Job Description
Sustainable Energy Consultant (Remote/Work from home) - Ref#578008Job no: 578008 Contract type: Consultant Duty Station: New York Level: Consultancy Location: United States Categories: Programme ManagementUNICEF 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, hope.Consultancy Title: Sustainable Energy ConsultantSection/Division/Duty Station: Climate Environment Energy & Disaster, Programme Group, UNICEF NYHQDuration: 15 January 2025 to 31 December 2025Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / RemoteAbout UNICEFIf 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.BACKGROUNDPurpose of Activity/ Assignment:Climate change and environmental degradation present significant and escalating threats to the well-being of children globally, jeopardizing the progress achieved in child survival and development. Over a billion children are exposed to severe risks from climate and environmental hazards such as heatwaves, floods, and cyclones.Given the urgency of adverse climate impacts, it is crucial to transition our energy systems to carry out effective climate change mitigation. Climate change mitigation projects can play a crucial role in saving children by addressing the underlying causes of climate change and its adverse impacts on their health, well-being, and future. Electricity is a critical enabler that dramatically improves the quality, accessibility and reliability of education, health care and WASH services for children. In healthcare and educational facilities, electricity is needed for lighting, heating, powering vital life-saving medical interventions, digital connectivity, learning digital skills, remote learning and delivering WASH services.Leveraging its extensive field presence in remote areas, UNICEF is committed to fostering climate-resilient, low-carbon communities that safeguard all children. These endeavors constitute some of the most valuable investments for protecting vulnerable children in communities most vulnerable to climate change and its compounded risks. The global gap in access to energy for these critical services threatens a child's ability to survive and thrive. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, only a quarter of health centers and a fifth of schools have access to reliable electricity. Providing sustainable energy and related equipment for water systems in remote schools improves menstrual hygiene management and means that girls can attend school. Improving access to solar-powered water and electricity in under-resourced schools and health centers will help bridge this global gap.Decentralized sustainable energy solutions are becoming increasingly financially and technically viable. They enable uninterrupted essential services and power healthcare, water, and educational facilities. They also contribute to reducing GHG emissions and pollution, promote local employment, increase the retention and recruitment of staff, and can be more resilient in the face of disasters. Providing sustainable energy is key to pursuing a just energy transition to ensure that communities' and households' social and economic needs are met globally.In order to reinforce its expertise in sustainable energy UNICEF is seeking a consultant who will support UNICEF with implementation, communications, knowledge management, and research-related work in transitioning energy systems to net zero and adapting essential social services in an integrated and low-carbon manner for children. This includes support to knowledge management and communications action plan on tools and training for UNICEF staff to strengthen their understanding of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean cooking that can be then integrated across UNICEF's programs in healthcare, nutrition, WASH, education, social protection and child protection, and supporting UNICEF in its assessing the market landscape and demand for the provision of solar energy in UNICEF's key sectors (WASH, education and healthcare) to generate the evidence base to inform UNICEF's value add and futur
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