Program Officer - Climate Resilience

Mission and objectives

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations. In line with UNICEF's global mandate, the programmatic and advocacy work at UNICEF Maldives centres on the office's 6 X 4 Framework of Programmes and Advocacy Priorities. The framework identifies six priorities and four strategies for change. One of the priorities is Climate-resilient services and infrastructure. In Maldives, extreme climate events, such as heat waves, storms and floods are significant threats to children and young people’s lives and futures. UNICEF advocates for child- and youth-friendly climate policies and action and engages with young people as agents of change to implement programmatic and advocacy priorities focusing on building climate-resilient islands

Context

The UN Volunteer is part of UNICEF Maldives Country Office’s Climate Resilient Education initiative. The UN Volunteer will be placed in the Education Section and will work closely with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy and the National Disaster Management Centre.

Task Description

Under the guidance of the Education and Skills Development Specialist, the Program Officer - Climate Resilience will be responsible for the following key functions/ accountabilities: A. Programme development and mainstreaming of climate change and environmental issues across UNICEF Country Programme • Manage day to day coordination of the Climate-Resilient Education Portfolio, ensuring timely implementation of planned activities. • Support development, monitoring, and reporting of project work plans, budgets, and results frameworks. • Facilitate coordination between UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, National Designated Agency (NDA), the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology (or relevant institutions), and other stakeholders. • Ensure alignment of project activities with national climate strategies, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and education sector priorities. • Provide technical input on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)/Disaster Risk Management (DRM) integration, and climate adaptive education policies and systems. • Contribute to evidence generation, assessments, tools, and guidelines led by UNICEF or partners. • Facilitate technical exchanges and collaboration with the UNICEF Centre of Excellence (CoE) and other UNICEF country offices B. Climate Finance Mobilization through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) 1. Coordination of GCF Project Proposal Development. • Oversee the preparation and submission of a Funding Proposal and relevant annexes (Stage 3), embed UNICEF’s early screening and feedback, and embed UNICEF internal quality assurance screening and feedback. • Manage and oversee the work of consultants and institutions in the drafting of relevant project documents (Funding Proposal, associated annexes) and assessments or studies (feasibility studies, economic and financial analysis), ensuring clear TORs, delivery timelines, and quality assurance of the outputs. • Ensure the project documents and submissions adhere to the latest GCF templates, strictly following guidelines and word limits, and ensuring consistency across sections (context, barriers, climate rationale, Theory of Change, intervention, financial structure, log frame, risks, and Monitoring and Evaluation framework). • Manage the project development budget (consultants, studies, workshops), including procurement processes and financial tracking. • Serve as the primary escalation point for project development bottlenecks: identify, escalate, and propose mitigation for strategic, technical, fiduciary or reputational risks that may jeopardise submission timelines or Board approval. 2. Quality assurance and compliance with UNICEF’s and GCF’s requirements • Lead the internal and external quality assurance of project notes, Funding Proposal and relevant annexes to ensure alignment with GCF investment criteria and UNICEF standards (eg: climate impact, paradigm shift, co‑benefits, needs of beneficiaries, country ownership, and efficiency/effectiveness, etc), coordinating approvals from Country Office, government and CoE as well as other HQ divisions. This includes rapid consolidation and tracking responses to comments and feedback, ensuring timely delivery of re-submission files and anticipating subsequent reviews, and ensuring both UNICEF’s comments and GCF’s secretariat feedback are well addressed. • Ensure robustness of the theory of change, log frame/Integrated Results Management Framework (IRMF) indicators, risk register, procurement plan, and co‑financing confirmations, verifying consistency between narrative, budget, and results. • Ensure all technical studies (eg: feasibility studies, economic and financial analysis, etc), gender analysis, safeguards documentation, and cost‑benefit/viability assessments linked to the proposed financial structure meet GCF expectations and are fit‑for‑purpose. • Ensure timely response during GCF Secretariat review, Independent Technical Advisory Panel (iTAP) appraisal and pre-Board phase, including preparation of response matrices, re-submission material, NDA and CoE briefing notes and other engagement materials. • Anticipate and mitigate potential Independent Technical Advisory Panel (iTAP) and Board-level concerns (climate rationale, paradigm shift, financial viability, Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) risk exposure, implementation readiness). • Ensure alignment of the proposal with UNICEF’s accreditation scope (fiduciary and ESS category, etc.) • Work closely with Office of Social and Environmental Sustainability (OSE)’s Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) and Centre of Excellence (CoE) Gender teams to ensure early ESS risk screening and appropriate categorisation (B/C/I-2), including preparation of appropriate ESS annexe, stakeholder engagement plans, Indigenous Peoples Plans (if applicable), Gender Assessment and Gender Action Plan, and Grievance Redress Mechanism alignment. 3. In-country coordination and stakeholder engagement • Develop and lead a structured coordination process with the NDA, line ministries, and partners to ensure country ownership, alignment with national strategies (e.g., NDC, NAP, national climate, environment and energy policies, etc) and timely issuance of the No‑Objection Letter (NOL) as per GCF procedures. • Oversee assessment of proposed Executing Entities and implementing partners, including fiduciary capacity, procurement systems, safeguards readiness and implementation risk. Structure implementation arrangements to minimise start-up delays post-approval. • Prepare the Climate Resilience CoE to position the project within the broader GCF portfolio balance (geographic, thematic, adaptation/mitigation split) to enhance competitiveness and strategic fit. • Convene and facilitate multi‑stakeholder write shops/consultations/workshops bringing together stakeholders (but not limited to government, civil society, academia, private sector, children and young people, community representatives) to inform the project’s climate rationale, theory of change, and safeguards approach, and incorporate stakeholders feedback to inform the project design. • Maintain regular dialogue with NDA, partners, Country Office leadership and CoE to synchronise country inputs during decision gates, missions to or from GCF, and submission schedules. • Lead discussions on financial structuring, identify co-financiers, develop co-financing plan and ensure timely submission of co-financing letters in appropriate GCF template. 4. Internal UNICEF coordination, knowledge management and timely reporting. • Serve as the UNICEF’s in-country project coordination lead for the particular GCF project development, ensuring regular and timely coordination with Climate CoE and other HQ divisions (relevant sectoral CoE, OSE, etc.) to complete internal quality reviews and sign‑offs prior to submission. • Coordinate inputs across the Country Office teams and sectors (Programme Sections, Supply/Procurement, Finance, Legal, Partnerships, Operations) during the development of the project to incorporate sector expertise and child‑centred design across the package. • Schedule regular meetings (quarterly or as needed) bringing together the CO team, Climate COE and relevant UNICEF’s focal points to update and brief about the GCF project development process. • Maintain a document repository in UNICEF’s SharePoint (version control, decisions log, review trackers) and provide periodic progress reports and risk/issue escalations to UNICEF (Representative, CoE levels) and the NDA. • Develop a post-approval readiness plan (implementation start-up roadmap, recruitment, procurement sequencing, advance actions). • Document learnings (what worked and did not work), challenges and bottlenecks, and innovative approaches to guide future GCF project development C. Reporting & Documentation • Prepare technical briefs, updates, donor reports related to the climate change program and document lessons learned. • Contribute to the preparation of annual and quarterly progress reports for UNICEF on Climate Resilient Education • Ensure proper documentation of processes, consultations, studies, and outputs produced under the portfolio.

Competencies and values

Core Values: • Care • Respect • Integrity • Trust • Accountability • Sustainability Competencies: • Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management • Growth mindset

Living conditions and remarks

Maldives, home to 26 atolls with a total of 1,192 Islands. Of these, 187 are inhabited, of the remainder – 1,004 Islands, 159 of them are resort Islands while the rest (846) are uninhabited and remain virgin. The Maldives is a country where sands are white as the smiles of the locals and where fish swim happily in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives lies in two rows of atolls in the Indian Ocean, across the equator. The coral islands formed around 26 natural ring-like atolls, spread over 115,300 sq. kilometers. The total population of the archipelago is around 550,000 people. Climate: The Maldives has a tropical-monsoon climate, which is affected by the large landmass of South Asia to the north. The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water. These factors set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over South Asia, resulting in the southwest monsoon. Two seasons dominate Maldives' weather; the dry season (January-July) associated with the winter northeastern monsoon and the rainy season (July-December) which brings strong winds and storms. The average temperature for the country is max 32°C; min 28°C Visa information: To enter Maldives no pre-arrival visa is required. A thirty-day free visa is issued on arrival for all Nationalities, provided the following conditions are met: • Should possess a valid passport, • Have a valid ticket to continue the journey out of Maldives and, • Have enough funds to cover the expenses for duration of the stay in Maldives. (US$100 + $50 dollars per day) or a confirmation of reservation in a Tourist Resort or a Hotel You can complete the Traveler Declaration form at: https://imuga.immigration.gov.mv/ Maldives is a unique country and UNICEF Maldives has a unique operation. It provides for an interesting and enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as extra stamina and commitment than elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in dynamic environment is essential. As this is an International UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging they own housing and other living essentials. You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos