UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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How can you make a difference?

Climate change has been causing increasingly frequent and extreme events in Brazil. The country faces a complex and uneven climate risk profile, with different regions exposed to opposite but equally severe threats. Brazil's North and Northeast regions face heightened drought risk, intensified by the El Niño event forecasted to strengthen through the end of the year, a phenomenon historically associated with reduced rainfall and lower river levels across the Amazon basin. At the same time, the South region faces an elevated risk of intense rainfall and flooding, as El Niño typically increases precipitation volumes in that part of the country, a pattern that has already produced severe flooding events in recent years. Vulnerable children and adolescents, along with their families, have fewer resources to relocate or adapt to these changing conditions. Often, this group lives in geographically exposed areas and experiences the first and most intense impacts of socio-environmental shocks and their secondary economic consequences.

Brazil has a robust intergovernmental social protection system that aims to support vulnerable families in guaranteeing their rights and overcoming inequalities and poverty, including during socio-environmental shocks. The Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) works in coordination with other sectoral policies and encompasses services, benefits, projects, and programs and plays a fundamental role in the implementation of Brazil's most important national cash transfer program, Bolsa Família.

Despite the robustness of the Brazilian social protection system, COVID-19 and the most recent extreme events in the Amazon region and Rio Grande do Sul revealed challenges in adapting social protection services and benefits to ensure an effective and timely response to large-scale shocks, particularly at the state and municipal levels. These recurring experiences underscore the need for standardized, replicable instruments, such as contingency plans, that allow municipal Social Assistance systems across the country to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to climate-related and other emergencies in a structured and timely manner.

The purpose of this technical support is to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response capacities of Social Assistance at the municipal and state levels across Brazil. The initiative will result in technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans that can be tailored to the specific territorial risk profiles of different states and municipalities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Initial Assessment: Map existing Social Assistance contingency plans and practices in states and municipalities selected in liaison with SNAS, consolidating findings into a diagnostic report with preliminary recommendations, as well as a draft outline of the technical guidelines.

• Technical guidelines initial version: Develop the first version of the technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans focused on Social Assistance, incorporating findings from the Initial Assessment, for review by SNAS and other relevant stakeholders.

• Technical guidelines final version: Finalize the technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans focused on Social Assistance, incorporating consolidated feedback from SNAS and other relevant stakeholders, resulting in a final document ready for official validation and dissemination by SNAS

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: TMC0004080 ToR.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

Minimum requirements:

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another related field
Work Experience:
- Minimum of three years of professional experience with the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) at the municipal or state level
Language requirement:
- Fluency in Portuguese is mandatory
- Fluency in English is not required for this assignment

• Skills: Advanced knowledge of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS)

Excellent report writing skills.
Excellent coordination and facilitation skillsStrong

Desirables: Knowledge of SUAS in emergencies

Professional experience in Climate Change or Disaster Risk Reduction
Relevant experience in a UN agency

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template) TMC0004080 Financial Proposal Template.docx

Remarks: If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not visible on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Social Protection Consultant, Child Poverty and Social Protection Section, 3.5 months, Brasilia, Brazil, (Remote), open for Brazilian nationals only, #594279