Urban Planner - Urban Health and environment (climate change)

Result of Service The main goal of the project is to launch an expanded Healthy Cities Programme in the UN-Habitat’s Arab States and WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regions with expanded, green-based urban health indicators aligned to WHO and UN-Habitat frameworks.

The new indicators will be tested in two pilot cities, Tunis, Tunisia and Manama, Bahrain through a needs assessment conducted with the local government and partners to identify gaps and opportunities based on the expanded indicators.

Pilot interventions will be implemented, and resource mobilization events organized in each city.

Work Location Home-based

Expected duration 5 months - Part Time

Duties and Responsibilities Organizational Setting UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system.

Background and Justification Urban areas were the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with an estimated 90 percent of all reported infections. The Arab region was additionally hit hard by the socio-economic consequences of the outbreak. The impact of COVID-19 further exacerbated existing vulnerabilities in the region including gender, urban and economic inequalities.

The United Nations Secretary-General policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on the Arab Region, produced in 2020, stated that the consequences of the pandemic are likely to be long-lasting. The report expected the region’s economy to contract by 5.7 percent, and the economies of some conflict countries were projected to shrink by as much as 13 percent, amounting to an overall loss of US$ 152 billion. These economic setbacks have a direct impact on the region’s path towards achieving sustainable urbanization and advancing the issues of urban health. Especially when taking into consideration the pressing urban health and climate induced issues the region was facing prior to the pandemic.

Therefore, the COVID-19 shock calls for a stronger focus and increased investments in urban health and climate change to increase the resilience of cities. Furthermore, the response to the COVID- 19 crisis can also be used to address some of the long-standing structural weaknesses in the region, notably to build back better in line with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development through stronger support to local authorities.

WHO’s Healthy Cities Programme is a well-established initiative which has been running for the last 30 years. After recent developments, where our urban world was faced with the danger of pandemics and the effect of natural disasters on urban communities, it has become more relevant than ever as an important mechanism to address the public health challenges of the 21st century. These recent developments provide a timely opportunity to integrate, expand and compliment the green urban indicators to the healthy cities initiative and formulate green based indicators that help create implementable initiatives to mitigate the climate change impacts that are harmful to public health in addition to creating enabling environments for promoting health and wellbeing.

WHO and UN-Habitat have a global MoU emphasizing their commitment to promote health and wellbeing in urban settings. At the regional level, WHO EMRO and UN-Habitat ROAS have agreed to expand and scale-up the Healthy Cities Programme by developing a wider set of green urban indicators aligned to WHO and UN-Habitat frameworks to include within the Healthy Cities Programme related indicators and domains to be used for co-awarding to cities in the region who fulfill the criteria.

Reporting Line The Technical Consultant will work with a joint programme team led by Programme Officer, UN-Habitat ROAS, Regional Adviser Health Promotion and Social Determinants of Health, WHO EMRO

The consultant will be working under the overall supervision of UN-Habitat’s Regional Representative for Arab States and the Director of the Division of Healthier Populations at WHO EMRO. He/she will engage on a regular basis with relevant institutions, partners, researchers and academics to ensure state-of-the-art research and use of data and information.

Duties and responsibilities The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Phase 1: - Desk review of latest urban health and urban greening frameworks developed by WHO, UN-Habitat and partner organizations. - Technical Review of the latest WHO EMRO issued criteria for qualifying as a healthy city to identify opportunities for expanding on urban health indicators. - Proposal of revised healthy cities indicators including a broader base of urban indicators for review by WHO EMRO and UN-Habitat ROAS. - Prepare and coordinate consultations and Expert Group Meetings (EGMs) including with partners from local governments to discuss proposed indicators. - Finalize the expanded “Criteria for qualifying/awarding as a Healthy City” incorporating feedback and reflecting discussions. - Prepare a summary report reflecting the methodology of the work. - Prepare a generic presentation and key messages to use in the promotion of the expanded Healthy Cities Programme. - Participating in a closing ceremony promoting the programme with partners and donors in the Arab States/Eastern Mediterranean region.

Phase 2: - Coordinate the implementation of a needs assessment based on the revised indicators in two pilot cities (Tunis, Tunisia and Manama, Bahrain).

Task/Methodology At the start of the assignment, on review of all relevant documentation and frameworks, the consultant will prepare an explanation of intent that outlines how best to revise and expand the programme from an urban health perspective.

When appropriate, the consultant should include indicators for gender related issues, as well as considerations related to all social groups, including vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, as well as the youth and aged.

The consultant will refer to relevant regional literature and will consult an array of studies and frameworks, in particular the most recent studies on effect of climate change in cities and links between urban greening and health and well-being.

Copyright Once the final criteria are approved, they will be incorporated in the Regional Healthy Cities Programme.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications: A Master’s degree level in urban planning, social science, political science or related field is required. A bachelor's degree with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the master's degree.

Experience: A minimum of seven years of proven global research experience in the field of urban development, urban health, or urban policy and planning, urban economy, institutional analysis and policies, as evidenced by publications of international repute is required.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written English is required. A working knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.