International Consultant - Adolescent and Youth Foresight Consultations for ROMP, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO), Nairobi, Kenya.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

                                                                      TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background and Justification

UNICEF’s mandate to prioritize adolescent and youth development and participation is critical in ensuring that children and youth are prepared for the challenges of the future. This consultancy, focusing on Adolescent and Youth Foresight for UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO) Region, is a significant step in aligning UNICEF's ROMP vision with emerging trends and concerns raised by adolescents and youth themselves. The development of a Girls, Adolescents and Youth Foresight Vision Paper is pivotal to future-proofing strategic planning within the ESARO region. By facilitating consultations and utilizing foresight methodologies, this project aims to capture and synthesize insights from young people across diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts.

The overall goal of this consultancy is to conduct a forward-looking visioning exercise with adolescent girls and boys, utilizing various data sources and reports from the 21 country offices. The Adolescent, youth and Girls Vision Paper will inform the upcoming ROMP for the ESARO Region, highlighting UNICEF's added value and focus areas through the lens of young people.

In ESAR we have not used the Youth Foresight methodology before hence the need to use a consultant who was part of the team that developed the methodology at Innocenti and has operationalized it in other regions. The consultant will train colleagues from ESAR and country offices on this methodology for future consultation.

The approach will include a comprehensive desk review of Country Programme Evaluations (CPEs), Situation Analyses (SitAns), U-Report data, and previous youth consultations across 21 countries. The consultant will identify emerging trends in areas such as education, climate change, gender equality, and digital inclusion, offering strategic insight for future engagement.

 

Scope of Work

1. Goal and objective:

Under the supervision of the Adolescent Development Specialist, Gender and Adolescent Section, the consultant will:

Lead the design and delivery of a participatory foresight consultation process with adolescents and youth across the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a forward-looking Girls and Youth Vision Paper that reflects the perspectives, priorities, and aspirations of young people (ages 10–24) to inform the next Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP).

The consultant will:

• Conduct a regional desk review of youth data, consultations, and strategic documents from the past 12 months;
• Design and facilitate three virtual foresight workshops using participatory tools (e.g., scenario planning, backcasting, Three Horizons);
• Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and concerns raised by youth across key areas such as climate change, education, gender equality, and digital inclusion;
• Produce actionable recommendations and a vision document that highlights entry points for UNICEF’s engagement with youth over the next five years;
• Document the methodology and lessons learned through a case study to support internal learning and future replication.

1. Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:

This consultancy is aligned with UNICEF ESARO’s Regional Office Management Plan (ROMP) development process and contributes directly to the 2025–2026 Annual Work Plan (AWP) under the Gender and Adolescent Section. The assignment contributes to Intermediate Results (IRs) focused on adolescent participation, empowerment, and future-ready programming.

Specifically, it supports:

• AWP GRP Output 1: Strengthened adolescent engagement in policy and programming through innovative methodologies;
• Key Intervention 1: Evidence-building: Evidence generation and strategic foresight for adolescent-responsive planning.
• Key Intervention 2: Strengthening agency of Young People and Adolescent girls at community, national, regional, and continental level
• Key intervention 3: Regional cross-sectoral coordination and programming: Cross-sectoral integration of gender equality, youth participation, and digital inclusion in regional strategy development.

1. Activities and Tasks:

The approach will