International Consultant for Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) Assessment
in Cameroon (WCAR), (Home-based and workdays in country).
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.
For every child, results
UNICEF has been working in Cameroon since 1975 to allow women and children
to fully realize their rights to development without restriction, as
enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF provides
financial and technical support to Cameroon across seven areas to fully
realize the rights of women and children. These areas include Health,
HIV/AIDS, Water-sanitation-Hygiene, nutrition, education, child protection,
and social inclusion. UNICEF focuses mainly on children and the most
vulnerable and excluded families. Cameroon’s 2020 population is estimated at
26,545,863 people according to UN data. The population is young and
generates strong socioeconomic demand. In rural areas, limited access to
basic social services and the effects of climate change lead to household
impoverishment and severe child deprivations. The task is immense but not
insurmountable; it requires the energy of all stakeholders in Cameroon and
outside of Cameroon: also, women, men, youth and children, government,
technical and financial partners, donors, civil society, the private sector,
parliamentarians, and communities. Everyone is invited to participate in the
struggle to meet the challenges ahead. Together, we will act for Cameroon, a
country that summarizes the challenges and hopes of Africa.
Background
Climate change and environmental degradation threaten to reverse progress on
child and adolescent survival, health and well-being. Children worldwide
face a host of environmental hazards, like polluted air, water and food;
exposure to toxic chemicals; unsafe infrastructure; and threats related to
climate change. Urgent investments, attention, political will and action is needed to
address these increasing threats.
Globally, 850 million children – 1 in 4 – are exposed to at least four
climate and environmental hazards, shocks or stresses[1]. All children, but especially indigenous children, internally displaced
children, girls and young women, children with disabilities and children
living in poverty, are the most vulnerable to environmental risks and
climate change. Children are physically, physiologically, socially and
economically more vulnerable and less able to survive shocks from floods,
droughts, heatwaves, severe weather and exposure to toxic substances.
Children are also more at risk of death, compared with adults, from diseases
that are likely to be exacerbated by pollution and climate change, such as
pneumonia, malaria and diarrhea. Any deprivation caused by climate and
environmental degradation at a young age can result in a lifetime of lost
opportunity. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 26 per cent
of deaths in children can be prevented by addressing environmental risks.
In 2021, UNICEF established the Healthy Environments for Healthy Children
framework[2], which identifies the key hazards
affecting child health and development globally and aims to support country
offices in addressing them through UNICEF’s health programmes, complementary
to the organization’s WASH strategy, food system approach, and the
organization’s overall policy on climate change and environment. The
framework additionally emphasizes the dangers of lead poisoning in children,
as highlighted initially in the 2020 UNICEF report on children’s exposure to
lead pollution[3] and its subsequent
neurological, cognitive and physical consequences; evidence demonstrates
that not only climate but also environmental hazards – from lead poisoning
to plastic pollution - pose a greater threat to children than previously
understood.
For more details, see
CEHA Consultant TOR 2025_.docx
The consultant will be supporting the WASH Section at UNICEF Cameroon
Country Office (CCO). Using the
technical note of the Country Assessment on Children’s Environmental
Health
as a guide, the scope of the consultancy includes:
- Work closely with relevant departments of the Ministry of Health (e.g. Department of Preventative Medicine, National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, National Maternal and Child Health Centre), Ministry of Environment, and relevant national institutions and research bodies, in designing and carrying out an in-depth country assessment on a range of environmental and climate hazards and risk factors to child health, including heat stress, vector-borne diseases, air pollution, lead poisoning, toxic metals and chemicals, e-waste, pesticides, and other key pollutants. This includes desk review of existing data, conducting stakeholder consultations and a landscape exercise, supporting data collection, analysis and report writing.
- Support the Government in partner and stakeholder coordination on environmental health issues, including technical support to the organisation and documentation of meetings and workshops. This includes supporting evidence-based advocacy and facilitating national and sub-national stakeholder meetings and consultations with experts, program focal persons from various organisations and Ministries as required.
- Support the Government to conduct a capacity needs assessment and develop a plan to provide health workers and managers on training related to environmental health. This includes identifying training priorities, entry points to integrate into current health worker training curriculums, etc.
The consultant/contractor will be specifically required to address these
following topics during the duration of the contract as well as in the
deliverables. The UNICEF CO team will be able to support the consultant in
accessing necessary and existing documents and data, to avoid redundancy
in research.
- Analysis of the country’s health systems: This includes leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children, relevant sectoral capacities, and both existing policies and gaps in national frameworks, monitoring tools and technologies, health infrastructure, health budget and expenditure necessary to treat climate and environmental hazards adequately. This can also include a summary of existing CEH programmes in the country
- Exposure of children to environmental and climate hazards: This will include assessing the child-specific health impacts of a range of hazards that are environmental (heavy metals, toxic chemicals, hazardous waste, other environmental hazards), climactic (excessive flooding, heat stress, drought, changing vector-born disease patterns) and a combination of the two (air pollution).
- Stakeholder and partner mapping in the environmental and climate health space: This includes partners ranging from the public to the private
- National and global environmental governance
Duration
The consultancy will run from
01/04/2025 to 30/06/2025. The
consultancy is Home-based for 75 days and 15 workdays in country.
To achieve the objectives of the consultancy, the following deliverables are expected:
Work Assignment Overview Tasks/Milestone Deliverables/Outputs Timeline
Estimate Budget Development of inception report, including CEH assessment
framework and work plan Inception report, including CEH assessment framework
and work plan 15/04/2025 17% Draft report summarizing literature review and
stakeholder consultations, including with government focal points and other
key partners identified Draft literature review report 31/04/2025 22%
Conduct National workshop disseminating the report, and capturing feedback
for next steps and one (1) presentation for internal dissemination with the
global HEHC team Workshop facilitation including ppt presentation for
internal dissemination. 15/05/2025 11% Draft CEH Assessment and relevant
communication products (e.g. presentation PowerPoint) shared for feedback
CEH Assessment and relevant communication products (e.g. presentation
PowerPoint) 01/06/2025 33% Develop Final CEH Assessment report with
analysis, key recommendations and priorities identified for the coming two
years of programming related to climate and environment health. Should
include suggested strategy for programme implementation based on priorities
identified Final CEH Assessment report with analysis, key recommendations
and priorities identified for the coming two years of programming related to
climate and environment health 30/06/2025 17%
Payment Details And Further Considerations
Payment of professional fees will be based on the 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.
Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (cover letter), CV or Resume
- Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
- Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including medical insurance with medivac, travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment. Cf. Consultancy Financial Proposal Template.xlsx
- Technical Proposal: A detailed methodological note for the conduct of this mission, with an indicative schedule of the different stages of the consultation and the expected products or deliverables as well as the relative costs.
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Environmental Health, Public Health, Medical Sciences, Epidemiology, Health research or any other related disciplines
- A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience in the areas of public health, environmental health
- Demonstrated experience in design of studies and assessments, and conducting research related to the environment, environmental health, child’s health, pollutants and/or toxic metals
- Experience in capacity building, government relationship building, training and/or facilitation an asset
- Good knowledge of French and English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. Assessment
Criteria Points 1 Educational background
2 Knowledge of research, monitoring, and evaluation methods, both
quantitative and qualitative, and statistical methods and software 20 3
Demonstrated experience in design of studies and assessments, and
conducting research related to the environment, environmental health,
child’s health, pollutants and/or toxic metals. 30 4
Quality of past work (e.g. past studies, assessments, study design and
reports on research topics relevant to environmental health)
15 5 Financial proposal 25
General Terms And Conditions
Please review UNICEF's General Terms and Conditions for Consultants
here
for important information regarding contract obligations, including medical
insurance, SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) vaccination, and income tax requirements.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and
Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit
here.
UNICEF is committed to
diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality,
religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to
become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace,
UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable
accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the
use of flexible working arrangements. Click
here
to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term
physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction
with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in
society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy
and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of
employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide
reasonable accommodation
for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with
disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to
strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with
a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the
online application, please submit your request through the accessibility
email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage
Accessibility | UNICEF.
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under
18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation,
religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to
promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected
candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background
checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
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, and selected
candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting
documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
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
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