Climate and Environment Specialist

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the Organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give more children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations. The main purpose of this assignment is to strengthen capacities of the UNICEF Angola Office and its partners in developing a strategy on climate and environment by strengthening our Response, Recovery, Resilience and Sustainability efforts while scaling up low-carbon, resilience building and development. The assignment is designed to align with UNICEF’s global strategy on climate energy and environment as well as the Reimagine leading to resilient and sustainable solutions and systems to vulnerable communities, households, and children.

The objective of this assignment is to contribute to strengthening UNICEFs Response, Recovery, Resilience and Sustainability efforts while scaling up low-carbon, resilience building and development. The specific objectives of the assignment are to: • Provide technical support for the scaling up of climate/environmental responses within Angola through supporting multi-sectoral programme development, tools, guidance and support funding proposal development and; • Strengthen UNICEF ACO internal capacity to and ability to collaborate and with partners on climate environment and energy related activities and interventions.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief WASH, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Provide technical support to ACO sections regarding climate, energy and environment • Ensure that UNICEF ACO’s engagement in the area of climate, energy and environ-ment (CEE) is well coordinated within and outside UNICEF, and that UNICEF pro-gressively integrates climate change action into office programs. • Liaise with other stakeholders active in climate change and environmental sustainabil-ity in Angola for coordination, lessons learned and good practices and ensure linkages/ knowledge exchange with regional and global stakeholders. • Participate in development partners’ climate change working group. • Maintain overall knowledge on the policy, institutions and programmatic activities. • Systematically pursue climate finance (global climate funds, bilateral, private sector) by establishing partnerships with relevant focal points, potential partners and mapping opportunities for UNICEF. • Develop climate rationale inputs to concept notes/proposals including climate trend analysis and projections in order to support partnerships and resource mobilization ef-forts • Work with other agencies on development and interpretation and presentation of child focused and sensitive climate models • Advocate for improved child-focus of climate finance investments in Angola among partners. • Develop concept notes and proposals for fundraising for climate change adaptation and mitigation proposals as well as inputs to proposals from other sections as needed. • Follow-up, backstopping and coordination of implementation of approved environ-ment-focused proposals. • Ensure that UNICEF ACO’s engagement in Climate Energy and Environment (CEE) is well coordinated within and outside UNICEF. • Support WASH, CSD,C4D,Education, Health and Social Policy sections in identifying UNICEF’s niche for addressing Climate Change and Environment impacts on chil-dren, awareness raising and design of programmes to support the rights of children, and support risk informed programming in the region. • Support expansion of green energy use and applications in UNICEF programmes and operations through market assessments, development, and knowledge sharing.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/Expected Outputs: 1. Timely and accurate technical assistance is provided to the ACO Country Offices to carry out climate, energy and environment related programme delivery, disaster risk reduction and mitigation, climate adaptation and mitigation responses, evalua-tion and reporting in compliance with the established guidelines and procedures. 2. Operational research on climate, energy and environment scaling up and strength-ening. 3. Promotion of knowledge management through drafting/finalizing key Climate, En-ergy and Environment programme documents and sharing good practices, lessons learned, and facilitating knowledge/information exchange.
4. Climate, Energy and Environment programmes are effectively promoted and are coherent and add value to programme management processes through results-based management in the Region. 5. Effective communication and networking at Climate, Energy and Environment meetings is achieved through partnership and collaboration with other UN agencies, donors and NGOs. This will be achieved through exchanges of practical experi-ences, new conceptual developments, advocacy and sectoral leadership.

• Integrity and professionalism: demonstrated expertise in area of specialty and ability to apply good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take own-ership; willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures in a politically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality and neutrality; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confi-dentially; responsive and client-oriented. • Accountability: mature and responsible; ability to operate in compliance with organizational rules and regulations. • Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work envi-ronment. • Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish prior-ities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities. • Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious work-ing relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diver-sity and gender; • Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presenta-tions, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommenda-tions; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; ability to maintain composure and remain helpful towards the staff, but ob-jective, without showing personal interest; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups; • Flexibility, adaptability, and ability and willingness to operate independently in austere, remote and potentially hazardous environments for protracted periods, involving physical hardship and little comfort, and including possible extensive travel within the area of oper-ations; willingness to transfer to other duty stations within area of operations as may be necessary;

• Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards the UN core values.

climate change financing, adaptation and/or mitigation projects or other types of green/ environmentally friendly initiatives will be an asset. Experience working on Green Climate Fund proposal development or similar experience is desirable. Experience working with NGOs or INGOs with a strong climate change focus is also highly desirable.

Forty years of almost continuous war had left the nation in disarray when peace accords were finally signed in 2002. By 2013, inequities characterize Angolan society; while the economy has been growing by more than 7 per cent annually, 38 per cent of Angolans live in poverty. The Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality for Angola, stands at a high 58.6. Led primarily by oil revenues, however, recent growth in Angola’s national domestic product has put the nation on a fast track to become a middleincome country, and infrastructure has been greatly improved. But progress for children has been uneven, and there have been setbacks. Life in rural areas continues to be tougher than in the cities. A million children are still outside the formal primary school system. Only one in three Angolan children gets registered at birth. Angola is classified as a “B “Duty Station. This means that the Country is safe, but we need to be cautious. The Security Focal point for our Office is the Chief Operations. The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) will cater for our safety. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. National UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan.