Economic and Data Specialist

Details

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 the area of ​​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; programs to combat child labor; 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 program with the Brazilian government for the period 2017-2021, 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 semiarid and in large urban centers. Through the UNICEF Seal, UNICEF promotes commitments to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents in the Semiarid and in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. In large cities, UNICEF works with a focus on reducing intra-municipal inequalities, through the Platform of Urban Centers (PCU).

Context

UNICEF Brazil is starting to implement its 2024-2028 Country Programme, which entails an integrated programming approach of Social Policy. The Social Policy agenda includes technical assistance, research, policy analysis and public advocacy around issues of social protection, multidimensional poverty and public financing for children (PF4C), including in emergency situations. Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the obligation of States to invest the appropriate resources for guaranteeing that all the rights safeguarded by the convention are fulfilled “to the maximum extent of their available resources.” It requires States to engage in budgeting processes that allocate the necessary resources so they can reach their full potential. On the other hand, public budgets are at the centre of countries’ efforts to finance and implement national development priorities that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is ample evidence that seeks to highlight the linkages between policy development and child rights compliance i.e., about investing resources to ensure children’s right to health, education, and protection from violence, exploitation, and discrimination, social protection, and socioeconomic progress for society at large. In addition to the ethical imperative in recognizing children’s rights, there are complementary links between social and economic policy and positive implications of social investment on children for economic development and productivity gains in any country. Public finance management (PFM) is important to identify not only adequacy of public spending, but also the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and transparency, considering the importance of appropriately allocated public budgets. In a context of global and domestic economic constraints and limited fiscal spaces, it is critical to ensure that public resources are allocated to policies that guarantee children’s rights and ensure they reach their full potential, which in turn will also bring economic returns to the Country. Brazil has one of the most favorable institutional frameworks to guarantee children and adolescents rights in the world, starting from the Federal Constitution (1988) and the Statute of Children and Adolescents - ECA (Law No. 8.069 / 1990) that place children and adolescents as an absolute priority in public policies. More recently, the National Development Plan (PPA) 2024-2027 has included a Transversal Agenda on Children and Adolescents which is also an important step forward to link policies to budget. Even though these mechanisms have been put in place in Brazil to guarantee that child rights are prioritized in public policies and programmes, further advancements are needed to move from policy to budget commitment, including costing and resourcing through the public budget. Apart from allocating additional resources for children and adolescents, it is also important to ensure efficient, effective, and equitable use of available funds, especially in times of limited fiscal space. It is in the light of the above-mentioned context that UNICEF Brazil is seeking to hire a National UN Volunteer Economic and Data Specialist. This UNV assignment is placed within the Social Policy section, providing support to coordination and specialized technical assistance on economic and data analysis for better public budget allocations for children and adolescents in Brazil.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Social Policy Specialist, the National UN Volunteer will provide technical support for UNICEF Brazil on economic and fiscal policy analysis, with focus on public budgeting and financing for children and adolescents. This work will entail the following: • Review and analysis of data on macro-economic and fiscal tendencies, including - Data on social sectors spending, especially for children and adolescents. - Data on existing and potential fiscal space as well as sustainability of such fiscal space. • Support to the Analysis and elaboration of summary briefs and other material on economic and fiscal trends for child-related public policies and budget allocation including for subnational levels of the Brazilian federative system, including: - Briefing notes and presentations for technical internal and external discussions. - Analysis of existing national budget policies, social expenditures and investments in social policies for children and adolescents in Brazil - Analysis of existing ‘allocation and operational’ effectiveness and efficiency of direct/indirect public allocations for children and adolescents. - Analysis of the overall economic and financial situation of Brazil, ensuring a child-responsive analytical lens, to identify available and/or potential fiscal space for sustainable spending on social policies. - Analysis of existing national legal framework and macro level policies, fiscal policies, budget planning, formulation, execution, reporting, auditing and monitoring. • Support elaboration of guidelines and knowledge products on prioritization of children and adolescents in public budgeting processes. • Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. Results/expected outputs: • As an active UNICEF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: - Quality analysis and elaboration of knowledge products for internal and external audiences produced in a timely fashion; - Adequate support provided to the Social Policy team and other programme sections as required. • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed