This consultancy will provide support and technical assistance to low-and-middle income countries on air pollution, addressing childhood lead exposure and the roll out of the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) programme. The consultancy will be managed by the Senior Adviser, Environment. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the HEHC team at HQ, and Health and Climate CoE staff in the Panama Office.

Consultancy Title: Children’s Environmental Health Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Programme Group, Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) Programme Team

Duration: 16 March 2026 to 15 May 2027

Home/ Office Based: Remote (LAC Time Zone)

About UNICEF – 

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop global approaches on children’s environmental health and the provision of technical assistance to countries.

Scope of Work:

he UNICEF Strategic Plan has elevated action on climate change and environmental degradation as an organizational priority, to be integrated throughout UNICEF programmes. To concretize this, UNICEF HQ is implementing its global Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) programme framework in over 20 countries.  To mobilize collection action, UNICEF and partners have founded a Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative to protect child health and development from the impact of climate change and environmental degradation. 

UNICEF is currently implementing the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children programme in about 50 low- and middle-income countries to support the prioritization of the issue in the national agenda. This investment is critical because of the lack of understanding of the issue. The resources will be used for a local children’s environmental health assessment (e.g., with an academic institution), building local awareness and institutional leadership on the issue and positioning UNICEF as a credible actor in this new space by rolling out global assets on lead and children’s environmental health.

This consultancy will provide support and technical assistance to low-and-middle income countries on air pollution, addressing childhood lead exposure and the roll out of the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children (HEHC) programme. The consultancy will be managed by the Senior Adviser, Environment. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the HEHC team at HQ, and Health and Climate CoE staff in the Panama Office.

The consultant will:  

  1. Technical Assistance: Improve the prioritization of children’s environmental health by supporting the completion of country-level Children’s Environmental Health assessments and laying the groundwork for biomonitoring studies, climate and health programmes, regulatory reviews, health sector capacity development, school environmental health, CEH assets and CEH programmes on lead poisoning and air pollution.
  2. Regional Partnerships: Deepen partnership with PAHO and other regional partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote attention to children’s environmental health, including climate x health, in LAC region. Rollout global assets and reports through the organization of regional Spanish webinars on the CEH collaborative. Follow-up with countries and partners  to sign-up to CEH Collaborative and the Partnership for a lead-free future.
  3. Global guidance and report development, and support to monitoring Children’s Environmental Health: Development of global guidance and technical reports. Review global and national approaches to monitoring children’s environmental health including climate x health; Development of technical guidance on monitoring CEH based on country maturity models taking into account country governance; Collaborate with DAPM and external partners to enhance Children’s Environmental Health Profiles; Review and enhance country Children’s Environmental Health Assessments.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

 

CEH profiles on the CEH collaborative

Travel - Estimated $19,000

Qualifications

Education:

  • Master's or Ph.D. in Public Health, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Statistics, Demography, or a related field

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

  • Spanish and English language skills are required
  • Availability to provide support in the Latin America timezone

Expertise:

  • Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible and relevant work experience in lead programming in low- and middle-income countries. 
  • Technical expertise on monitoring lead, heavy metals, toxic chemicals and environmental health. 
  • Demonstrated ability to conduct rigorous research, analyze complex data, and synthesize information into clear, actionable guidance. 
  • Excellent ability to produce high-quality technical notes, protocols, reports, and presentations for diverse audiences (technical experts, policymakers, country-level teams). 
  • Demonstrated past experience in design of studies and assessments, and conducting research related to the environment, environmental health, climate x health, child’s health, pollutants and/or toxic metals 
  • Previous experience of working with UNICEF and the UN is desirable. 
  • Knowledge of research, monitoring, and evaluation methods, both quantitative and qualitative, and statistical methods and software 
  • Understanding of public health systems and policies related to environment and health 
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills 

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

    • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
    • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
    • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
    • Indicate your availability

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

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. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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. 

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