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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant
Consultancy Title: Sustainable Energy Consultant (KM, Advocacy, Policy)
Section/Division/Duty Station: CEED/PG/NYHQ remote
Duration: November 15, 2025 – December 15, 2026
Home/ Office Based: remote
BACKGROUND
Purpose 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 subSaharan 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 future interventions to meet several Sustainable Development Goals. This will contribute to UNICEF-related work in transitioning energy systems to net zero and adapting essential social services in an integrated and low-carbon manner for children. Under the close supervision and guidance of the CEED Programme Specialist, the Sustainable Energy Consultant shall have the following responsibilities
1) Knowledge Management: Maintain and update a comprehensive repository of sustainable energy resources, including best practices, case studies, and technical guidelines. Ensure easy access and dissemination of this knowledge to UNICEF staff and partners. 2) Advocacy Support: Implement and refine an ongoing advocacy strategy to promote sustainable energy policies. This includes engaging with stakeholders, organizing events, and producing advocacy materials to support UNICEF’s mission. 3) Policy Support: Provide continuous support for policy development and implementation. This involves analyzing current policies, recommending improvements, and ensuring alignment with global sustainable energy goals. 4) Capacity Building: Conduct internal workshops to build capacity among UNICEF staff on sustainable energy programming, knowledge, tools, resources, and advocacy.
Scope of Work:
Under the supervision and guidance of the CEED programme specialist, this consultant will work in collaboration with country offices, and headquarters to advocate for increased sustainable energy commitments in policy, as well as childsensitive commitments in energy policies. The consultant will have the following responsibilities:
1. Knowledge Management: Maintain and update a comprehensive repository of sustainable energy resources, including best practices, case studies, and technical guidelines. Ensure easy access and dissemination of this knowledge to UNICEF staff and partners.
•Support the development of UNICEF internal and external knowledge products and platforms demonstrating the organizations approach to sustainable energy for children and young people.
•Organize and update content on sustainable energy on a quarterly basis, for internal and external audiences (brochures, Sharepoint site)
•Develop and update a results tracker for global energy implementation, policy advocacy, systems strengthening and training which will include COAR and RAM data.
2. Advocacy Support: Implement and refine an ongoing advocacy strategy to promote sustainable energy policies. This includes engaging with stakeholders, organizing events, and producing advocacy materials to support UNICEF’s mission. •Present evidence from UNICEF data aggregation (including but not limited to market assessments) to inform relevant stakeholders and explore avenues for collaboration, for example for energy and SDG 4 (education).
•Support research and knowledge generation efforts, including dissemination of findings and key insights market assessments and other sustainable energy implementation at the global and regional scales.
•Engage with public and private sector partners on sustainability issues and opportunities for UNICEF’s sustainable energy work.
•Consult on and support child and youth engagement opportunities
•Prepare sustainable energy updates and advocacy materials for internal and external audiences and events.
3. Policy Support: Provide continuous support for policy development and implementation. This involves analyzing current policies, recommending improvements, and ensuring alignment with global sustainable energy goals.
•Review and consult on communications and knowledge products to assess their inclusion of child-sensitive sustainable energy commitments
•Evaluate the impacts of existing multisectoral policies, programmes, and advocacy efforts and identify communications opportunities to elevate these impacts for UNICEF and partner implementation.
4. Capacity Building: Support internal workshops to build capacity among UNICEF staff on sustainable energy programming, with key inputs including knowledge, tools, resources, and advocacy.
•Develop calculations on children and young people beneficiaries for different energy solutions to be used in investment cases, trainings, and other fundraising or results tracking material.
•Consolidate UNICEF’s efforts, reference materials and guidance on financing mechanisms such as renewable energy certificates and carbon credits, including supporting country offices to roll out carbon credits calculation tools through trainings and workshops.
•Summarize and disseminate findings from UNICEF feasibility studies for renewable energy certificates, blended finance, and carbon credits (including developing FAQs or guidance documents).
Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline
1. Knowledge Management: Maintain and update a comprehensive repository of sustainable energy resources, including best practices, case studies, and technical guidelines. Ensure easy access and dissemination of this knowledge to UNICEF staff and partners. •Support the development of UNICEF internal and external knowledge products and platforms demonstrating the organizations approach to sustainable energy for children and young people. •Organize and update content on sustainable energy on a quarterly basis, for internal and external audiences (brochures, Sharepoint site) •Develop and update a results tracker for global energy implementation, policy advocacy, systems strengthening and training which will include COAR and RAM data.
Deliverable 1: Internal and external brochure (PDF) for UNICEF Sustainable Energy, including Who’s Who of UNICEF and sustainable energy and a related powerpoint deck
31 Dec 2025
Deliverable 2: Sustainable Energy Results Tracker (Excel or Power BI) including updated 2025 results from COAR and RAM
31 Jan 2026
Deliverable 3: Internal report highlighting solar implementation success stories (in narrative form) and challenges from 2025
28 Feb 2026
2. Advocacy Support: Implement and refine an ongoing advocacy strategy to promote sustainable energy policies. This includes engaging with stakeholders, organizing events, and producing advocacy materials to support UNICEF’s mission. •Present evidence from UNICEF data aggregation (including but not limited to market assessments) to inform relevant stakeholders and explore avenues for collaboration, for example for energy and SDG 4 (education). •Support research and knowledge generation efforts, including dissemination of findings and key insights market assessments and other sustainable energy implementation at the global and regional scales. •Engage with public and private sector partners on sustainability issues and opportunities for UNICEF’s sustainable energy work. •Consult on and support child and youth engagement opportunities •Prepare sustainable energy updates and advocacy materials for internal and external audiences and events.
Deliverable 4: Policy brief featuring insights from all four market assessments and investment cases, with summarized recommendations for UNICEF value add
30 Apr 2026
Deliverable 5: Develop a Sharepoint site and toolkit for innovative financing mechanisms such as carbon credits and renewable energy certificates
30 Jun 2026
Deliverable 6: Global investment case for sustainable energy including return on investment calculations
31 Jul 2026
Deliverable 7: Powerpoint slides summarizing insights and next steps from feasibility studies for carbon credits, renewable energy certificates and blended finance.
31 Aug 2026
3.Policy Support: Provide continuous support for policy development and implementation. This involves analyzing current policies, recommending improvements, and ensuring alignment with global sustainable energy goals. •Review and consult on communications and knowledge products to assess their inclusion of child-sensitive sustainable energy commitments. •Evaluate the impacts of existing multisectoral policies, programmes, and advocacy efforts and identify communications opportunities to elevate these impacts for UNICEF and partner implementation
Deliverable 8: Policy brief for energy and SDG 4 (Education) for the high-level policy forum, with corresponding communications pack for social media and in-person dissemination
30 Sept 2026
Deliverable 9: Investment case and fundraising concept note for blended finance for social sector electrification initiative
31 Oct 2026
4. Capacity Building: Support internal workshops to build capacity among UNICEF staff on sustainable energy programming, with key inputs including knowledge, tools, resources, and advocacy. •Develop calculations on children and young people beneficiaries for different energy solutions to be used in investment cases, trainings, and other fundraising or results tracking material. •Consolidate UNICEF’s efforts, reference materials and guidance on financing mechanisms such as renewable energy certificates and carbon credits, including supporting country offices through trainings and workshops. •Summarize and disseminate findings from UNICEF feasibility studies for renewable energy certificates, blended finance, and carbon credits (including developing FAQs or guidance documents)
Deliverable 10
Capacity-Building Module on Energy Solutions and Beneficiary Impact (PPT): Training package for UNICEF staff that equips them to calculate and communicate the number of children and young people benefitting from different energy interventions. The module will include practical tools, exercises, and case studies, and will be integrated into internal workshops to strengthen staff capacity in applying beneficiary data to investment cases, fundraising materials, and results tracking
28 Nov 2026
Deliverable 11: Capacity-Building Module on Sustainable Energy Financing Mechanisms (PPT): Develop consolidated guidance package on financing mechanisms such as renewable energy certificates, blended finance, and carbon credits, drawing on UNICEF feasibility studies and global experience. The package will include a reference note, FAQs, and a training curriculum, and will be delivered through workshops and webinars to build staff capacity in applying financing tools to advocacy, programming, and resource mobilization.
15 Dec 2026
Qualifications
Education:
Advanced university degree (master’s degree or higher) in renewable energy, climate change, sustainable development, sustainability, or relevant technical field.
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:
• Expert knowledge in sustainable energy programming, communications, advocacy required.
• Minimum 1-2 years’ work experience in developing, supporting, or implementing sustainable energy or sustainability related initiatives.
• Strong project management, coordination, and communication skills
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of other official UN languages is considered an asset.
