Mission and objectives

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been present in Brazil since 1950, supporting the most important changes in childhood and adolescence in the country. UNICEF participated in major immunization and breastfeeding campaigns; the mobilization that resulted in the approval of Article 227 of the Federal Constitution and the drafting of the Child and Adolescent Statute; the movement for universal access to education; programmes to combat child labour; among other great advances in guaranteeing the rights of Brazilian girls and boys. In recent decades, Brazil has promoted a strong process of inclusion of children and adolescents in public policies. However, a significant portion of the population remains excluded. Therefore, in its cooperation programme with the Brazilian Government for the period 2024-2028, UNICEF focuses its efforts on the most vulnerable and excluded girls and boys, with a special focus on children and adolescents who are victims of extreme forms of violence. These children and adolescents in situations of greater vulnerability are spread throughout Brazil, but they are more concentrated in the Amazon, in the Northeast and in large urban centers. Through the UNICEF Seal, UNICEF promotes commitments to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents in the Northeast and in the Amazon regions in Brazil. In large cities, UNICEF works with a focus on reducing intra-municipal inequalities, through the #AgendaCidadeUNICEF.

Context

UNICEF is mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for children’s rights and has worked in Brazil since 1950, supporting major advances such as immunization and breastfeeding campaigns, child rights advocacy, the ECA, universal education, and efforts to combat child labor. Despite progress, nearly 27 million children and adolescents (49.7%) are denied one or more rights, disproportionately affecting Black and Indigenous children, those living in poverty, and those in rural areas or urban peripheries. Key violations include preventable infant mortality, malnutrition, limited access to early childhood education, and high levels of domestic and sexual violence, with greater concentration in the Amazon, the semiarid region, and large urban centers. UNICEF focuses on the most vulnerable children, including those affected by extreme violence, through cooperation with government and platforms such as the UNICEF Seal and Agenda Cidade UNICEF. In Rio de Janeiro, UNICEF’s programming connects health, nutrition and early childhood development (ECD) with violence prevention and response, in contexts of armed violence, including immunization, healthy eating and mental health strategies, Unidade Amiga da Primeira Infância, Unidade Amiga das Adolescências, and antiracist ECD work. The antiracist approach supports municipal systems to identify and address racial inequities in access and quality of services, strengthen culturally appropriate and rights-based care, and promote more equitable outcomes for Black children and families. A key strategy is the Early Childhood Friendly Unit Initiative (UAPI), implemented in nine capitals, which improves service quality across primary health care, early childhood education, and social assistance through technical support, training, monitoring and service-level action plans, while strengthening intersectoral coordination. The UN Volunteer will contribute to Agenda Cidade UNICEF, supporting the design, implementation and monitoring of activities with government and civil society partners, aligned with the CPD (2024–2028) and the Rio de Janeiro Strategic Framework.

Task Description

Under the supervision of the Rio de Janeiro Chief Field Office and working closely with the UNICEF Health/Nutrition and ECD national teams, the UN Volunteer will provide support on strengthening and implementing the Health and ECD programmes, with a focus on the intersection between health, ECD and EVAC (ending violence against children) in Rio de Janeiro. As such, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks/ responsibilities: • Monitor and support implementation of the Early Childhood Friendly Unit (UAPI) and Adolescent Friendly Unit (UAA) initiatives in Rio de Janeiro, ensuring quality, coherence, and alignment with UNICEF and municipal priorities. • Participate in strategic meetings with government counterparts and external consultants, providing technical guidance to strengthen the initiatives, identify bottlenecks, document lessons learned, and highlight opportunities to ensure sustainability. • In close coordination with the Child Protection Officer in Rio de Janeiro, promote programmatic linkages between UAPI, UAA, Antiracist Early Childhood and UNICEF’s violence prevention and response work for children and adolescents. • Lead and contribute to UAPI and UAA Scientific Committee meetings, supporting the municipality on training needs, diagnostic processes, target-setting, strategic action planning, and final evaluation. • Coordinate the UAPI and UAA certification process jointly with the Scientific Committee and Rio de Janeiro City Hall, including planning, implementation, documentation, and follow-up. • Support advocacy and operational strategies for the active search of the most vulnerable children with zero-dose or delayed vaccination, particularly in contexts affected by armed violence. • Design, implement, and monitor Health and Early Childhood Development (ECD) activities under Agenda Cidade UNICEF and with the State Government, including coordination with relevant municipal secretariats and partners. • Provide technical and strategic support to the implementation of the Municipal Antiracist Early Childhood Plan, including evidence, coordination, and monitoring inputs, as well as overseeing and advancing follow-up actions derived from the Plan, such as capacity-building, workshops and training processes. • Collaborate with the Adolescent Development team to support the design and implementation of adolescent health and mental health programming, especially in contexts affected by armed violence, including Adolescent Friendly Units (UAA). • Provide technical support to the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro and partners in the planning and implementation of Baby Week. • Contribute to the preparation of donor proposals and reports, annual reports, and other key documentation, including presentations and briefing materials. • Participate in internal team meetings and attend UNICEF’s external events, as required

Competencies and values

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS). The UNICEF competencies required and expected for this post are: • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness, • Works Collaboratively with others • Builds and Maintains Partnerships • Innovates and Embraces Change • Thinks and Acts Strategically • Drive to achieve impactful results • Manages ambiguity and complexity

Living conditions and remarks

Rio de Janeiro state and capital city presents itself as a high-potential pole for Programs and Innovation. The state and the capital city possess considerable resources and capacities, both financial and human, despite having suffered from the most acute financial crisis peculiar to the state. RJ has an oversized presence and influence on national life in Brazil as well as regionally and globally. The city’s topography means that the “periphery” and the center (the privileged neighborhoods) are situated close to each other. This is a peculiarity unique to the city of Rio. The city houses a large corporate sector, a network of active CSOs with experience and capacity, a large network of governmental and state bodies, universities and a network of impressive research institutes. RJ has a diverse and active network of social movements and community-based organizations. It hosts the biggest social-environmental business in the country. There are acute deprivations in the peripheral areas, with children and adolescents facing unacceptably high levels of violence. The state and city of RJ has experienced an intense economic, social and political crisis in the last decade. There has been an outflux of population from the city – diminishing the vibrancy of civil society and community-based organizations. Nonetheless, the city continues to possess a rich resource base and capacity and has a vibrant civil society. All United Nations personnel must scrupulously comply with UNDSS procedures and recommendations during their assignment. For missions in rural areas, favelas or indigenous reservations, special procedures may apply; UN personnel should consult with the local DSS office in advance. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging their own housing and other living essentials. Specific UN Volunteer entitlements, including insurance coverage, Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA), and Deployment / Repatriation lump sums, among others, are available at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos https://www.unv.org/