levels of governance.

However, local governments frequently lack the technical capacity to identify and address climate risks affecting children. In this context, UNICEF Brazil seeks a specialized consultant to provide technical support in adaptation planning, disaster risk reduction, municipal capacity building, youth engagement, and climate education.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The scope of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical support to the UNICEF Climate and Environment team to deliver tools and training for the development of child-responsive policies, plans and programmes across several initiatives and partnerships, as well as supporting with strategic trainings on child-responsive climate adaptation and prevention of risks and disasters.

The consultancy will encompass five interconnected workstreams:

• Development of guidance and training on child-responsive adaptation plans at the subnational level, as part of UNICEF’s partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the AdaptaCidades programme;
• Assistance for the inclusion of activities on disaster risk prevention for children in the Agenda Cidade UNICEF initiative, including through supporting and systematizing the results of a consultation process in four cities;
• Support UNICEF efforts to provide technical assistance to municipalities in the Selo UNICEF initiative in developing plans to respond to evidence-based environmental risks to children, both through development of materials and offering trainings;
• Support the development of methodology for a workshop with young people about school adaptation, especially to extreme heat, and co-lead that workshop;
• Offering training to teachers in São Paulo on climate education and preparation for risks and disasters.

DELIVERABLES

1. Work assignment overview: Review policy brief on child-responsive subnational adaptation plans and prepare for publication (editing and design)
   1. Deliverable: Validated policy brief ready for publication
   2. Deadline: 1 month from the date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 10%
2. Work assignment overview: Develop and lead a workshop with young people about school adaptation, especially to extreme heat
   1. Deliverable: Workshop held
   2. Deadline: Up to 2 months from the date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 12%
3. Work assignment overview: One-time in-person training in São Paulo, for an expected audience of 100 people, on climate education and preparation for risks and disasters in the state of São Paulo
   1. Deliverable: Validated training module
   2. Deadline: Up to 3 months from the date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 8%
4. Work assignment overview: A finalized workplan for the training module, prepared through consultations with government and civil society partners, on the brief for child‑responsive subnational adaptation plans.
   1. Deliverable: Validated workplan
   2. Deadline: Up to 4 months from date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 8%
5. Work assignment overview: Support with the content and methodology part of the creation of a training module to guide subnational governments in their child-responsive adaptation plans
   1. Deliverable: Validated training module
   2. Deadline: 30 days after the date of approval of the fourth deliverable
   3. Estimated budget: 20%
6. Work assignment overview: Support the consultations in four municipalities on disasters’ impacts on children and risk preparation and prevention in those cities as part of the Agenda Cidade UNICEF initiative, proposing a methodology to summarize results and evaluate the use of different available tools in different local contexts.
   1. Deliverable: Validated reports systematizing the results
   2. Deadline: Up to six months after the date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 10%
7. Work assignment overview: Ensuring the results from the ACU goal area 4 consultations (see 6 above) is returned to the 4 UNICEF zonal offices and municipal government partners, by presenting a report and recommendations
   1. Deliverable: Meetings/workshops held with the four offices and local partners
   2. Deadline: 90 days after date of approval of fifth deliverable
   3. Estimated budget: 10%
8. Work assignment overview: Development of training guidance to Selo UNICEF municipalities to use the data on environmental risks to children
   1. Deliverable: Validated training guidance
   2. Deadline: Up to nine months after date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 8%
9. Work assignment overview: Support the development of strategy for monitoring of the Selo UNICEF expected products on response to the data on environmental risks to children (development of guidance materials)
   1. Deliverable: Approved training
   2. Deadline: Up to ten months after date of contract signature
   3. Estimated budget: 14%

DURATION OF CONTRACT: 11 months

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENT

• Master’s degree in International Relations, Social Sciences, Law, Public Policy, Psychology, Social Work, Anthropology, Urbanism or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of 5 years of professional work experience in topics related to climate change and environmental issues.
• Advanced knowledge of national government climate policies, plans and strategies.
• Experience working with the intersection of children’s rights and climate change is desired.
• Experience working with engagement of children, adolescents and youth on environmental rights issues is desired.
• Experience with the UN system is an asset.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

• Fluency in Portuguese and English.

 

UNICEF’S CORE VALUES

Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS)

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 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.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: PROCEDURES AND LOGISTICS

• Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant and mandatory courses are completed.
• Consultants will not have any representative, certifying, or approving authority, or supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
• The consultant will work remotely on a delivery basis.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

• Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.
• A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum, administrative cost, travel cost and subsistence costs, as applicable.
• The payment will be based on submission of agreed 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.

INSURANCE AND HEALTH COVERAGE

• The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health, and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.
• The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

 RESTRICTIONS

• Consultants may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF.  Notwithstanding, consultants must complete the applicable mandatory trainings before the signature of the contract.
• In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

 

REMARKS:

ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS: Expert, recognized authority, specialist in a specific field; advisory or consultative capacity; no continuing need in UNICEF; a consultant shall not perform any of the existing functions or responsibilities of staff members; must not be assigned functions requiring any representative, certifying, approving authority or supervisory responsibility; contracts are delivery-based with a delivery schedule; consultants manage their own time; consultants will largely be remote-/home-based, not office-based.

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.