Mercury and Children Consultant

The purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate research and technical assistance on the Mercury and Children report of the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children programme.

Scope of Work:

The last three decades have witnessed huge progress in the reduction of poverty-related environmental risks to children’s health. With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, the global community made a promise to all children: to safeguard the gains made on child survival and to ensure that every child has the chance to thrive and fulfil their potential. However, climate change and environmental degradation are seriously jeopardizing these precious gains and our promise to the world’s children.

Children’s environmental health has been a longstanding priority across the world and among many global organizations. However, it has lacked global coordination across issues, borders, sectors and partners to drive a lasting impact for children that is holistic. Comprehensive solutions are needed everywhere, especially in in low-and-middle income countries.

UNICEF launched is global programme on Healthy Environments for Healthy Children in 2021. To improve the salience of children’s environmental health, UNICEF has put together a Global Collaborative. The collaborative will advocate for change, broker knowledge and catalyze action by engaging governments, industry and civil society. The Global Collaborative will promote similar multi-stakeholder and multisectoral collaborations at the country level. It will also draw attention to a range of ‘spotlight risks’ on children’s environmental health, including those related to climate change, pollution and built environments.

This consultancy will support the pollution component for Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) programme, including the Global Collaborative over a 6-month period. The Environmental Health Specialist of Healthy Environments for Healthy Children programme based in NYHQ’s Programme Group will be the contract manager supervising the consultant.

The consultant will collaborate with colleagues in the HEHC team, relevant UNICEF Regional and Country Offices and the Minamata Convention on Mercury secretariat. Additionally, the consultant will be working closely with partners involved in the CEH Global Collaborative.

Under the supervision of the Environmental Health Specialist and based on the review/inputs of stakeholders, the consultant will support the following over a 6-month period:

• Facilitate the development of the technical content of the Mercury and Children report to include meetings with HEHC team and the Minamata Convention secretariat; literature review , compilation and analysis of data, drafting of the report, consulting with the expert community, finalizing the report
• The report will include but not limited to: Introduction to mercury and children, sources and routes of exposure, health impact, mercury burden of disease, prevention and management, mercury in human body and the environment – biomonitoring and environmental monitoring studies, reference values, children exposure to mercury- ASGM, products- dental amalgam, skin lightening creams, others, international policy actions, recommendations to policymakers and caregivers
• Develop “mercury and children” technical components on the global collaborative portal. This includes
• the drafting of web pages
• support engagement with partner collaborators on mercury and child health’, and c) acting as resource person in a webinar.

Qualifications:

Education:

• An advanced university degree Master’s in Public Health

Work experience: 

Knowledge Expertise Skills required:

• Technical expertise on mercury and children
• Proven experience in drafting programmes and strategies, research and policy advocacy
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible and relevant work experience in research and public health
• Ability to organize and plan work independently, and be a team player
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written) in English
• Desirable: Previous experience of working with UNICEF/ UN

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/580038