Programme Officer (Climate Change and Clean Air), NO-2, FT, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Contract

This is a NO-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-2 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, a future.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, 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 all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why 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.

Climate change and air pollution are equity issues, with children and young people often being the most vulnerable and affected. Addressing these issues is vital for building a more sustainable future for children. In Urban Mongolia, air pollution is a very serious problem during the long winter due to the burning of coal to stay warm. It is an unprecedented maternal and child health crisis with many immediate and long term consequences. Impacts include but are not limited to preterm birth, low birthweight, fetal death, impaired brain and lung development, pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, and cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological problems later on in life.

How can you make a difference?

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Specialist (Climate Change and Clean Air), the Programme Officer will play a key role in supporting the Mongolia Country Office’s engagement in climate change and clean air. This will include conducting analysis and advocacy, developing partnerships, and the provision of programmatic and policy guidance and technical assistance to address the risks to children across sectors, capturing, developing and disseminating knowledge products and information, and engage with children and youth.

Support the development of the UNICEF Climate change and Clean Air Strategy. Collecting and analyzing data and evidence; developing background notes, reports and guidance; contributing to the programme planning process that is inclusive of climate change and clean air; support and facilitate the design of project proposal concept notes.

Support the implementation of the UNICEF Climate Change and Clean Air Strategy. Providing support and working with sector colleagues to advance the objectives of the Strategy; monitoring progress against milestones and indicators in the Strategy; developing key messages, sharing best practices and facilitating cooperation across the Office on cross-cutting issues; and supporting the Mongolia Country Office with adopting and implementing UNICEF’s Social and Environmental Standards and Procedures.

Support the implementation of an Advocacy and Partnership Strategy on Climate Change and Clean Air. Developing key messages, talking points and briefing notes for staff members in their engagement with partners; in close collaboration with the Partnership Officer, providing guidance to private sector companies as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility activities related to on climate change and clean air; and supporting the development media campaigns, and to influence behaviors.

Provide support and guidance on greening UNICEF, and reducing the Office’s environmental footprint. Crafting guidelines, reporting annually on the office’s environmental footprint, identifying and implementing measures to reduce the environmental footprint of the organization, undertaking awareness raising and training, offsetting unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions from its facilities, vehicles and air travel, and including environmental aspects in audits and evaluations where relevant. This also includes guidance for staff on how to protect themselves and their families from environmental health risks, such as air pollution.

Support development and implementation of a knowledge management plan on climate change and clean air: Active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results;

Facilitate coordination and collaboration between stakeholders and international partners; Propose guidelines and tools that enables systematic collection of knowledge for consolidation, analysis and sharing for organisational and external learning opportunities; Support capacity building of the National Committee on Reducing Environmental Pollution and relevant Government institutions.

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

• University degree in Social Sciences, Environmental Sciences, International Development, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Policy or other relevant disciplines.
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience in areas related to children’s rights, environmental issues, international development, children’s health, and climate change and sustainable energy.
• Knowledge and working experience on environmental issues related to air pollution, water pollution and climate change impacts is required.
• Demonstrated experience in conducting or facilitating participatory monitoring, evaluation and learning initiatives.
• Proven capacity to work with cross functional teams in collating, managing, sharing knowledge and learning.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills, advocacy and presentational skills is required.
• Experience in working within UNICEF or other UN/international entities and/or familiarity with the work of UNICEF is an asset.
• Fluency in English and the local language.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are...

Core competencies

• Builds and maintains partnerships [I]
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness [I]
• Drive to achieve results for impact [I]
• Innovates and embraces change [I]
• Manages ambiguity and complexity [I]
• Thinks and acts strategically [I]
• Works collaboratively with others[I]

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.