Consultant – Developing a tailored Green UPSHIFT Programme in the Region, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO), Bangkok, Thailand

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to develop a specialised Green UPSHIFT Programme in the Region. The purpose of this assignment is to adapt and contextualize the UPSHIFT model with a focus on green skills development for adolescents and young people in Mongolia, Lao PDR, and China. (These are proposed countries but may change.) Green UPSHIFT will retain UPSHIFT’s foundational structure and learning journey—combing workshops, mentorship, and an entrepreneurial challenge—to empower young people to address environmental challenges through innovative, community-driven solutions. This adaptation will leverage the UPSHIFT approach to foster sustainable, green-centered social innovation, equipping young people with critical 21st century skills and mindsets to create real and tangible change in their lives and communities.

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 fulfilling 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.

For every child, a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to develop a specialised Green UPSHIFT Programme in the Region. The purpose of this assignment is to adapt and contextualize the UPSHIFT model with a focus on green skills development for adolescents and young people in Mongolia, Lao PDR, and China. (These are proposed countries but may change.)  Green UPSHIFT will retain UPSHIFT’s foundational structure and learning journey—combing workshops, mentorship, and an entrepreneurial challenge—to empower young people to address environmental challenges through innovative, community-driven solutions. This adaptation will leverage the UPSHIFT approach to foster sustainable, green-centered social innovation, equipping young people with critical 21st century skills and mindsets to create real and tangible change in their lives and communities.

Work assignment (remote/ home-based modality with three field visits), Expected deliverable and Delivery schedule:

Assignment 1: Develop tailored green skills package for three countries in East Asia Pacific Region

Develop a contextualized Green UPSHIFT curriculum1 and implementation guide for selected countries in the EAP region. This can include creating resources from scratch, reviewing existing modules and ensuring they are aligned to UPSHIFT models and a focus on the existing gaps and reaching the most vulnerable groups of each country. The deliverable will also include maintaining the core UPSHIFT model and learning journey while ensuring a contextualised green skills approach for each country such as: renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and waste management to name a few. This will be co-created and co-developed with the country office and implementing partners (IPs), and adolescent girls and boys.

Expected deliverable 1: Green UPSHIFT Model Package, and learning journey, for three countries

Delivery schedule: 25 days

Assignment 2: Capacity building of selected UNICEF COs and IPs on tailored green skills package

Deliver a substantive capacity building workshop for each country for UNICEF COs and Implementing Partners to test the Green UPSHIFT model. The assignment would also include in country capacity building sessions as needed by the Country Offices.

Expected deliverable 2: capacity building package and training report

Delivery schedule: 10 days

Assignment 3: Consolidation of lessons learned and best practices

Draft a comprehensive report synthesizing the Green UPSHIFT model, documenting key lessons learned and promising practices. The report should also have a companion slide deck designed for a global UpShift webinar (to be organized by Office of Innovation), highlighting the green skills focus and early results to be presented to UNICEF colleagues and partners.

Expected deliverable 3: Synthesis report and presentation deck of Green UPSHIFT

Delivery schedule: 5 days

1 UPSHIFT tendersglobal.net UNICEF Office of Innovation

Duration of Contract:    15 January 2025 – 15 September 2025 (40 working days)
 

Duty Travel:  Fully remote assignment. Travel to Country Offices (subject to need) for max 7 days per Country Office and funded through Country Office budget.
 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Essential

– Strong expertise in youth-led human-centered design approaches

– Minimum of five years of experience delivering the UPSHIFT programme in partnership with UNICEF-supported initiatives

– Experience in working on girl-focused skills programmes

– Demonstrated proficiency in facilitation and training with proven ability to engage diverse stakeholders effectively

– Excellent interpersonal, communication, and time management skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary teams

– Fluency in written and spoken English

Desirable:

– Experience of working on a relevant topic in the region

– Knowledge and exposure to UNICEF programming in the areas of Climate Change, WASH, Education, Social and Behavior Change, Gender Equality, Adolescent and Youth Development, and Health will be an advantage.

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 9 December 2024.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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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. 

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract 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.