The consultant will develop and collaborate on content development that showcases UNICEF’s climate action successes, lessons learnt, best practices and innovations that contribute to advancing UNICEF’s mission to protect children and secure their rights in the face of the climate crisis.

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, hope.

Consultancy Title: CEED Strategic Content Development Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Programme Group, Climate Environment Energy & Disaster, UNICEF NYHQ

Duration: 01 January 2025 to 31 December 2025

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / Remote

About UNICEF 

If 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.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF is committed to addressing the climate crisis as part of its mission to protect child rights. As climate change increasingly affects the world’s most vulnerable children, UNICEF is scaling its climate action efforts across various sectors, including water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH), health, education, social protection, nutrition, child protection and disaster risk reduction. This consultancy aims not only to map and showcase key UNICEF efforts and results for children. It also aims to strengthen UNICEF staff and partner capacities and learning in climate action so they can scale successful interventions and lead sustainable development initiatives for children.

The consultant will develop and collaborate on content development that showcases UNICEF’s climate action successes, lessons learnt, best practices and innovations that contribute to advancing UNICEF’s mission to protect children and secure their rights in the face of the climate crisis. The resulting content—based on a strategic implementation plan—will align with the goals of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan and its Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan (SCAP). The content will contribute to awareness-raising, internal learning, capacity-building and resource mobilization efforts within UNICEF and with its partners and donors. It will also showcase UNICEF’s role as a leader in child-sensitive climate action and motivate and inspire internal stakeholders to action and donors to scale successful interventions. The various knowledge and communication content will show how climate action is making a tangible impact and improving UNICEF’s and partners’ ability to respond to future climate challenges.

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the CEED Programme Specialist, the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks for the CEED team, supporting the SCAP while working closely with other team members and UNICEF divisions:

Planning: Strategic content development and dissemination on climate action

• Develop a content implementation plan, collaborating with the CEED programming group and a global network of CEED knowledge developers, communication specialists, sector and divisional focal points, and regional CEED technical experts within UNICEF.
• Collaborate with UNICEF divisions and partners to ensure alignment between content creation, capacity-building objectives, climate rationales and the SCAP.
• Identify key initiatives, regions and countries to feature for key stakeholders to increase both internal knowledge and external awareness of UNICEF’s climate action efforts, focusing on how UNICEF and partner efforts build resilience and capacity in vulnerable communities.
• Identify and include new mediums that could be used to disseminate knowledge and inspire learning (e.g., data platforms, podcasts, communication campaigns).

Content creation: Produce print, video, and multimedia content.

• Develop case study vignettes highlighting results from UNICEF’s climate action initiatives within the CEED programme group and across sectors such as WASH, health, education, social protection, nutrition, child protection and disaster risk reduction. The cases will highlight child-specific outcomes and impacts, including successful programming, advocacy and policy work and influence at national, regional, and global levels.
• Collaborate with regional and country offices to develop high-quality, branded digital case studies on CEED initiatives, such as early warning systems and the Today & Tomorrow initiative. Ensure content is relevant for internal knowledge building and external stakeholder engagement, including donors and partners.
• Adapt in-depth content into presentation vignettes, internal news articles, social media posts and capacity-building and resource mobilization materials.
• Develop short video documentaries that showcase successful UNICEF climate action initiatives, featuring engagement with UNICEF programming and initiative team members, child and young person participants and partners. Highlight how the initiatives contribute to strengthened capacities for climate action, especially within communities and partner organizations.
• Develop content that contributes to the development of training materials that can be shared with both internal teams and external partners to reinforce climate action capacities.

Content capacity-building: Design/facilitate workshops and presentations.

• Organize CEED action ‘learning from practice’ workshops where UNICEF colleagues and partners from different regions share lessons learned, success stories and innovative solutions. Strategically design the workshops to support content co-creation where possible. 
• Advise CEED’s capacity-building team on which climate action content to integrate into modules, and support content adaptation for trainings.

Please note that these tasks may require travel, which will be covered by UNICEF in coordination with and upon approval from the supervisor.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Planning: Strategic content development and dissemination on climate action

Deliverable 1 – Planning: Content creation plan. Develop a CEED content development plan, approx. 5 pages, which includes the SCAP context, key areas of focus, and a recommended implementation plan for 2025 content creation and dissemination. The plan will include a timeline and resources. Developing the plan will include consultation with CEED focal persons from UNICEF’s 7 regions at an in-person CEED network meeting, as well as 8-10 sector and divisional leads. (15 Feb 2025)

Content creation: Produce print, video and multimedia content       

Deliverable 2 – Content Creation: Case study vignettes. Research and develop 30 high-quality, results-focused case study vignettes with sector, regional and country offices for presentations, reporting and resource mobilization. Collaborate with the CEED KM Lead to contribute examples to a case study database that UNICEF colleagues can access. Provide 2 pages of recommendations to the Database Lead on key topics identified in the vignettes, and in how regions and countries can contribute. (31 Dec 2025)

Deliverable 3 – Content Creation: Case study packages. Research and produce 5 case study packages in collaboration with country and regional UNICEF offices. The packages will include an in-depth case study (approx. 10 pages long), a story for UNICEF’s internal ICON news site, 1-page resource mobilization brief and 1-2 vignettes to be used for presentations, reporting and capacity-building. (31 Dec 2025)

Deliverable 4 – Content Creation: Coordinate short video documentaries. Research, write and coordinate 2 video documentaries that highlight key results for climate action in programming alongside an external production company. The high-quality videos will be 7-10 minutes long, videotaped in the country where the climate action is taking place, and produced in collaboration with global, regional and country office partners. The deliverable includes developing and advising on a content dissemination plan. (31 Oct 2025)

Deliverable 5 – Content Creation: Create video clips for social media. Create 15 short mobile phone video clips of UNICEF’s climate action for social media while on location for story development. The clips will be 30-90 seconds and make a strong point to support UNICEF’s programming work. (31 Oct 2025)

Content capacity-building: Design/facilitate workshops and presentations  

Deliverable 6 – Content capacity-building: Workshops. Research, develop and produce 4 internal content capacity-building workshops 1 hour long to reach across regions using Zoom. Develop the content with country office partners and manage the technical aspects of webinar production. (30 June 2025)

Qualifications

Education: 

Advanced university degree (Masters) in the area of education, environmental sciences, international development, public administration, or other related degree.

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *: 

• At least 8 years of experience creating learning materials, training modules, and strategic content on climate change, children’s rights, and cross-sectoral areas like WASH, health, and education.
• Skilled in producing high-quality multimedia content, including case studies, policy briefs, video, and social media assets for advocacy and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience developing and implementing content strategies that align with organizational goals in climate and sustainability.
• Proficient in synthesizing best practices and case studies to support knowledge-building and advocacy.
• Skilled in facilitating workshops, webinars, and discussions with climate experts and partners.
• Skilled at adapting complex information for varied audiences, including policy-makers, donors, and practitioners.
• Expertise in creating targeted messaging for presentations, social media, and digital storytelling.
• Strong organizational skills to coordinate multi-format content production and manage cross-functional collaboration.

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

– Upload copy of academic credentials

– Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

– Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

– At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

– Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory 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.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

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. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.