Education Specialist

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.

UNICEF promotes the rights of every child, prioritizing the most disadvantaged through an equity framework designed to eliminate discrimination and ensure all youth can thrive. In Brazil, deep inequalities persist—particularly in the Amazon and Semiarid regions and urban peripheries. Children face poverty, racial inequities, violence, climate vulnerability, and limited public services. Educational rights are severely threatened by school exclusion, age-grade distortion, learning gaps, and digital exclusion, disproportionately impacting Indigenous, Quilombola, riparian, traditional, and rural communities.

Since 1950, UNICEF has driven key transformations for Brazil's youth. The current Country Programme focuses on vulnerable children in high-risk territories via flagship initiatives like Selo UNICEF and Agenda Cidade. The Child Protection program delivers psychosocial support and mobile outreach for abuse and neglect referrals. Aligned with Goal Area 2 (Learning and Skills), UNICEF collaborates across federal, state, and municipal levels to ensure children enroll, stay in school, recover learning, and acquire foundational skills.

The Belém Field Office coordinates education initiatives across Pará, Amapá, Tocantins, and Mato Grosso, building partnerships to combat educational exclusion. The Education Specialist UN Volunteer supports territorial coordination, capacity building, evidence generation, and advocacy across major initiatives, including School Active Search (Busca Ativa Escolar), Successful School Pathways (Trajetórias de Sucesso Escolar), Education that Protects, Generation Unlimited (1MiO), early childhood education, and adolescent participation. The position provides technical and operational backing tailored to the unique socio-cultural dynamics of Indigenous, Quilombola, and traditional populations in the Amazon.

Under the overall programmatic guidance of the Education Officer and direct supervision of Chief of Field Office in Belém, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Support the programmatic implementation of the Education development programme in Pará, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso:
• Support the planning, implementation, monitoring and documentation of UNICEF education programmes and strategies in the Amazon territory, particularly in the states of Pará, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso;
• Support state and municipal education authorities and local partners in strengthening intersectoral strategies to identify, enroll, re-enroll and retain children and adolescents excluded from school or at risk of school dropout;
• Contribute to the strengthening of protective, inclusive and equitable learning environments through intersectoral coordination and advocacy efforts involving education, child protection, social assistance, health and other relevant sectors;
• Support actions related to early childhood education, including training activities and technical assistance for education managers, school teams and local partners;
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of technical materials, reports, briefing notes, presentations, communication materials and knowledge products related to education programmes and territorial strategies;
• Conduct field visits, technical missions, workshops, meetings and consultations with government counterparts, civil society organizations, schools, communities and other stakeholders to monitor programme implementation and support coordination efforts;
• Support evidence generation, monitoring and data analysis activities related to education indicators, programme implementation and territorial priorities, contributing to reporting and programme decision-making;
• Contribute to strengthening partnerships and coordination with government institutions, implementing partners, educational networks, youth groups, indigenous organizations, quilombola’s organizations and other relevant stakeholders;
• Support initiatives that promote equitable access to education for vulnerable populations, particularly indigenous peoples, quilombola’s communities, riparians populations and other traditional communities, considering the specific territorial and cultural dynamics of the Amazon region;
• Participate in internal coordination processes and contribute to integrated and convergent programming approaches across UNICEF programme areas;
• Support the documentation and systematization of lessons learned, good practices and innovative approaches related to education programmes and territorial implementation strategies;
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Provide technical support for the overall implementation of Education interventions within the framework of UNICEF SEAL and Agenda Cidade UNICEF:
• Provide technical and operational support to the implementation of education initiatives focused on school access, retention, learning recovery and adolescent transition for work environment, including School Active Search (Busca Ativa Escolar), Successful School Pathways (Trajetórias de Sucesso Escolar), Education that Protects, 1MiO (Education Unlimited), Selo UNICEF and Agenda Cidade;
• Provide technical support for the implementation of initiatives focused on foundational learning, age-grade distortion reduction, adolescent participation, digital inclusion and contextualized education approaches;
• Provide operational and logistical support for trainings, events, workshops, consultations and advocacy initiatives related to education programming in the Amazon territory;

The UN Volunteer could be requested to travel, to take part in collaborative work with other internal and external teams. Also, they will attend presential events, webinars and virtual meetings with colleagues and/or partners. Activities such as organizing meeting, conferences, workshops and training will be demanded. Production of reports, fundraising proposals, notes and audiovisual pieces for communications purposes, analysis, data gathering, and systematization will be requested in Portuguese and/or in English. Social media interaction also will be requested.

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:

Working in close collaboration with the UNICEF Education team and territorial partners, the UN Volunteer will contribute to the achievement of the following results:

• Strengthened implementation of UNICEF education strategies and programmes in the Amazon territory, particularly related to school access, retention, learning recovery, foundational skills development and inclusive education approaches;
• Improved technical support and coordination with state and municipal governments, educational networks and local partners for the implementation of School Active Search (Busca Ativa Escolar), Successful School Pathways (Trajetórias de Sucesso Escolar), Education that Protects, 1MiO, Selo UNICEF and other territorial education initiatives;
• Enhanced intersectoral coordination and protective approaches to address school exclusion, age-grade distortion, learning inequalities and vulnerabilities affecting children and adolescents in the Amazon region;
• Increased institutional capacities of government counterparts, schools and local stakeholders through trainings, technical assistance, workshops and knowledge-sharing initiatives related to education programming and territorial implementation;
• Strengthened evidence generation, monitoring, reporting and systematization of education programme results, lessons learned and good practices, contributing to programme quality and strategic decision-making;
• Improved advocacy, partnership-building and stakeholder engagement processes supporting equitable and inclusive education policies and practices for vulnerable children and adolescents;
• Increased attention to the educational rights and needs of indigenous peoples, quilombola’s communities, riparians populations and other traditional communities through culturally sensitive and territorially adapted education approaches;
• Effective support provided to field coordination, programme implementation and operational processes contributing to the achievement of UNICEF Brazil Country Programme Document results in education and learning;
• 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