National Consultant for Evaluation of the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) Program, Kuala L[...]

UNICEF; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A global organization for children's rights is seeking a consultant for evaluating the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) programme in Malaysia. The role involves assessing programme effectiveness, providing strategic recommendations, and enhancing youth engagement in climate and environmental issues. The ideal candidate has extensive evaluation experience and a strong background in youth programmes and environmental contexts.

Benefits

Diverse opportunities for professional development

Attractive compensation and benefits package

Qualifications

• At least 8 years of extensive evaluation experience in social sciences.
• Deep understanding of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods.
• Experience leading evaluations of youth programmes.
• Strong commitment to delivering credible evaluations.

Responsibilities

• Assess effectiveness and impact of YELL programme.
• Provide actionable recommendations for youth engagement.
• Collaborate with partners, beneficiaries, and local communities.

Skills

Evaluation principles and methodologies

Excellent communication skills

Youth empowerment knowledge

Environmental context understanding

Education

Masters or higher in relevant field

Job description

Overview

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to hope

Together with the Malaysian government and others who are truly passionate about child rights, UNICEF works in Malaysia to ensure every child has the opportunity to grow healthy and happy; live safely; and achieve their full potential.

With the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the 12th Malaysia plan as our guides, we endeavor to change minds, change policies, and in turn change the lives of all children in Malaysia. https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/

Context

Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) is a joint programme of UNDP and UNICEF, in collaboration with the European Union (EU), Amanah Lestari Alam (ALAM) and OSK Foundation. YELL is a platform to create opportunities for young people in Malaysia to play an effective role in actions on climate-related and environmental issues.

YELL’s objectives aim to be achieved through three programmatic pillars (project outputs): the ‘Exploraction’ programme, the ‘Conservocation’ programme, and the YELL Network Resource Hub. In order to facilitate these activities, YELL utilises CARD: Connecting, Advocating, Running and Documenting. Connecting youth environmental movers and advocates across the nation and region, tapping into national and subnational networks, to amplify and address climate and environmental issues. Within the same frame, it is critical to be Advocating jointly on issues of concern, including youth empowerment, climate and environmental futures, and SDG localization. To address the climate and environmental issues, YELL aspires to empower youths in Running action-learning projects in collaboration with youth organizations, institutions of learning, and other partners. Finally, in order to increase accessibility in environmental movements, YELL supports documenting learnings, wins and losses, successes and failures, to inform, inspire and strengthen a growing youth movement. YELL’s target population is youth aged 18-30 living in Malaysia.

The YELL project document and other relevant materials will be made available to the selected consultant upon commencing the assignment. Refer to the YELL Website for more information: yell.my

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

This evaluation will be carried out to assess achievement of results and learn from implementation of the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL), a joint programme of UNDP and UNICEF, in collaboration with the European Union (EU), Amanah Lestari Alam (ALAM) and OSK Foundation. The evaluation will serve as a valuable resource for UNICEF and UNDP management, enabling evidence informed decision-making to enhance the effectiveness and impact of future YELL programming in Malaysia. Additionally, the evaluation will benefit secondary stakeholders, including government agencies represented on the Project Steering Committee in strategic and advisory capacities, by providing insights to strengthen their understanding, engagement, and ownership of the programme\'s approaches.

Scope of Work

The evaluation aims to assess the relevance, effectiveness, sustainability, and coherence of the YELL programme from its inception in 2021 to 2025, with the findings informing strategic directions for programme scale-up, evidence-based advocacy, and UNICEF–UNDP’s joint broader approach to youth participation in climate, biodiversity, and environmental action. It will also identify actionable recommendations to strengthen meaningful youth engagement at all levels. The evaluation will be conducted in close collaboration with implementing agencies, partners, beneficiaries, and local communities, using the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria as a guiding framework, and will incorporate equity, gender equality, and human rights as cross-cutting considerations.

Objectives, and scope of the evaluation

The evaluation will have the following primary objectives:

• To inform strategic direction for programme scale-up and evidence-based advocacy by assessing the effectiveness and impact of YELL\'s current initiatives, particularly in strengthening youth engagement and leadership in the areas of climate action and environmental sustainability.
• To generate evidence supporting UNICEF and UNDP’s broader approach to youth participation in climate, biodiversity, and environmental programmes, with a focus on strengthening community resilience and fostering inclusive, youth-driven solutions to environmental challenges.
• To identify opportunities and actionable recommendations to enhance meaningful youth participation in environmental initiatives at the community, district, state, and national levels, ensuring that young people are empowered as key stakeholders and change agents across governance and implementation frameworks.

The scope of this evaluation will encompass the entire lifecycle of the YELL programme, from its inception and initial development phase in 2021 through its full implementation period up to 2025. This includes reviewing the programme’s design, strategic partnerships, operational modalities, activities, and outcomes to date.

Further details about this consultancy, deliverables & requirement are available in the attached Terms of Reference: TOR YELL Evaluation.pdf

Qualifications

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in social sciences, environment/ climate, education, life/natural sciences, sustainable development, public policy or similar research field; qualifications in the environment sectors are an advantage.
• Work Experience: At least 8 years of extensive evaluation experience with an excellent understanding of evaluation principles and methodologies, including capacity in an array of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, and UNEG Norms and Standards. Experience leading evaluations of youth programmes is essential.
• A minimum of 3 evaluations led at the programme and/or outcome levels with public/private sectors in Malaysia
• Bringing a strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results, i.e., credible evaluations that are used for improving strategic decisions.
• Having in-depth knowledge of the UN’s human rights, disability inclusion, gender equality and equity agendas.
• Having a strong team leadership and management track record, as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills to help ensure that the evaluation is understood and used.
• Previous experience of working in environment sector and familiar with youth context is desirable, together with understanding of the Malaysia context and political/cultural dynamics.
• The consultant must be committed and willing to work independently, with limited regular supervision; s/he must demonstrate adaptability and flexibility, client orientation, proven ethical practice, initiative, concern for accuracy and quality.
• Language Requirements: Excellent Malay and English communication and report writing skills.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
• Hands-on experience in collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data.
• Strong expertise in equity, gender equality and human rights-based approaches to evaluation and expertise in data presentation and visualisation.
• Be committed and able to produce quality work under limited guidance and supervision.
• Having good communication, advocacy and people skills and the ability to communicate with various stakeholders and to express concisely and clearly ideas and concepts in written and oral form.
• Experience of conducting evaluations in Malaysia and/or UN programmes is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer awide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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:

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. 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 with a 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.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidate are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes. UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.