Advocacy, Communication and Social Behaviour Change (SBC) Officer

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.

11.13. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is present with 10 offices across Brazil, including one national office in Brasília, 9 Zone Offices.
UNICEF is actively implementing its 2024-2028 Country Programme in Brazil, which incorporate significant components related to communication, advocacy, and social & behaviour change (SBC). The Communication Section plays a crucial role in these areas by raising public awareness on child rights issues, creating visibility for UNICEF's initiatives, and collaborating with local communities to foster behavioural changes and advance children's rights.

The Communication Section is responsible for achieving outcomes related to communication, advocacy, and SBC. The Communication Team is composed of two parts: the Brasília Team, which oversees national communication, and the Zone Office Teams, which manage local communication. The Zone Offices (ZO) are organized by territories, including the Amazon, the Northeast and Southeast regions. Within the Amazon Region, the Belem Zone Office is responsible for Pará, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso.

This assignment, based in Belem, aims to support the Communication Specialist and the Chief of the Belem Zone Office in developing and implementing communication, advocacy, and SBC strategies for the states and municipalities under the coordination of the Belem Zone Office (Pará, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso). It includes the following objectives: 1) Supporting the development and execution of local communication and advocacy strategies for children's rights. 2) Supporting the national communication team with the implementation of the Brazil Country Office BCO communication, advocacy and SBC strategies. 3) Strengthening UNICEF's relationships with the local media. 3) Assisting in the design and implementation of tailored SBC strategies.

Under the direct supervision of Chief of the Belem Field Office and having the Communication Specialist for the Amazon region as a second supervisor, the UN Volunteer will support the Communication Team in implementing communication, advocacy and SBC strategies, undertaking the following tasks:
Advocacy
• Support the national communication team with the implementation of the BCO communication, advocacy and SBC strategies.
• Support the Communication Specialist and the Chief of Belem ZO in outlining and implementing advocacy strategies focused on the states and municipalities coordinated by the Belem ZO (Amapá, Pará, Mato Grosso and Tocantins).
• Coordinate the development of materials for policy advocacy opportunities in coordination with programmatic areas, such as the development of presentations, factsheets or other publications directed at UNICEF stakeholders, and support with messaging and editing of documents as required.
• Support to the ZO and implementing partners in the design and execution of the strategy for mobilization, implementation and engagement of municipalities in the Selo UNICEF initiative, through advocacy and engagement with partner institutions, production and review of communication materials for all project stakeholders, planning and supervision of event production, production of Seal update reports for submission to state governments and partner institutions, among others.
• Development of communication plans for projects developed by programmatic areas, according to their specific strategic objectives and aligned with the Communication, Advocacy, SBC, Marketing, and Private Fundraising and Partnerships (PFP) strategies.
• Training of implementing partners (IPs) in the production and review of communication materials for the implementation of UNICEF projects, ensuring the quality of communication materials delivered and the correct use of the UNICEF and partners brands.
• Alignment with PFP and support in capturing and producing visibility assets and communication materials tailored to each donor's specific visibility requirements during the development of ZO projects, in addition to providing donor materials upon request (such as photos and videos for reports or other purposes).
• Alignment with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to collect data and prepare relevant reports for the production of materials to support the ZO and BCO advocacy strategy.
• Monitor and evaluate the appropriate and timely dissemination of advocacy and communication materials to target audiences and participate in the evaluation of their impact.
• Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. Maintain a library of coverage (clippings, coverage etc.) in the Amazon region.
• In alignment with the Monitoring and Evaluation team, ensure good quality data collection, analysis, evaluation and reporting for effective communication strategies, planning and advocacy, according to the ZO and BCO strategic objectives.
• Production, review and edition of documents, presentations and other printed or virtual materials bearing the UNICEF brand and its projects.
• Monitor the advocacy agendas developed by programme team and ZO management to give visibility and consistency to the communication materials produced.
• Brand management, aligning content, strategies and actions to ensure consistency in communication, protecting and building the organisation's image.
• Support internal visibility strategies, ensuring that different teams are informed and engaged, using strategies to promote alignment and cohesion in results.
• Support planning with the areas, press conferences, meetings, seminars events and others, by preparing a calendar, list of activities, communication products (banners, cards, releases, etc.) and key-messages, in dialogue with strategic objectives of programmes.

Media Relations
• Ensure rapid and accurate information dissemination to the media.
• Develop and maintain close collaboration with media, as well as with groups and organizations whose support is essential to the achievement of advocacy and communication objectives.
• Draft and edit articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials in all media formats, as appropriate.
• Prepare background communication and promotional materials for briefing and visits of media and other special interest groups.
• Collaborate with the media through activities such as organizing project site visits, facilitating photo coverage and TV footage and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate.
• Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials.
• Support the Communication Specialist based in Belém and the Communication Section in Brasília in compiling a daily media monitoring report that analyses UNICEF’s presence and topics of interest for advocacy and fundraising in the media. Undertake a lesson learned review of successful and unsuccessful communication experiences as directed by supervisor.
• Produce, monitor and support the production of content — videos, cards, etc. — to and from social media, fostering institutional visibility, engagement, and partner mobilization. Additionally, nurturing social media and websites, developing engagement strategies and building a strong online presence.
• Identify, qualify, and support spokespersons so they can communicate effectively and master the language of different media outlets.
• Support the administrative area in maintaining a database of registered suppliers for communications services and ensuring that contracting and accountability processes are followed correctly, in accordance with UNICEF Policies.

Social Behaviour Change
• Support the strategy design and implementation of SBC activities and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts, if applicable.
• Research and/or participate in conducting comprehensive SBC situation analysis of social, cultural, economic, communication and political issues in the country/region. Collect and synthesise qualitative and quantitative information and data to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for developing and planning SBC interventions.
• Assess the impact of SBC activities on the CO and UNICEF goals to achieve measurable behavioural and social change.
• Provide technical support to the design of SBC strategies, to ensure maximum outreach and impact on behavioural and social change of target audience, recommending strategies, approaches, plans, methods and procedures.
• Assess and recommend potential contacts, networks, resources and tools to support the maximum outreach of SBC initiatives.
• Collect and assess information for budget planning and management of programme funds, monitor/track and report the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organisational guidelines.
• Build and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with national and international civil society organisations, UN agencies and public authorities to reinforce cooperation through engagement, empowerment and self-determination of target vulnerable groups.