Short-term Consultant: Expert in Climate Change and Child Labor, Education, and Youth

TITLE:                        Short-term Consultant: Expert in Climate Change and Child Labor, Education, and Youth  

REPORTS TO:        Director of Child Labor, Education and Youth 

DATES:                      August – October 15, 2024 

DURATION:             Up to 20 days 

Position Overview:  

Winrock recognizes the destabilizing impacts climate change is having on education systems, threatening access and quality and exacerbating existing inequalities of the most vulnerable. And yet, education is key to addressing climate change, providing children, youth and families with the knowledge and skills needed to protect themselves and their communities.   

This short-term consultancy will inform the climate integration strategy for the Child Labor, Education and Youth unit within Winrock’s Human Rights, Education and Empowerment division and support efforts to identify Winrock’s unique contributions and capabilities in this space. The consultant will conduct a landscape analysis that highlights current donor thinking and priorities, existing and emerging tools and best practices, and key gaps and recommendations for future work. The consultant will also review Winrock’s portfolio of programs to determine areas where the organization is poised to make impactful contributions at the intersection between climate change and education, child labor prevention and youth engagement. 

Organization Overview:  

Winrock International is a recognized leader in international development and the US domestic arena, providing solutions to complex social, agricultural and environmental challenges. Winrock’s mission is to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through five primary program areas.  

Human Rights, Education, and Empowerment partners with national and local governments, civil society, the private sector and communities to ensure marginalized and at-risk populations can safely access their fundamental rights to freedom from trafficking and child labor, a quality education, and skills and opportunities for decent work. We engage and support our partners across this ecosystem to increase equity, inclusion and agency.  

Agriculture, Resilience and Water partners with communities, businesses and local leaders to develop market-oriented, climate-smart solutions at scale that increase food production and profitability, expand market access, conserve natural resources and build resilient livelihoods. 

Winrock’s Clean Energy and Environment focuses on supporting healthy natural environments by developing and implementing solutions to protect natural resources, enhance ecosystem services, address climate change, and scale access to clean energy.  

For Climate Change, meeting the urgent needs of global climate requires optimized and equitable capital distribution and effective public-private sector collaboration. Winrock draws on decades of experience in carbon capture, clean energy, ecosystem services, forestry and resilient agriculture in the U.S. and around the world to co-create solutions for these ongoing challenges.  

Finally, through our U.S. Programs, we work on a range of programs: from programs with small farmers in the Mid-South to conservation programs that reduce water pollution to our portfolio of entrepreneurial development work.  

Position Responsibilities:  

Landscape analysis – The landscape analysis consists of three areas for review, analysis and/or synthesis to inform Winrock’s team of the current state of work in this space and will include:  

• Review trends and priorities of US Government and other key donor donors (such as the UN, UNESCO and FCDO) exploring the interlinkages, evidence and importance of education and climate change. 

• Identify programs, projects, tools, and other mechanisms being implemented by organizations or other international development focused entities operating at the intersection of education, child labor and youth programming and climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. 

• Identify major gaps in existing efforts to address the intersection of climate change and education, child, labor, and youth. 

• Include a bibliography of key sources. 

Winrock portfolio review – Conduct desk review coupled with interview discussions with leadership and programs staff from Winrock’s HREE, Energy & Environment (E2), and Agriculture, Resources, and Water (ARW) units to identify potential opportunities and cross-team synergies for future consideration.  

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats (SWOT) Analysis – Synthesis and summarize findings from landscape analysis and Winrock portfolio review highlighting strengths, gaps, and opportunities for leveraging the organization’s existing expertise and resources.  

• The analysis will inform the set of recommendations that the consultant will provide on how to integrate climate change as a cross-cutting theme in child labor, education, and youth programming. 

Key Deliverables 

Landscape analysis report containing the following: 

• Literature review that summarizes: 

• Donor trends and priorities relating to climate change and education, child labor, and youth engagement 

• Standout tools, approaches, best practices, and lessons learned from other organizations operating at the intersection of climate change and youth. 

• The literature review report should also include a comprehensive bibliography of key documents to inform Winrock’s strategy. 

• Identification of key gaps in the current sector-wide efforts to address climate change and education, child labor, and youth engagement 

• Analysis of Winrock’s program portfolio with particular focus on the overlap between Winrock’s expertise and the identified gaps 

• Recommendations for ways the Child Labor, Education, and Youth unit can leverage Winrock’s unique capabilities to integrate climate change-responsive approaches into existing and future programming 

PowerPoint presentation summarizing the key findings and recommendations from the literature review and landscape analysis report(s) 

 Qualifications 

• Master’s degree or above in education, international development strongly desirable.  

• At least 8 years of work experience in education, child labor, climate change and/or youth development. 

• Experience working in the intersection of climate change and education required. 

• Experience working with and/or demonstrated understanding of international donor priorities and funding in international education and climate change initiatives. 

• Fluency in written and spoken English required. 

• Ability to write clearly, accurately, and concisely. 

Winrock is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and value diversity and inclusiveness. Winrock recruits, employs, trains, promotes and compensates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law.

At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation.

Winrock knows that its success comes from the hard work and steadfast dedication of its diverse workforce. Winrock remains committed to maintaining diversity, inclusion and equity across the entire organization