Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) and Risk Management Consultant
Organizational Context
UNICEF operates in over 190 countries and territories, dedicated to saving children’s lives, defending their rights, and helping them fulfill their potential. We are committed to our mission, offering diverse opportunities for professional and personal development in a passionate and inclusive culture, all while serving children and communities worldwide.
Job Purpose
The purpose of this consultancy is to support the Afghanistan Country Office in operationalizing UNICEF's Environmental and Social Standards (ESS) framework. This involves implementing the ESS Policy and Procedure in Programming and the Complaints and Feedback Management (CFM) Procedure. The role will strengthen environmental and social risk management, enhance programme stakeholder engagement, improve accountability, and refine monitoring and corrective-action systems across UNICEF programming. The consultancy aims to support the organization's transition towards a "Do More Good" approach, thereby enhancing programme effectiveness, safeguarding children and communities, and promoting sustainable development initiatives within the country office.
Responsibilities
The consultant will support the operationalization of UNICEF's ESS and CFM framework within the Afghanistan Country Office, focusing on environmental and social risk management, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive management systems. Key responsibilities include: 1. Completing the validation, finalization, and operationalization of the WASH Environmental and Social Risk Management Plan (ESRMP), integrating risk management, stakeholder engagement, CFM, monitoring, corrective-action, and reporting into programme implementation systems. 2. Supporting the implementation of the new UNICEF CFM framework by establishing and operationalizing complaint and feedback arrangements, referral pathways, and monitoring mechanisms aligned with accountability and risk management requirements. 3. Conducting the complete ESS rollout in two additional programme sections, encompassing activity screening, risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, ESRMP development, CFM integration, monitoring systems, validation, and operational integration into programme, partnership, procurement, and monitoring instruments. 4. Strengthening country office capacity for ESS implementation through practical application, coordination with specialized functions, partner and vendor engagement, monitoring, assurance, and continuous improvement processes. 5. Providing ESS support to the EERA-AF Project, including incident documentation, escalation support, corrective-action tracking, and preparing UNICEF-cleared reporting products consistent with ESS and World Bank requirements. 6. Documenting implementation lessons, challenges, good practices, and recommendations to inform the phased scale-up of ESS implementation across UNICEF Afghanistan programmes.
Work Experience
A minimum of five years of professional experience in environmental and social safeguards, risk management, programme management, or a related field. Experience with international development organizations or UN agencies is highly desirable. Experience in Afghanistan or similar contexts is an asset.
Skills
Environmental and Social Standards (ESS) implementation, Risk Management, Complaints and Feedback Management (CFM), Stakeholder Engagement, Programme Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Capacity Building, Report Writing, UNICEF Policies and Procedures, World Bank Safeguards, Project Management, Data Analysis