Job Opportunities at UNICEF

Background and Justification

The East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the impacts of climate change with children bearing the brunt of the burden. UNICEF has an essential role to play in closing this gap and protecting children’s rights in the climate crisis. In order to deliver on the ambition of the SCAP, UNICEF plans to expand the capacity and support to Country Offices (COs) to access and explore climate finance opportunities. This aims to support children being the focus of an increased number of climate interventions at scale.

The Climate Finance Specialist will be instrumental in driving this agenda forward. By supporting the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) Climate Hub and Partnerships team to increase capacity and experience in the support to 21 COs and key sectors. The consultant will enhance UNICEF’s ability to secure climate finance, develop proposals, and build capacity in climate finance for children efforts. The consultant will ensure that developed interventions maintain a UNICEF lens and are responsive to children's needs whilst enhancing their climate narrative and strategic approach. By following the SCAP framework for implementation, the Climate Finance Specialist will contribute to protecting children's rights in the climate crisis and building a sustainable future for the most vulnerable populations in the region.

Scope of Work

• Enhance and strengthen the understanding and capacity on climate and innovate financing and partnerships in UNICEF ESARO and ESAR Country Offices.
• Increased and improved quality of climate finance concept notes and proposals especially linked to the unique profile (narrative) and positioning of UNICEF in the climate finance space.
• Capacity and understanding of climate finance improved among UNICEF ESARO and ESAR CO staff, both among climate, Partnerships, and specific sector colleagues.
• Hands-on support provided, and quality improved of climate finance and partnerships opportunities, for specific Country Offices and ESARO, to improve chances of securing climate finance for children.

Requirements:

• Education: Master’s Degree in Environment, Sustainability or Climate Finance, Climate Change, Economics, International Development, or a related field. (A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.)
• Minimum 8 years of relevant work experience in climate finance or related fields.
• Experience in developing and managing climate finance projects.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate and submit high-quality climate finance proposals to international donors.
• Experience in designing and delivering training sessions and webinars is preferred.
• Proven track record of successfully implementing climate finance projects, including monitoring and evaluation.
• Prior experience working in the African region is strongly preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Languages: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French or any of the UN languages is an asset.

go to method of application »

Scope of Work: 

• The consultant will be based at the project site to provide daily supervision of the water supply construction in Griftu town to ensure the following activities are undertaken as per technical designs, specifications, bill of quantities and drawings for the project:
• Equipping of newly drilled deep borehole with submersible pump driven by a combination of energy generation mix consisting of Solar PV module, Grid power connection from KPLC nearest terminal points in Griftu and standby diesel generator, complete with pump control room, control instrumentation and safety equipment to provide 6m3/hr to elevated steel tanks in the water yard against a total head of 180m with a pumping water level of 141m and pump setting level at 300m.
• Construction of water storage and distribution infrastructure consisting of two elevated steel water tanks of each 50m3 to height of 18m above ground level, water kiosk for people, water tanker filling station, two livestock troughs for camels and small stocks complete with piping, fittings and fixtures from the tank to the water collection points.
• Protection of the water supply yard and provide amenities for the utility which entails a perimeter fence of the water yard and steel gate, construction of storm drainage, access road and parking, guard house complete with washrooms and septic tank and lighting system as wells firefighting equipment.
• Provide additional supervisory work of the same project as instructed by UNICEF WASH team if additional works included in the construction contract
• The consultant will provide a monthly report of project implementation progress and a completion report including “as built drawing” of the water supply system.

Minimum qualifications and experience required: A Bachelor's degree in Civil, Water or Sanitary Engineering or related field with at least 5 years of relevant professional work experience.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required

• Water supply construction including borehole installation, construction of elevated steel tanks, water reticulation and water collection points.
• Building construction, septic tanks, chain link fencing, drainage works and access roads. 
• Interpretation of drawings, specifications, occupational safety, and technical report writing

go to method of application »

Objectives

Under the overall supervision of the Innovation manager, the consultant will:

• Support the scale of Youth for Children model through YOMA and Yunitok.
• Scale the Yunitok and YOMA platforms to an additional 500,000 young people collectively with a gender disaggregation of 50% and disability inclusive.
• Support capacity building of State Department for Youth Affairs in coordination of Youth initiatives including: Yunitok, YOMA, GenU, EKYAN and BeGreen through various governance mechanisms and steering committees.

Activities and Tasks:

• Collaboration Framework: Establish a collaborative framework in partnership with the State Department for Youth Affairs to convene the national steering committee for Yunitok and facilitate the YOMA learning-to-earning program and other youth initiatives.
• Opportunity Awareness Campaign: Execute an awareness campaign to inform and engage young people in available opportunities related to green, digital, and girls' initiatives on Yunitok.
• Platform Scalability and Maintenance: Deliver a comprehensive sustainable plan for scaling YOMA to 60,000 participants and Yunitok to an additional 440,000, including regular updates to ensure all platforms are functional and current.
• Youth Engagement in Climate Action: Develop and implement strategies that engage youth on the move in Yunitok and YOMA while documenting their contributions to climate initiatives through the Green Rising program.
• Virtual Event Series Documentation: Organize and conduct a series of 8 virtual events for Yunitok and YOMA, with all participant insights and experiences documented for future reference. Analyze data from polls from Yunitok to inform programme priorities and areas.
• Feedback and Poll Mechanisms: Create and execute polling mechanisms to gather participant feedback and document the engagement and success stories of young people, including adaptations for global contexts.
• Ecosystem Partnership Support: Provide tailored technical support for key partners in the YOMA ecosystem, managing feedback systems and highlighting young people's achievements within the program.
• Comprehensive Reporting Framework: Compile a detailed report outlining findings, use cases, and lessons learned from Yunitok and YOMA initiatives, with recommendations for future activities.

Minimum Requirements

Education: Bachelors Degree in one of the following areas- Innovation, IT, Computing, Digital Media, International Relations, Social Sciences or Marketing or related field. An advanced degree in one of the key areas is an asset.

 Work Experience: 

• A minimum of seven (5) years of professional experience in Innovation, IT, Computing, Digital media, International Relations, Social Sciences or Marketing, or related field.
• Experience in partnership development, youth engagement, and youth outreach and advocacy.
• Demonstrated expertise in conceptualizing, planning, and executing ideas as well as transfer of knowledge and skills.
• Previous working experience with U-Report (Rapid Pro and Partners Page).
• Experience with a high-level communications campaign across multiple mediums, with national brand recognition.
• Expertise in social media platforms, preparing brochures, newsletter, fact sheets, research analysis, feature stories, social media engagement content and online communication
• Understanding of community-based channels of influence, community-based communication, and development. And community-based organizations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to write succinctly and clearly.
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili is required; strong written and verbal competency is necessary.