Programme Officer - Climate Action

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is the lead United Nations agency for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights with a priority focus on women and young people.The overall vision of the new 8th Country Programme (2022-2026) is to improve the health and well-being of women, young people; vulnerable and marginalized groups in Zimbabwe by ensuring universal access to quality integrated SRHR information and services in an enabling environment. This will contribute to the attainment of the three transformative results in UNFPA’s Global Strategic Plan: Zero unmet need for family planning, Zero preventable maternal deaths, Zero gender-based violence, and the East and Southern Africa regional priority of ending sexual transmission of HIV.

The UNV will support implementation of the UNFPA Zimbabwe’s 8th Country Programme country programme (2022-2026). Focus of the assignment is on supporting the integration of SRHR, GBV, Population and Development and youth into climate action. Zimbabwe is prone to natural hazards with extreme events such as droughts and river flooding being the most severe. It also experiences cyclones, heatwaves, heavy rains accompanied by flash floods, strong winds and hailstorms, and epidemics. Zimbabwe is also vulnerable to the compound risk of food insecurity, which is linked to extreme weather events and low agricultural output. Its vulnerability is worsened by the unpredictable socio-economic environment, aid dependency and inequalities.

The rapid pace of climate change poses a key threat to the vision of human-centered sustainable development, and to the attainment of UNFPA’s three transformative results by 2030, both directly and indirectly. Climate hazards disrupt the provision and use of SRHR services, lead to an upsurge in gender-based violence and disproportionately affect women and girls, children, older persons and other vulnerable groups. Given UNFPA’s work in Zimbabwe, strengthening the linkages between SRHR, P&D, Gender and Youth and climate change-related efforts is critical in addressing the impact of climate-related emergencies on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, child marriage and other harmful practices.

The UNV will drive the implementation of sustainable interventions that mainstream climate change across UNFPA’s mandate. By participating in programme design at both national and community levels, the UNV will ensure that SRHR, Gender, and Youth priorities are central to Zimbabwe’s climate adaptation and response strategies

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Dadirai Nguwo or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer will:

Advocacy
● Advocate for the integration of GBV,SRHR, P&D, Adolescents and Youth into climate change initiatives and raise awareness among policymakers and the public about the importance of this connection.
● Advocate for inclusion of GBV,SRHR, P&D, Adolescents and Youth in national climate change adaptation plans, recognizing that climate change disproportionately affects women and girls and their reproductive health.

Programme implementation, monitoring and reporting
● Support programmes SRHR, Gender, P & D, Adolescents and Youth and Population and data in the planning, implementation, monitoring and review of climate action related interventions.
● Develop tools/products to integrate population, youth, and gender issues in climate change programmes, where feasible, and based on UNFPA’s comparative advantage.
● Support strengthening of health systems to be more resilient to climate-related shocks and stresses, ensuring the continuity of SRHR services during and after climate-related events.
● Identify possible areas of integrating climate change in ongoing interventions being implemented by the Country Office
● Support in Identifying and engaging new stakeholders and developing existing networks and partnerships at national, regional and national level.
● Support research and data collection to better understand the links between climate change and SRHR, Gender, P & D, Adolescents and Youth and Population and data to inform future programming.
● Support coordination with other partners, including UN Agencies, Development Partners and Government Counterparts on climate action including attending Working Group meetings.

Support knowledge sharing and visibility
● Contribute to communication and visibility work including through co-developing age-appropriate messages and success stories on climate action.
● Identify innovations/ new ways of working better to improve programme support and delivery.

Support innovation and resource mobilization efforts
● Secure funding and resources to support SRHR, Gender, P & D, Adolescents and Youth and Population and data programs that address climate change impacts.
● Participate in scanning for resource mobilisation opportunities and contributes to developing concept notes and ideas.
● Support drafting of proposals and concept notes on SRHR, Gender, Youth and climate action.
● Any other related tasks and activities as may be required or assigned by the supervisor

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute with articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/expected outputs:

As an active UNFPA team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNFPA and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:

Mainstreaming & Strategic Integration:
• Institutionalization of climate-risk mitigation across the Country Office by integrating climate-vulnerability data and adaptation strategies into 100% of the Zimbabwe 8th Country Programme’s thematic areas.
• Mainstreaming climate-resilience indicators into all Implementing Partner (IP) Workplans, ensuring field-level activities are equipped to protect women and girls during climate-induced shocks.

Evidence-Based Advocacy & Documentation:
• Developed and disseminated evidence-based Policy Briefs and success stories that demonstrate the intersection of climate change with the ICPD Programme of Action, providing a roadmap for climate-resilient SRHR and GBV programming.
• Strengthened UNFPA’s thought leadership by documenting how environmental shifts impact the achievement of the Three Transformative Results in the specific context of Zimbabwe.

Strategic Information & Data Analytics:
• Generated high-quality Strategic Information and Population Data that correlates climate hazards (droughts, floods, heatwaves) with maternal health, family planning, and GBV trends to identify vulnerability hotspots.
• Established a data-driven evidence base to inform national disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies, ensuring they are responsive to the sexual and reproductive health needs of displaced and climate-affected populations.

Resource Mobilization & Partnerships:
• Contribute to the drafting of high-value funding proposals and concept notes that explicitly map the nexus between climate hazards and UNFPA’s mandate, successfully positioning the agency to access climate-specific financing (e.g., Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund).
• Enhanced strategic partnerships with climate and environmental actors to ensure the protection of women and girls is prioritized in national climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.