Regional Adviser - Climate Change & Adaptation (P-5), #10357, Kathmandu - Nepal, ROSA

The Regional Adviser (Climate Change & Adaptation) serves as an authoritative adviser to the Regional Director, Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Management Teams, Country Offices and Government institutions/officials on strategies, policies, approaches, best practices and knowledge on climate change & adaptation, sustainable energy and other environmental issues in South Asia.  The adviser will also advise the regions on greening UNICEF's operations, support knowledge exchange, and monitor progress made.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

For every child, a geographically mobile & diverse workforce

The Regional Adviser (Climate Change & Adaptation) serves as an authoritative adviser to the Regional Director, Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Management Teams, Country Offices and Government institutions/officials on strategies, policies, approaches, best practices and knowledge on climate change & adaptation, sustainable energy and other environmental issues in South Asia.  The adviser will also advise the regions on greening UNICEF's operations, support knowledge exchange, and monitor progress made.

How can you make a difference?

1.  Regional advisory services and technical support on strategic planning

• Advise key national government officials, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners on policies, strategies, approaches and best practices on climate change, sustainable energy and other environmental issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in regional/country programme planning, preparation and review to provide advice on formulation, design, management, enhancement and communication of climate change and adaptation, sustainable energy and other environmental policy, including setting priorities and results-based management goals.
• Participate in regional key events and strategic discussions to influence policy discussions and agenda setting on climate change, sustainable energy and other environmental issues.
• Develop and/or recommend regional programme policies, strategies and approaches. Lead and/or organize regional strategic discussions and planning on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental programming issues.
• Work with the regional team to ensure inclusion of climate change, sustainable energy and other environmental issues across UNICEF's work, including but not limited to WASH, Health, Education, Social Inclusion, Nutrition, Urban, Disaster Risk Reduction, and humanitarian situations.
• In cooperation with the Regional Chief of Operations, provide guidance and technical advice to Country Offices to green their operations.

2.  Support to country offices on programme development and planning

• Collaborate with Regional Management/Country Office teams throughout all stages of programming to provide technical support to programme preparation, implementation and monitoring for results.
• Provide policy guidance and technical support to national external partners/internal colleagues to develop national policies/strategies for UNICEF assisted programmes.
• Contribute to the planning and conduct/update of situation analysis to ensure that current and evidence based data on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental issues, are available to guide UNICEF's strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights.
• Manage and coordinate technical support around climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental issues ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. Ensure risk analysis and risk management are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and environmental policy to leverage UNICEF's position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities and constituents to advocate/promote interventions and policies related to climate change, sustainable energy and other environmental issues affecting children.
• Provide technical advice to facilitate the inclusion of climate change, sustainable energy, issues related to the urban environment, and other environmental issues in the Country Programme and to ensure alignment of programmes goals with the overall UNICEF's Strategic Plan.
• Consult and collaborate with national/global colleagues/partners/allies to develop a partnerships framework to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing/scaling up initiatives to address climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental issues, and child-responsive and sustainable urban development affecting children.
• Evaluate/facilitate synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programmes and projects with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities, donors' development strategies/policies, national priorities/competencies and UN System development interventions/initiatives.

3.  Regional programme monitoring and assessment

• Ensure effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation of different country programmes within the region. Ensure that climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environment related initiatives enhance policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and monitoring and evaluation.
• Collaborate with HQ Advisers , Regional/Country Monitoring and Evaluation Advisers/Officers to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environment related initiatives.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sector reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine and to provide advice on required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Assess CO's monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in programme and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Submit/share assessments on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environment related initiatives, in country offices highlighting critical issues and suggestions for enhancing performance and delivery of sustainable results.
• Monitor progress made with greening UNICEF's operations.

4.  Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Establish effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai DRR Framework.
• Collaborate with/advise country offices in the region to develop strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support resource mobilization for climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environment related initiatives.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF (as delegated/designated) in key events/meetings and in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are clearly articulated and fully considered/integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with regional inter-agency partners/colleagues UNDAF planning and preparation of related programmes and projects.

5.  Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and introduce technological and programme innovations, approaches and good practices in the region for climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environment related initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast of, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices in the region related to climate change, sustainable energy, the urban environment and other environmental issues.
• Identify, assess, vet and disseminate a roster of qualified experts and highly recognized institutions for easy access and use by stakeholders.
• Lead  and/or  develop  policies  and  procedures  and  introduce  innovation  and  best practices  to  ensure  optimum  efficiency  and  efficacy   of  sustainable   programmes  and projects.
• Lead/plan/implement   capacity   building   initiatives  to  enhance  the  competencies   of clients/stakeholders   to  promote  sustainable  results  on  climate  change,  sustainable energy,  the  urban  environment  and  other  environmental  issues  related  programming, advocacy and technical support.
• Lead knowledge exchange including collecting and sharing best practices and lessons learned on greening UNICEF's operations.
  

The  key results have an  impact on  UNICEF's capacity  to effectively  integrate  climate  change  adaptation and  environmental  sustainability  concerns  into  its  programmes  enabling  UNICEF  to  deliver improved results for children. They also have a direct impact on UNICEF's ability to mobilize and leverage climate finance resources from multilateral and bilateral partners.  UNICEF country offices thereby become the go-to partner for advancing children’s rights in the face of climate change and related environmental and urban sustainability issues and opportunities. The results will also contribute to expediting the significant steps UNICEF is taking to green its operations and thereby "walking the talk" on environmental sustainability. 

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

• An Advanced university degree in environment, energy or climate change, or other relevant disciplines. Qualifications in urban development or planning is also preferred.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant work experience focused on developing countries, in areas related to development cooperation in climate change adaptation, low carbon development, environment, air pollution, sustainable energy, and the urban environment is required.
• Specific expertise in programme/ project formulation, implementation, monitoring and review and evaluation related to climate change adaptation and low carbon development in developing countries is required.
• Proven experience in successfully developing, formulating and overseeing the implementation of adaptation and low carbon development projects for the GEF/LDCF/SCCF, Adaptation Fund, and/or other sources of climate finance is required Knowledge of climate change impacts, climate risk assessments, and adaptation solutions is required.
• Knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions and low carbon development solutions, especially related to sustainable energy is required.
• Knowledge of sustainable urban development solutions, is required.
• Familiar with children's rights and gender in the context of climate change adaptation and low carbon development and/or natural resources management is highly desirable.
• Experience with greening the operations of an organization is an asset.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills, advocacy and presentational skills is required.
• Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset or required depending on duty station.

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.

Remarks:

A majority of our positions are classified as “rotational,” which means the incumbent is expected to rotate to another duty station upon completion of their tour of duty.

NOTE: CANDIDATES APPLIED EARLIER NEED NOT APPLY AGAIN.