Consultant for Climate Changes and Prepareness In Bahia, Minas Gerais e Pernambuco, Brazil

Under the supervision and guidance of the Chief of Salvador Field Office the Consultant will provide overall technical support to UNICEF practices on Disasters Risk Reduction Preparedness in Bahia, Minas Gerais e Pernambuco. Follow-up and capacity-building of local actors on implementation of municipal projects on WASH and highly water-borne diseases prevention, water and sanitation; and to develop technical proposal to amplify the UNCEF approach and response on Climate Changes. The incumbent will mainly work at state level in Bahia nevertheless he/she may be requested to 2 travels in affected municipalities in Bahia, in Minas Gerais and Pernambuco. Six (6) travels per total with 2,5 duration days . As well as following-up successful local practices in communities and cities. The Consultant will also be requested to attend webinars and virtual and national meetings with UNICEF teams, Emergency Technical Team, UNICEF Seal Team, Sates Secretariats, Prosecution Office’s Operational Working Group and NGO partners. The Consultant will prepare activities such as organizing meeting, workshops, training and production of reports, analysis, and systematization (will be requested in Portuguese and/or English).

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, respect 

In December 2021, an unexpected and unforeseen amount of rainfall hit the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, triggering the flagging of 139 Federally-recognized Emergency-status and the identification of disaster-situations across 213 municipalities, as last informed by the Health Secretariat of the State of Bahia in 25 January, 2022. As reported, the heavy rains contributed to two damm collapses, the first close to the cities of Vitória da Conquista and Jussiape in Bahia, and the second in the city of Nova Lima in Minas Gerais, a rainfall that also led to riverine flooding, which disrupted cities and traditional communities (quilombolas), specially across Bahia’s municipalities.

According to the ACAPS an independent-global-humanitarian monitoring Center, the events in Bahia were caused by a methodological phenomenon known as the South Atlantic Convergence Zone 5 , which amplified by La Ninã, and the passage of a Subtropical Cyclone caused damages and losses estimated in US$ 3.1 billion, according to the report “State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021” by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) .

UNICEF, as one of the first agencies to reach the affected municipalities, drawn on January 07th 2022, the Bahia Humanitarian Flashnote Nº 01, displaying the preliminary figures of 37,477 children in need; 815,597 affected population; and the displacement of 101,256 people among shelters and host communities.

UNICEF drawn a proposal aimed at supporting children and the youth in at least 17 municipalities targeting an estimated public. Two main strategies were carried out by this proposal (1) a ‘Technical Assistance and advocacy to government and partners’ - Aiming at guaranteeing children’s access to public services through in-site visits to the affected; and (2) a ‘Humanitarian service delivery in shelters through partnerships’ – then evolving to a broader scope beyond the in-shelter situation, in providing and facilitating children’s access to mental health support through: (i) the identification of child-mental health needs in visits to affected families and communities, and in articulating with public services their outreach in supporting the identified target groups at the long-term; (ii) and, in temporarily supporting schools and child-specific services in the return of their activities, offering individual psychological care to children and the youth, with techniques tailored to emergency scenarios. At the end, the project was able to reach the respective audience, 4.075 children affected by the floods who accessing to public services and 360 children who received mental health support.

In the same year, 2022, the capital of Pernambuco and more 31 municipalities in this State also suffered with heavy rains and according to the Civil Defense authorities. Pernambuco had registered the highest number of deaths (133) after severe landslides. On this situation UNICEF carried out a rapid assessment about children in 7 (seven) shelters that had been installed in public schools in the capital city. Additionally, UNICEF conducted by IP, strategies and support service on mental health to adolescents as well as advocacy for the safe return “to school.

In terms of setting-complexity, in these states experiences it was possible to identify multiple complexes, compounding and cascading risks, addressed by UNICEF in its special-concerns with WASH, Health, Nutrition, Child Protection and Education.

At that emergency scenario in Bahia was evidenced the coexistent risks as the water-contamination and vector-borne related diseases, the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, and child-specific pre-existing vulnerabilities – also linked with the pandemic social isolation – such as hidden SGBV cases, malnutrition, and difficulties in accessing/returning to school, demanded multi-level and intersectoral efforts from UNICEF, both at its own agency and in the selection of an Implementation Partner for Recovery and Pos-disasters Activities.

In general, several studies correlate the incidence of epidemics to the lack of sanitation or to lack of hygiene.   In addition, in the Northeastern region where the highest rates of hospitalization in the country are recorded for diseases transmitted by infestation of contaminated water and poor means of hygiene, the incidence of heavy rains in its annual cycles in the region, raises an alert for the increase of these diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, exactly during the rainy and warmer months of the year, the period in which they reproduce faster.

This equation establishes the frankly necessary mobilization and sensitization for disease prevention on the part of the population, children and adolescents.

As a final highlight, the Northeast is also the scenario for many innovations and solutions created to overcome the challenges in their lives posed by climate change that, as an example, vulnerable groups and traditional communities were more impacted by the heavy rains. However, their innovative and integrative solutions with natural environment are originate from their culture and the regional ethnical traditions.

The consultant will have the Chief of Salvador Zone Office as the direct supervisor. Members of local staff; Emergency Technical Team (ETT; as well the Brazilian Semi-Arid (SAB) focal point on Child Protection, Education, Social Protection, Monitoring and Evaluation; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) will be working in dialogue with the consultant

How can you make a difference? 

Under the supervision and guidance of the Chief of Salvador Field Office the Consultant will provide overall technical support to UNICEF practices on Disasters Risk Reduction Preparedness in Bahia, Minas Gerais e Pernambuco. Follow-up and capacity-building of local actors on implementation of municipal projects on WASH and highly water-borne diseases prevention, water and sanitation; and to develop technical proposal to amplify the UNCEF approach and response on Climate Changes.

The incumbent will mainly work at state level in Bahia nevertheless he/she may be requested to 2 travels in affected municipalities in Bahia, in Minas Gerais and Pernambuco. Six (6) travels per total with 2,5 duration days . As well as following-up successful local practices in communities and cities. The Consultant will also be requested to attend webinars and virtual and national meetings with UNICEF teams, Emergency Technical Team, UNICEF Seal Team, Sates Secretariats, Prosecution Office’s Operational Working Group and NGO partners. The Consultant will prepare activities such as organizing meeting, workshops, training and production of reports, analysis, and systematization (will be requested in Portuguese and/or English).

EXPECTED RESULTS:

Context 

In line with the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) and National Brazilian Protocols for Children in Emergency and Disasters (National Protocols) this consultancy aims at cooperating to achieve 3 results based on following 3 rationale levels:

At Semiarid Region level – risks preparedness/mitigation: A stronger needs to update and dissemination of National Protocol among affected municipalities in the past emergency, which once again experiencing themselves new cycles and scenario of heavy rains. Note that 90% of these communities and municipalities are not familiar with the International and/or National Protocols and Commitments for Children in emergencies and natural disasters.

At UNICEF Seal implementation level – the increased risks of water and vector-borne related diseases, as result of  floods in these affected-municipalities and the coexistence the COVID19 pandemic. The urgent needs for sensibilization and mobilization of adolescents and municipal stakeholders on health prevention, wash and environmental education.

At Municipals and Communities’ levels –- building a propped approach and UNICEF intervention on climate changes considering the successful experiences of traditional communities and marginalized groups based on their culture and the regional ethnical traditions.

RESULTS / DELIVERABLES AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

Result/Deliverable 1 – National Protocol revised and disseminated in at least 3 states governments in Semiarid Region (Bahia, Minas Gerais and Pernambuco) through elaborating municipal and state Guidebook of developing preparedness and risk mitigation’s Plans.

Activities:

1.1     Revise of the National Protocol to dissemination by UNICEF to States and municipal levels.

1.2     Elaborate a step-by-step guide reference to support the municipalities and states levels to elaborate its Municipals Plans of Contingency/Preparedness.

1.3     Carry out an online training on Child centered disaster risk and reduction, for until 90 municipalities most affected by climate disasters in these 3 States.

1.4     Share examples and good practices on mitigation, preparedness Plans, amongst State Secretariats and other Governmental institutions.

1.5     Providing specialized technical assistance for post-disasters child-focus plans, especially at the level of state authorities whereas to draw lessons learned from Bahia, Minas Gerais e Pernambuco emergency response to strengthen UNICEF BCO capacity to address localized sudden emergencies.

Result/Deliverable 2 – Local managers of health, assistance, education, school community, and adolescents from NUCAS in the semi-arid region informed, sensitized, trained, and acting as agents of change in their communities, improving services to communities and planning local policies to prevent waterborne and neglected vector-borne diseases (Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya and their control). Through actions to promote hygiene, water treatment, sanitation, the environment, and climate change in UNICEF Seal municipalities 

Activities:

2.1. Offer 3 online  training and technical assisting (36 hours)  for 300 local managers from Seal municipalities   in environmental and climate change issues in order to better implement water and sanitation services in the territories and vector control strategies in municipal sanitation plans and in municipal contingency and emergency preparedness plans.

2.2. Offer 3 presential training (30 hours) for 150 Adolescents and monitoring the implementation of UNICEF Seal adolescent projects on WASH, climate change and the environment, focusing on the prevention of waterborne and neglected diseases such as Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya in their communities and their peers.

2.3 Monitoring the implementation of municipal projects on environment, climate change, and access to water and sanitation services, throught online mode and by UNICEF AVA platform.

Result/Deliverables3 – UNICEF´s technical proposal on Climate Changes, Environmental Education and Children elaborated on the basis of good practices and lessons draw from 2 capitals cities and 2 traditional and indigenous communities in the Semiarid region.

Activities:

3.1. Lead the analysis on good practices from 2 traditional communities and 2 capital cities in Pernambuco, Bahia, and Minas Gerais States – to collect lessons learned related to local solutions on climate changes resilience practices and environmental education for Children.

3.2. Lead an oriented analysis on the importance of the preservation of the territory, its rich multi-ethnical knowledge which gather a diversity of traditional and innovative practices child-oriented to face the climate risks, promote protection and environmental sustainable.    

3.3. Elaborate a Semiarid-oriented funding proposal on Climate Changes & Children 

PRODUCTS DELIVERY TIMES

Deliverables	Duration (number of days needed)	Deadline		Payment (% of the contract)
01 Month	1st Report National Protocol revised and disseminated.	30 working days	01 month from the date of contract signature	20%
02 Month	2nd Report  1 Guidebook on National Protocols and Contingency Plans developed to dissemination by UNICEF among municipal and state decision makers.	60 working days	02 month from the date of contract signature	20%
03 Month	3nd. Report  1 State Contingency Plan revised according child-oriented measures and CCC and National Protocols response.	90 working days	03 month from the date of contract signature	20%
04 Month	4nd Report: Progress Report on capacity building in UNICEF Seal  implemented for municipals decision makers	120 working days	04 month from the date of contract signature	10%
05 Month	5th Report: Progress Report on capacity building in UNICEF Seal implemented for adolescents from NUCA	150 working days	05 month from the date of contract signature	10%
06 Month	6th Report: Funding technical proposal on Climate Changes & Children, oriented for Semiarid`s ethnic-culture, developed.	180 working days	06 month from the date of contract signature	20%

TIMEFRAME

6 months from the signature of contract

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The deliverables shall be subject to review and approval by UNICEF after delivery by the Consultant. If needed, revisions and alterations may be requested by UNICEF related to quality and technical depth parameters. Only after final clearance from the UNICEF Brazil, will the payment be processed.

Activity reports should be submitted with frequency lists of meetings and / or events, minutes of meetings with referrals agreed, photographic record with permission to use image according to UNICEF standard and life histories.

If the deliverable date is at the weekend or on a public holiday, it must be delivered on the next following business day.

UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the partners are not followed, the performance is unsatisfactory, or work/deliverables are incomplete, not delivered or fail to meet the deadlines.

KEY COMPETENCES, TECHNICAL BACKGROUND, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED DEADLINE

EDUCATION

• University Degree in Social Sciences, International Relations, Education, Law, Communications, social work, or related area relevant with UNICEF fields of actions

• Background and familiarity with international human rights and emergency recovery, preparedness, climate changes an wash.
• Professional experience or knowledge of public policy for children and adolescents, as well as disaster preparedness and response.
• Professional experience or Knowledge of climate changes and the impact on children.
• Master’s degree would be an asset.
• Minimum 3 years progressively responsible professional work experience at the national or international levels in international/ civil society organizations.
• Good knowledge of State and municipal governments and civil society organizations.
• Experience in working with traditional and vulnerable population is an asset.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and proven ability to facilitating interagency processes to achieve a common goal.
• Computer and database literacy and social media would be an asset, as well as Information Management or SIG skills
• Native Portuguese and fluent English. Working Spanish would be an asset.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or individual Contractor.
• Consultants will not have any representative, certifying, or approving authority, or supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
• Consultant’s, travel costs should be included in the consultant’s fee.
• Consultant will work remotely on a delivery basis.

Financial Proposal

•    Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.

•    A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum, administrative cost, travel cost and subsistence costs, as applicable.

•    The payment will be based on submission of agreed 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. 

Insurance and Health Coverage

•    The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.

•    The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

Restrictions

•   Consultants may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF.  Notwithstanding, consultants must complete the applicable mandatory trainings before the signature of the contract;

•   In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government, or unless on leave without pay.

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.