UNICEF Vacancy for Climate and Environment Specialist

Assignment Country: Nepal
Expected start date: 01/11/2024
Sustainable Development Goal: 13. Climate action
Volunteer category: International UN Volunteer Specialist
Host entity: UNICEF
Type: Onsite
Duration: 12 months (with possibility of extension)
Number of assignments: 1
Duty stations: Kathmandu

Details

Mission and objectives

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.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the Organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — their rights are violated. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

We now live in a world where every child is affected by climate change and environmental degradation, with children and marginalised communities at the forefront. The climate crisis is a child rights crisis. South Asia is a climate hotspot. It is home to over 625 million children and has the highest number of young people globally. Children are uniquely vulnerable to and affected by climate change. Almost 76% of children are exposed to soaring temperatures and 600 million are highly vulnerable to vector-borne diseases as well as alarming levels of air pollution. This presents the region with an unprecedented challenge. The situation is worsened by severe water scarcity intensified by climate change, impacting 347 million children – the highest in the world. Despite contributing only 8 per cent of global carbon emissions, South Asia suffers disproportionately from the consequences of climate change. Children and young people have consistently made urgent calls for their voices to be heard and their needs to be addressed in the response to the climate crises. As the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has pointed out, taking their rights and their views into account would lead to more ambitious and effective policies on environmental protection. Effective responses to climate change and environmental degradation for and with children and young people are thus an essential component of UNICEF’s words and actions and a cross-cutting priority in UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025.

Context

In alignment with our commitment to protect children and young people worldwide, UNICEF has launched its Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (SCAP) 2023 – 2030. The SCAP prioritizes urgent climate action through systematic change in partnership with public and private sectors to prioritize the needs of children and young people and build their resilience to the climate crises. 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.

The UNV Specialist (Climate and Environment) is a part of UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (UNICEF ROSA) Climate Team and reports to the Regional Adviser (Climate and Environment). The UNV specialist will support UNICEF ROSA’s Climate Change Team in driving climate programming, advocacy and knowledge management efforts, ensuring that the organization’s objectives are effectively conveyed to stakeholders. The key duties and tasks for this position may include the following activities, determined as priorities throughout the year.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Advisor Climate Change, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Programme Support

1. Manage the collection, analysis, and sharing of relevant data, information, and docu-ments on SCAP implementation and other climate and environment related pro-grammes.
2. Coordinate data collection, analysis, and evidence generation activities on emerging trends on climate, identify and advance cross-sectoral programming and advocacy op-portunities.
3. Assist in developing multicounty proposals and accessing climate and environment funds from a variety of sources.
4. Support work planning and end-year reporting processes on climate and environment outcome and output results.
5. Carry out secondary research to enhance understanding on the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on children in South Asia to inform program-ming opportunities, advocacy and knowledge sharing.

Knowledge Management and Capacity Support

1. Assist in the preparation of learning/knowledge products, covering innovative ap-proaches and good practices, to support environment and climate change program-ming and advocacy.
2. Support consolidation of results and lessons on climate change impacts, risks and vul-nerabilities on children across emerging areas for UNICEF (e.g. climate related- dis-placement, nutrition, gender).
3. Assist in creating and delivering learning opportunities, training packages for UNICEF staff, to ensure capacity on climate and environmental policies, safeguards measures, and programming.
4. Coordinate with the knowledge management focal points at COs and HQ climate teams.

Communications and Advocacy

1. Collaborate with the communication and advocacy team to generate high-quality con-tent, including articles, blog posts, infographics, and multimedia materials, to com-municate UNICEF’s climate and environmental commitment and programmes effec-tively.
2. Working together with the communication and advocacy team, support in the execution of advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about climate and environmental issues af-fecting children and young people.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day)
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results, and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write- ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service when-ever technically possible.

As an active team member of UNICEF ROSA Climate and Environment team, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly, and high-quality support rendered to ROSA and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:

• Technical support on climate and environment programmes and foundational and mainstreaming elements of the SCAP
• Data, research, and analysis to consolidate scientific evidence, policy developments at the regional and international levels.
• High-quality, compelling advocacy and knowledge products, policy briefs, articles, blogs including upkeep of the website content.
• Maintain internal and external coordination and partnerships.
• Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activi-ties participated in, and capacities developed.

Eligibility criteria
Age: 27 – 80

Additional eligibility criteria

This assignment is funded by the Government of Korea and therefore specific criteria apply:

• Candidates must be Korean nationals.
• Candidates who have already served as UN Volunteer Specialist funded by the Government of Korea are not eligible to apply (former UN University and UN Youth Volunteers are eligible).
• Serving UN Volunteers will not be considered for other UN Volunteer assignments until they reach three (3) months before the End of Contract date of their current UN Volunteer assignment. This provision applies equally to first and subsequent contracts.
• Candidates may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 30 June 2024

+++ UN Volunteer entitlement calculator: https://app.unv.org/calculator +++

Nationality
Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Donor priorities

Requirements

Required experience

• 3 years of experience in international professional work on climate, energy or environment sector, preferably with the UN, multilateral development organisations.
• Data and evidence generation, analysis and its interpretation and visualization for wider network.
• Prior knowledge on developing communication and advocacy strategies, knowledge products (case stories, blog, website content, news articles) on climate and environ-ment is considered as an asset.
• Familiarity with children’s rights in the context of climate change, environmental degra-dation and climate related disaster risk reduction is an asset.
• Self- motivated, well organized and structured; good attention for details; ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.
• Have affinity with or interest in volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

Area(s) of expertise

Development programmes, Communication, Energy and environment

Driving license: –

Languages

English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in international development studies, climate change, environmental science, energy, or related engineering field is required.

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Building Trust
• Ethics and Values
• Integrity
• Knowledge Sharing
• Planning and Organizing
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity
• Working in Teams

Other information
Living conditions and remarks

As the capital city, Kathmandu has a comfortable living environment with moderate climate conditions. Comfortable, inexpensive flats (furnished and unfurnished) are available. Imported and local food and clothing are abundantly available. Water is in somewhat short supply and not safe to drink without treatment. Public transport is readily available and generally reliable. It is important to note that navigating through regular traffic congestion is a common aspect of daily life, and the living costs are moderately high compared to other cities in Nepal. Kathmandu has a temperate climate with coldest temperature reaching just above zero at the night during the winter and mild but humid during the monsoon period, mid-June to end September.

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Reasonable accommodation

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers 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 recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

In addition to duty station-specific vaccine requirements, appointments 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 appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers 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 contracts.

Advertisement end date: 30/06/2024

To apply visit: app.unv.org