Call for Expressions of Interest: Air Quality Programme (Macedonia)

Deadline: 12-Sep-23

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is accepting expressions of interest for the Air Quality programme.

Children and young people are more vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions than adults and are more sensitive to the harmful effects of climate change and environmental pollution. The skills, knowledge and attitudes they nurture in children and young people today are the foundation of the collective resilience to climate change and sustainable development of the communities in the future.

Across the Western Balkans, air pollution levels are breathtakingly high, and take an enormous toll on human health and mortality. Air pollution is the single greatest environmental threat to human health in the region, with city dwellers in the Western Balkans breathing air with concentrations of pollutants up to five times higher than levels specified in national, European, and WHO Air Quality Guidance standards. In North Macedonia specifically, air pollution is linked to every fifth premature death and every fourth hospitalization due to respiratory problems, and over 1,350 deaths are attributed annually to particulate air pollution. Several thousand work years are lost annually from hospital admissions and days of restricted activity related to chronic bronchitis and asthma.

To help address these issues, UNICEF is currently implementing programme in the area of environment and climate change funded by Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation (Sida). The programmes entail integrating holistic and comprehensive climate change and environment education, nurturing new “green” skills, supporting existing youth-led networks for environment and air quality advocacy, strengthening the advocacy skills and influence of young people on environment and air quality decision-making and creating space for their engagement with local and national government(s).

Sector(s) and Area(s) of Specialization

• Education
  • Education – general
  • Skills development for adolescents

Duration

• The approximate duration of the intervention is 10 months.

Expected Results

• The current call seeks to identify potential partners with specific reference to interventions related to increased youth education and awareness around key air quality issues, with the following two expected results:
  • An experiential learning programme developed for youth and teachers, on the topic of air quality, aimed to be delivered in the communities most affected by poor air quality;
  • Science institutions supported to organize educational programmes on the topic of air quality for youth from affected communities.

Indicators

• Number of teachers trained on implementing the new training programme on air quality;
• Number of science institutions supported to deliver the new training programme on air quality;
• Number of youth reached with educational programmes on air quality.

Locations

• North Macedonia
  • Opstina Centar

Eligibility Criteria

• CSO must:
  • be registered in North Macedonia.
  • not be an entity named on any of the UN Security Council targeted sanction lists.

Ineligibility Criteria

• CSO submission which:
  • are sent in any other way than through the UNPP;
  • are not sent within the specified deadline;
  • do not include all required documents duly completed and signed or do not comply with specifications set in this Call for Expression of Interest;
  • are not submitted in English.

For more information, visit UNICEF.