International Consultant - Adolescent and Youth Foresight Consultations at UNICEF

Goal and objective:

Under the supervision of the Adolescent Development Specialist, Gender and Adolescent Section, the consultant will:

Lead the design and delivery of a participatory foresight consultation process with adolescents and youth across the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a forward-looking Girls and Youth Vision Paper that reflects the perspectives, priorities, and aspirations of young people (ages 10–24) to inform the next Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP).

The consultant will:

• Conduct a regional desk review of youth data, consultations, and strategic documents from the past 12 months;
• Design and facilitate three virtual foresight workshops using participatory tools (e.g., scenario planning, backcasting, Three Horizons);
• Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and concerns raised by youth across key areas such as climate change, education, gender equality, and digital inclusion;
• Produce actionable recommendations and a vision document that highlights entry points for UNICEF’s engagement with youth over the next five years;
• Document the methodology and lessons learned through a case study to support internal learning and future replication.

Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:

This consultancy is aligned with UNICEF ESARO’s Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP) development process and contributes directly to the 2025–2026 Annual Work Plan (AWP) under the Gender and Adolescent Section. The assignment contributes to Intermediate Results (IRs) focused on adolescent participation, empowerment, and future-ready programming.

Specifically, it supports:

• AWP GRP Output 1: Strengthened adolescent engagement in policy and programming through innovative methodologies;
• Key Intervention 1: Evidence-building: Evidence generation and strategic foresight for adolescent-responsive planning.
• Key Intervention 2: Strengthening agency of Young People and Adolescent girls at community, national, regional, and continental level
• Key intervention 3: Regional cross-sectoral coordination and programming: Cross-sectoral integration of gender equality, youth participation, and digital inclusion in regional strategy development.

Activities and Tasks:

The approach will include a comprehensive desk review of Country Programme Evaluations (CPEs), Situation Analyses (SitAns), U-Report data, and previous youth consultations across 21 countries. The consultant will identify emerging trends in areas such as education, climate change, gender equality, and digital inclusion, offering strategic insight for future engagement.

Work relationships:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Adolescent Development Specialist within the Gender and Adolescent Section at ESARO. They will collaborate closely with the Regional Planning and Monitoring team, as well as focal points from regional office sections and selected Country Offices across the Eastern and Southern Africa Region.

The consultant will also coordinate with:

• UNICEF Country Office adolescent and youth focal points in up to 10 countries for input, logistics, and youth engagement.
• Local partners and facilitators who will support culturally appropriate facilitation of foresight workshops.
• Adolescents and youth participants (aged 10–24), who will be involved in virtual consultations and visioning exercises.
• The Innocenti team or experts previously involved in developing the Youth Foresight methodology, for methodological coherence and potential technical guidance.

Desired Competencies, technical background and experience

• Master’s in Environmental Science/Policy, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Communications, Evidence Synthesis, Research Methods or another technical field relevant to the work of UNICEF (a combination of an undergraduate degree and 2 additional years of professional experience may be considered in lieu of master’s degree);
• At least 12 years of professional experience in youth engagement, social impact, or policy design;
• Knowledge and experience of convening in virtual settings, with strong familiarity with digital workspaces, communication tools and conferencing platforms;
• Access to and experience of engaging in child and/or youth networks;
• Demonstrated ability to set high standards for quality of work and consistently achieve project goals.
• Solid writing, analytical, problem-solving, writing and presentation skills, particularly in the context of international work settings.
• Fluency in English.