Under the close supervision and guidance of the supervisor, the CEED Policy Specialist will focus on the following responsibilities: 1. Provide quality technical advice and guidance to ensure that children’s needs, perspectives and priorities are represented in national and international climate change, environmental , energy, and DRR policies; 2. Strengthen UNICEF’s thought leadership on evidence-based policy making in the space of climate, environment, energy and disaster risk reduction; 3. Coordinate UNICEF’s policy engagement in key international fora and processes on climate change; 4. Engage with UNICEF partners and networks to strengthen advocacy and policy impact of UNICEF-supported climate programs and initiatives.
How can you make a difference?
Provide policy guidance:
- Analyze the policy impacts of climate-relevant programs in UNICEF to identify opportunities for improvement and pathways to greater scale
- Analyze lessons learned from UNICEF programs to guide risk-informed policy development and -implementation.
- Review and consult on ongoing policy initiatives in UNICEF to assess their alignment with the SCAP and identify opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration.
- Co-ordinate policy-related initiatives with internal and external stakeholders, including children and young people, governments, UNICEF offices, UN partners and intergovernmental organizations as well as the private sector.
- Consolidate and present evidence related to the implementation of national climate change plans and policies (eg NDCs, NAPs) for internal and external dialogue.
Enhance climate-sensitive and risk-informed programming:
- Develop policy-related knowledge and communication materials to strengthen the capacity of UNICEF staff to mainstream climate action into sectoral policies and programs.
- Prioritize and implement policy-relevant research to develop practical policy recommendations and advance the inclusion of children and young people across climate, environmental, disaster risk reduction, sustainability, and related sectoral policies.
- Identify and strengthen advocacy and knowledge partnerships to further UNICEF’s impact and visibility in national and international climate policy initiatives.
- Appraise and address questions for policy-relevant support from regional and country teams.
- Support Regional and country teams on demand-based policy engagement with governments and other partners.
- Develop capacity strengthening initiatives (workshops, trainings, briefings) to increase the capacity and skills on climate, environmental, energy and DRR policy and programming.
Engage with key climate and sustainability fora, partnerships and networks:
- Design and host meaningful child and youth engagement opportunities to elicit youth-centered feedback and ideas to policy proposals (including NDCs, NAPs)
- Serve as UNICEF focal point for engagement with key program-relevant processes under the UNFCCC (NDC partnership, Santiago Network, CoP) and other Rio Conventions
- Serve as UNICEF focal point for policy engagement on Loss and Damage from climate change, based on dialogue and coordination with other relevant teams
- Support other UNICEF global teams to strengthen the integration and mainstreaming of climate, environmental, disaster risk reduction and sustainability considerations in sectoral programs and policies.
- Prepare climate and sustainability-focused content, updates, and advocacy materials for policy-relevant dialogue with internal and external audiences.
- Identify and support internal and external advocacy efforts on climate issues in coordination with UNICEF-internal Communication, Advocacy and Partnership functions.
- Other policy-relevant tasks as required, based on operational needs in the UNICEF Programme Group
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
Education:
An advanced university degree in climate change, environmental science, engineering, disaster management, International Development, International Relations, Government, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Policy or other relevant disciplines is required.
Work Experience:
A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience in areas related to climate action, sustainability, international development, disaster risk management, environmental management, public policy, social policy, or children’s health and wellbeing is required
Language Requirements:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
Desirables:
- Specific experience in policy formulation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting related to climate change, environmental management and/or disaster risk reduction is required, preferably in a developing country context.
- Demonstrated knowledge of climatic, environmental and disaster trends and solutions to address them
- Familiarity with children’s rights in the context of climate change, environmental degradation and disaster risk
- Expertise in staff capacity building and training, particularly as part of a global/regional role in support of country offices will be considered an asset.
- Experience working on CEED issues within UNICEF or other international development agencies is considered an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
- Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
- Works Collaboratively with others (2)
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
- Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
- Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
- Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
- Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
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.
Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.
Advertised: 31 Jan 2025 E. Africa Standard Time
Deadline: 16 Feb 2025 E. Africa Standard Time
