National Project Coordinator Consultancy, Suva, Fiji, 6 Months

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, support

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria.

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.

Background of Assignment:

UNICEF East Asia Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO), in partnership with the Australian Committee for UNICEF, is developing a Regional Programme “Mainstreaming Climate-Smart Social Services in the East Asia Pacific Region” for 14 countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region. The fourteen selected countries (East Asia: Mongolia; Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Viet Nam; Pacific: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) are subject to climate change impacts, as documented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The majority of the selected countries are GCF priorities being Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Small Islands Developing States (SDID). The AR6 confirms for the EAP region with high confidence; (i) Precipitation will increase in frequency and intensity; (ii) Observed mean surface temperature out of the range of internal variability; (iii) Increase of heat extremes and decrease in cold extremes will continue; (iv) Marine heatwaves have become more frequent and increase; (v) SIDS warming will continue in the 21st century for all global warming levels and future emissions scenarios, further increasing heat extremes and stress; and (vi) Relative sea level has increased faster than the global average with coastal area loss.

The IPCC concludes in the AR6 that effective and equitable climate policies support climate resilience, sustainable development, and poverty eradication, essentially linking the Sustainable Development Goals agenda with Climate Change. The AR6 also introduces Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), based on socioeconomic models of population, urban density, land use, education, health, and wealth. The SSPs promote a paradigm shift by governments and communities for more sustainable practices promoting social services, health and wellbeing, and education over economic growth.

The Programme aims to finance climate-smart social services (health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection and social protection) as a new asset class in climate finance in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Shared Socio-Economic Pathways. A Concept Note is being elaborated and programme preparation expected to start in November 2023. UNICEF EAPRO is recruiting an international consulting firm to develop the Programme Proposal at regional level.

At the same time, UNICEF Pacific is recruiting a consultant “National Project Coordinator for Fiji” to ensure an effective liaison and coordination between the National Designated Authority (NDA, the Climate Change Division under the Office of the Prime Ministry), the designated line ministries and government agencies, UNICEF Pacific, and the international consulting firm.

How can you make a difference?

The Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks around Project Management:

• Act as the primary point of contact between the NDA, the government agencies, key sector stakeholders, UNICEF Pacific and the international consulting firm. This requires attending in-person and virtual meetings.
• Coordinate and facilitate meetings, discussions, and workshops among all parties, ensuring that programme preparation objectives are met, and consensus is reached.
• Maintain continuous communication with all stakeholders -including youth and children at critical steps, representatives from communities, women’s groups and organizations of persons with disabilities - to ensure coherence and avoid discrepancies. Address queries, concerns, and feedback from stakeholders promptly and effectively.
• Facilitate the organization of in-country workshops (at least one) and virtual meetings.
• Monitor the progress of the Programme preparation against the planned milestones and deliverables. (The Climate-Smart Social Services Regional Programme preparation will be lead by UNICEF EAPRO and the consulting firm).
• Prepare monthly reports on the Programme’s preparation progress, challenges, and proposed solutions to UNICEF Pacific and the NDA.
• Prepare a back-to-office report (2 pages) after any field missions (if any).
• Manage the collection, analysis, and sharing of relevant data, information, and documents among stakeholders.
• Ensure the confidentiality and security of all project-related information.
• Develop and maintain a database on a spreadsheet of project documents, reports, and correspondences.
• Facilitate knowledge transfer and skill development among the NDA’s staff involved in the Programme.
• Ensure that all outputs and deliverables meet the quality standards and requirements set by UNICEF Pacific.
• Facilitate the resolution of any issues related to the quality and relevance of the Programme outputs.
• Review and verify the international consulting firm’s submissions for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with the terms of reference and the requirements of the NDA and UNICEF Pacific, as agreed.
• Any other tasks as instructed by UNICEF Pacific.

Please refer to the ToR for further information on the deliverables and the timelines.

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS

Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment and field mission travel
• Living allowance where travel is required
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

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

• An advanced degree in Climate Studies, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, Project Management, or related fields is required.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in project coordination or management, preferably in climate-related projects with international financing institutions.
• Proven experience in liaising with government bodies, financiers, and consulting firms.
• Proven experience working in (one or more) social sectors (WASH, Education, Nutrition, Health, etc.).
• Strong knowledge of project management tools.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and project management software.

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

Remarks:

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.

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.

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