The UNICEF Cameroon CO is looking for an International Consultant to support the Government of Cameroon in identifying environmental health policy priorities, through strengthened evidence generation and partner coordination. By carrying out an in-depth country assessment on a range of environmental hazards and risk factors, and their impact on children in Cameroon, including local research and studies as needed and facilitating stakeholder consultations.
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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.
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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 Download File CEHA Consultant TOR 2025_.docx
Scope of Work:
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.
Support communications and awareness on environmental health issues affecting children, in collaboration with UNICEF Communications and WASH/climate change teams, including technical support to the integration of messages and materials into national planned campaigns, building upon HEHC materials that UNICEF has developed globally.
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
Analysis for prioritizing key topics in the country based on the research and consultations
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.
Deliverables:To achieve the objectives of the consultancy, the following deliverables are expected: