Senior Climate Finance International Consultant for Central Asia

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, safety!  The overall purpose of the assignment is to support five UNICEF Country Offices in Central Asia by identifying climate finance opportunities, including the development of project concept ideas, which will serve as the foundation for drafting concept notes. The consultant will develop submission-ready climate finance proposals/concept notes across thematic areas aligned with UNICEF’s mandate, including but not limited to education, health, and social protection. Additionally, the assignment will provide tailored, on-demand strategic and technical guidance to five Country Offices in Central Asia, considering each country’s unique context, to enhance their climate finance initiatives.   Scope of Work:
UNICEF's Children's Climate Risk Index (CCRI) showed that nearly 15 million children in Central Asia are vulnerable to climate change and 10 million children are classified as extremely vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation. This threatens every aspect of their health and well-being - from pregnancy to adolescence.
The negative effects of climate change in Central Asia are alarming – the rise in air temperature in Central Asia is twice the global average, and a third of the glaciers have melted. Nearly every child – 93 per cent of all children in the region – is exposed to excessive levels of air pollutants detrimental to their health and development.
Climate change significantly affects the delivery of social services that children rely on in Central Asia, a region particularly vulnerable to its impacts. The region's geographical and climatic diversity, ranging from mountainous areas to arid deserts, exacerbates the challenges posed by climate change. UNICEF aims to protect the lives, health and well-being of children and the resilience of their communities by supporting their long-term development and the adaptation of essential social services – including social protection, health, WASH and education – to a changing climate and a degrading environment.
Globally only 2.4% of multilateral climate funds over the past 17 years has supported child-responsive projects. Considering the scale and severity of the problem, comprehensive child-centered action is urgently needed to protect children in Central Asia. Promoting child sensitive climate policies informed by child disaggregated data, plans and strategies and investments in health, education and social protection represent key priorities for UNICEF.
Key areas of focus for the mitigation investments include energy sector transformation, energy efficiency measures to reduce emissions in residential, public, and private buildings, and reducing vehicle demand and transitioning to electrical vehicles to decrease emissions from transport sector.
Public buildings, particularly those in the education and health sectors, are often highly energy inefficient in Central Asia. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), public buildings in many parts of the region are characterized by outdated and poorly maintained infrastructure, leading to significant energy loss and suboptimal indoor environments. Many schools and healthcare facilities in Central Asia suffer from poor thermal comfort and inadequate ventilation. During winter, temperatures inside buildings can be extremely low, leading to an over-reliance on inefficient heating systems. This not only increases energy consumption but also fails to provide a comfortable environment for students and patients.   In this context, UNICEF Uzbekistan is seeking a highly motivated individual consultant to develop a climate change rationale for children in Central Asia, create submission-ready climate finance proposals/concept notes targeting priority donors, including but not limited to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank and others, and provide strategic leadership to Country Offices (COs) in Central Asia in advancing climate finance initiatives.   The consultant will drive these efforts across thematic areas aligned with UNICEF’s mandate, including but not limited to education, health, and social protection. The key objectives and tasks of this consultancy include:   Lead the Development and Submission of a Bankable Climate Finance Project Pipeline

Provide technical and strategic oversight and support to the COs based on requests from the COs.

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

Skills and attributes desired:

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. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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.