Call for Expression of Interest: Enhancing adolescents’ green skills to respond to and prepare for climate change through innovative approaches

1. BACKGROUND
Lesotho is grappling with a complex web of challenges, necessitating immediate and multifaceted humanitarian interventions. Climate change poses a significant threat to Lesotho, particularly affecting agricultural productivity and food security. Erratic weather patterns, droughts, and floods disrupt farming activities, leading to poor harvests and food shortages. Rural populations, who rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods, are especially vulnerable to these changes. While children and young people are often the most vulnerable to climate impacts and disaster shocks, they are also agents of change. Over 60% of households in Lesotho have reported reducing food consumption as a coping mechanism (LDHS, 2024), highlighting the dire economic situation. Educational disruptions and rising child protection risks are another critical issue, therefore, addressing these urgent issues requires immediate and coordinated intervention. To succeed in a world that is being transformed by climate change, adolescents need new skills for disaster preparedness, climate mitigation and adaption, and advancing the green economy.

2. SCOPE OF WORK
The purpose of the assignment is to engage an organization that has the resources, including already-existing training materials, and relevant experience to provide their professional services in strengthening the
capacity of adolescents in green skills to mitigate climate effects. The project aims to promote climate education amongst adolescents leveraging technology/digital platforms, such as UNICEF’s flagship platform Yoma1, to expand access and provide adolescents with climate/environment knowledge and green skills. The aim is to create spaces for adolescents to practice and exercise their climate action and the Yoma platform will ensure sustained adolescent engagement, provide access to curated green skills learning content, track skills acquisition through digital badges, and link motivated young people to further opportunities for advocacy, community projects, and livelihood pathways in the green economy. By the end of the project, the targeted adolescents should have acquired knowledge and skills for climate adaptation and mitigation leading to active participation in greening their school environments and their communities.