International Consultancy - Foresight Consultant at UNICEF

Purpose Of The Assignment

• This assignment seeks to contribute to the development and institutionalization of a child- and adolescent-focused foresight within the broader national foresight programme. The purpose of this consultancy is to advance the integration of child- and adolescent-focused foresight within Nigeria’s anticipatory governance ecosystem, ensuring that the needs, perspectives, and rights of young people are systematically considered in long-term national development planning.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of Work

Specifically, The Consultancy Will

Define the scope of a foresight analysis, identify key trends and disruptors affecting children’s and adolescents’ futures, and provide insights to guide further analysis and planning

• In consultation with relevant stakeholders, co-create and define the scope of the foresight analysis, narrowing down on the possible areas related to children that need to be further unpacked.
• Use existing data to identify global, regional, and national trends and disruptors relevant to children’s and adolescents’ futures within the scope of the foresight analysis.
• Prepare a summary of findings to share with relevant stakeholders to inform further foresight analysis.

Develop and analyse future scenarios based on identified trends and disruptors, and engage stakeholders in interpreting their implications for children and adolescents

• Facilitate deep-dive workshops with multi-sectoral stakeholders—including government officials, academics, civil society, and youth—using adapted methodologies from UNICEF’s foresight primer to examine emerging signals, set priorities, and co-create plausible future scenarios for children and adolescents across near-, mid-, and long-term time horizons.
• Synthesize findings identifying key trends, risks, opportunities, and implications for policy and planning.
• Document the process to capture lessons learned and recommendations, providing feedback to refine the primer and enhance its adaptation to the local context.

Translate foresight insights into actionable policy options and strategic recommendations using appropriate foresight methodologies

• Facilitate stakeholder consultation sessions to validate insights and discuss potential policy directions and strategic choices
• Use appropriate foresight tools and techniques to assess the feasibility and impact of different policy options.
• Develop a set of evidence-informed, actionable policy options and strategic recommendations aligned with national priorities and children’s and adolescents’ rights.
• Draft and present a brief summarizing the recommended actions, their rationale, and suggested implementation pathways that can be integrated into the OVP-led Anticipatory Governance and Foresight Capacity Framework.
• Engage with decision-makers and partners to refine recommendations based on feedback, produce final knowledge products and build ownership for implementation.

Promote inclusive foresight processes that elevate young people’s voices

• Engage children, adolescents, and youth networks in the foresight process using participatory methods (e.g., storytelling, visioning, youth dialogues).
• Ensure diverse representation, including children and adolescents from marginalized and underserved communities.
• Build capacity among young people and relevant stakeholders to use foresight tools and contribute meaningfully to scenario planning and policy design.

Deliverables/Outputs

• Defined scope of the foresight analysis — a documented and agreed-upon scope outlining priority areas related to children that require deeper exploration, co-created with stakeholders.