Consultant for Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC), Panama City, LACRO 12 months (Home-Based)

Contract

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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, health

The last three decades have witnessed huge progress in the reduction in poverty related infectious diseases in children. With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, the global community made a promise to all children: to safeguard the gains made on child survival and to ensure that every child has the chance to thrive and fulfil their potential. However, climate change and environmental degradation are seriously jeopardizing these precious gains and our promise to the region’s children.

he very economic system that has helped deliver significant gains for children is also driving climate change and environmental degradation, creating new risks and threats to children’s health and development. There has been a drastic decline in the health of the environments where children live, learn and play. Patterns of disease among children are changing with a clear shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases. Children face a growing ‘cocktail’ of risks from air pollution, heat-stress, lead pollution, pesticide pollution, changing patterns of infectious diseases, exposure to toxic chemicals and waste, extreme weather events, and deficient built environments. These risks are preventing the realization of children’s rights and health today and in the future.

In 2021, UNICEF’s Health Programme launched the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) global programme framework (Summary, Short Video), addressing the impact of environmental degradation (pollution, built environment) and climate change on the survival, health and well-being of children. The centrepiece of this is strengthening primary health care, which entails essential public health functions, empowered people and communities and multi-sectoral action. Working alongside communities, the global public health workforce needs to protect children from the impact of pollution and climate change as much as the impact of pathogens. The programme framework contains three pillars: a) Protecting children’s health from the impact of climate change, b) Protecting children’s health from the impact of pollution, and c) Climate resilient and environmentally sustainable health care facilities.

So far, few countries in the LAC region have initiated actions around HEHC. UNICEF LACRO is seeking a consultancy to provide technical assistance and guidance to map the regional environmental situation and its impact on children’s health, support the design of a regional approach to environmental child health, and support health sector actions for country offices (COs) that are already implementing HEHC actions, and to support other COs in identifying environmental health needs that can be included in their country programme. The consultant is also expected to support the preparation of technical documents and notes and briefs in the context of the regional support to COs, and to collaborate with the public and private fundraising regional teams in designing investment cases and a regional resource mobilization strategy, map potential resource mobilization opportunities and help pursue them. The consultant will report to the LACRO Adolescent Health Specialist and will work closely with other members of the Survive and Thrive team and other relevant sections in the LAC Regional Office and the HEHC team in UNICEF’s headquarters, and with CO teams.

How can you make a difference?

The objective of the consultant’s support is to assist the LACRO Survive and Thrive team in providing technical support in the area of Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) to Country Offices.

Key Activities/Tasks

• Mapping of harmful pollutants for children in LAC, in line with the UNICEF’s HEHC framework and improving the evidence base for prioritizing children’s environmental health in the region, including support to country-level Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) assessments, SITANs, uptake of global children’s environmental health profiles and other products.
• Support UNICEF RO and at least five COs in identifying and prioritizing HEHC actions, analyzing data, reports and implementation strategies, assess gaps and provide recommendations for corrective actions, and in developing advocacy documents and materials on Environmental Health in LACRO for donors, governments and other key stakeholders as needed.
• Provide minimum two capacity building sessions in at least five country offices that have initiated actions on HEHC to deepen programmes on children’s environmental health, and for the development of resource mobilization proposals.
• Identify and document enabling factors, good practices, challenges/bottlenecks, and lessons learnt from the implementation of activities and facilitate the exchange of experience between at least five countries in the region.
• Develop Regional Strategy Note on Environmental Health including identification of strategic partnerships for UNICEF.
• In coordination with the regional public and private fundraising teams, map potential resource mobilization opportunities for HEHC, draft a regional resource mobilization strategy and mobilize investments where possible.
• To ensure that information and documentation flows properly between the country, regional and global level, the consultant will participate in at least one relevant global and two regional meetings within the 12 months of consultancy, and prepare briefs for the Regional and Country Offices prioritized for the HEHC interventions.
• Provide regular updates on progress and challenges being faced as required at regional level and HQ.

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

• Masters or post-graduate degree in Environmental Health, Public Health, Medical Sciences, Epidemiology, Health research or any other related disciplines.
• Minimum eight (5) years’ work experience in the areas of public health, environmental health, climate and health, child health, pollutants

• Experience in capacity building, government relationship building, training and/or facilitation an asset

• Experience with data analysis and literature review is an asset.

• Previous experience working in the LAC region is an asset.

• Knowledge of the United Nations system or other international organizations is an asset.

• Knowledge of international development, humanitarian issues and children’s rights is an asset.

Skills and attributes desired:

• Understanding of public health systems and policies related to environment and health.

• Excellent communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.

• Demonstrated ability to produce high quality, concise, analytical and insightful reports and presentations.

• Demonstrated ability to produce accessible advocacy documents;

• Proven ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas.

• Strategic thinking and critical analysis.

• Commitment and drive, with a clear focus on results.

• Ability to manage competing priorities under pressure, whilst maintaining attention to detail and meeting deadlines.

Languages:

• Fluency in Spanish and English is required. Knowledge of other languages relevant to the LAC region is an added advantage.

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.

Administrative details

Supervision: The consultant will work under the overall supervision and guidance of the LACRO Adolescent Health Specialist.

Workplace: The consultancy is home-based. Travel may be involved. International/national travel may be required, discussed and agreed with the consultant (a separate travel line will be included in the contract).

Duration: 12 months

How to Apply: Application should be submitted online and should include: TMS application form duly completed, Cover Letter, Study certificates and Financial proposal.

Qualified candidates are requested to indicate an all-inclusive (lump sum) fees for the services to be including all associated administrative costs. Consultants must have their own equipment, tools and materials needed to perform their services. They will use their own laptops/computers, any application or system needed to complete the assignment. They need to provide the full service without using UNICEF resources.

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.

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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/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.