National Consultant for Climate Smart Social Services, 7 months, UNICEF, Myanmar (Remote/Homebased)

This consultancy vacancy is open to Myanmar National Only.
The proposed consultancy will strive to review existing climate change plans and strategies, with the aim to identify and make recommendations on areas of improvement and integration, and to enhance and strengthen the integration of climate actions within UNICEF’s social services programming.

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. 

For every child, Clean Water

UNICEF Myanmar

Purpose of the activity/ assignment:

UNICEF East Asia Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) is developing a Regional Programme “Mainstreaming Climate-Smart Social Services in the East Asia Pacific Region” for countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region. The Programme aims to finance climate-smart social services as a new asset class in climate finance in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Shared Socio-Economic Pathways.

Myanmar is one of the largest countries in South-East Asia, covering an area of 261,228 square miles, and according to the German watch Global Climate Risk Index 2021, was one of the countries most affected by the impacts of extreme weather events such as storms, floods, and heatwave between 2000 and 2019, with 14.35 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants and 0.8 per cent losses per unit GDP resulting from the 57 extreme weather events. With its diverse geographical features, climate change events can take different forms in different locations: populations in the central dry area experience severe heatwave and droughts, while the population in the delta area are at risk from flooding due to sea-level rise, tropical storms and strong winds.

Robust sustainable social services (WASH, healthcare, nutrition, education, and protection) are vital for children and families to live and to be able to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This means that securing universal access to social services cannot be addressed separately and without considering proven or possible climate evolutions and their impact on the social services infrastructure and usage. To succeed in efforts to enhance and ensure sustainable access to social services and address climate change, projects and actions need to be incorporated into the national climate commitments and engagement with different stakeholders should be encouraged to leverage the climate actions.

The proposed consultancy will strive to review existing climate change plans and strategies, with the aim to identify and make recommendations on areas of improvement and integration, and to enhance and strengthen the integration of climate actions within UNICEF’s social services programming.

Scope of Work:

The consultancy will support the following tasks:

1. Collect and collate relevant national and sub-national climate related policies, plans and strategies.
2. Collect, collate and review previous and existing UNICEF programme documents, including UNICEF published risk analysis (including child centered risk analysis) particularly for Myanmar, or regionally should no country specific reports exist.
3. Document information on existing climate change initiatives/ programmes in Myanmar.
4. Coordinate with UNICEF programme sections – Health & Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection and Social
5. Policy and RO consultant to develop Climate Strategy for UNICEF Myanmar.
6. Support programme preparation including:

• Update Child’s Climate Risk Index for Myanmar
• Development of the rationale for climate smart social services in Myanmar
• Coordination for the environmental and social safeguards screening (ESS),
• Coordination in the pipeline development and feasibility studies for climate smart social services interventions
• Coordination in the development of the country programme proposal for climate smart social services.

1. Coordinate meetings, discussions, and workshops among all parties, ensuring that programme preparation objectives are met, and consensus is reached.
2. Coordinate skill building activities with the regional office and the expert teams/ organisations.

Duration of the contract:

7 months – delivery based. Consultant manages his/her own time. 

Duty station/Geographic Area:

The assignment is homebased.

Description of Assignment:

Task 1: Preparation and presentation of inception report

Deliverable 1: Inception Report

Timeline: July 2024

Task 2: Monthly report with assignment status, including:

• report on key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• compiled listing of the relevant reference literature collected.
• A compilation on existing climate change initiatives in Myanmar

Deliverable 2: Monthly Report 1

Timeline: August 2024

Task 3: Monthly report with assignment status, including:

• report on key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• summary review of relevant reference literature collected,
• Update Child’s Climate Risk Index for Myanmar,
• Upskilling plan for the UNICEF as well as cluster partners

Deliverable 3: Monthly Report 2

Timeline: September 2024

Task 4: Monthly report with assignment status, including:

• report on key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• Coordination with RO and MCO programme sections on Climate strategy development and environmental & social safeguards screening (ESS).
• a report on UNCEF & cluster partner upskilling progress
• rationale for climate smart social services
• Progress on upskilling the UNICEF and cluster partners

Deliverable 4: Monthly Report 3

Timeline: October 2024

Task 5: Monthly report with assignment status, including:

• report on key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• Climate Strategy for UNICEF Myanmar,
• Analysis on funding landscape for CC initiatives,
• Coordination with the regional support agency on the development of the programme proposal on climate smart social services
• Progress on upskilling the UNICEF and cluster partners

Deliverable 5: Monthly Report 4

Timeline: November 2024

Task 6: Monthly report with assignment status, including:

• report on key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• Coordination with the regional support agency on the development of the programme proposal on climate smart social services
• Identification and listing of potential climate smart social services project opportunities,
• Progress on upskilling the UNICEF and cluster partners

Deliverable 6: Monthly Report 5

Timeline: December 2024

Task 7: A final compiled report including:

• Overall compilation key meetings, trainings, workshops, and consultations,
• Upskilling the UNICEF and cluster partners on climate smart social services
• Child’s Climate Risk Index for Myanmar,
• Climate Strategy for UNICEF Myanmar
• Environmental & Social Safegurds
• Programme proposal on the climate smart social services

A digital copy of the final report along with the file tree.

Deliverable 7: Monthly Report 6

Timeline: January 2025

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

• Holding a Master’s degree in Climate Studies, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, Project Management, or related fields.
• A minimum of 7 years of experience in project coordination or management, preferably in climate-related projects with international financing institutions.
• An experience is climate studies and research and identifying mitigation measures/ solutions
• Proven experience in liaising with government bodies, financiers, and consulting firms.
• Proven experience working in multiple social services sectors (WASH, Education, Nutrition, Health, child protection etc)
• Strong knowledge of project management tools.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and project management software.

**Please complete the following “Expression of Interest Form” and ensure to attach in your applications:  EOI Template CR social services consultant R1 6 June 2024 (final).doc

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. 

 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/individual contractors 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 and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors 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.