Social Policy 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.

In 2018 UNICEF initiated its response to the Venezuelan migration in Roraima and established an Office in Boa Vista and in 2019 an outpost in Pacaraima, border with Venezuela. The response works in coordination with the Brazilian Government response, Operação Acolhida (OA). Still, migrants and refugees face challenges in accessing social protection, healthcare, early childhood development, education, sustainable livelihoods, and child protection services mainly due to a lack of comprehensive public policies on migratory issues that put families and children at higher risk of not guaranteeing basic rights.

As the context evolves from an acute emergency to a more protracted displacement and recovery setting, UNICEF is increasingly prioritizing the transition from direct humanitarian support to sustainable, government-led and systems-based solutions.

UNICEF’s response focuses on ensuring access to essential services and programmes, strengthening the capacity of actors responsible for providing social protection, child protection, education, health/nutrition, water and sanitation services, so that they are fully equipped to assist children on the move and their families. Likewise, UNICEF will concentrate also in supporting the institutionalization of protocols, workflows, workforce capacity and information systems that enable continuity of services beyond emergency operations. Moreover, Terra Indigena Yanomami, with most of its territory in Roraima, also endures a critical humanitarian crisis.

Considering both crises, UNICEF works to ensure the nexus between the humanitarian response and the development-oriented initiatives at the municipal level, state and federal level, in particular (but not limited to) by the Selo UNICEF. At the federal level, UNICEF initiated a partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, the state of Roraima and the municipal governments of Boa Vista and Paracaima aiming to provide better services and benefits for migrants and refugees by improving the interfederative governance model for the migration response in Brazil. This approach includes supporting transition and handover pathways.

Based on a situation analysis that reveals important gaps in basic services coverage for migrants and refugees, the priority is guaranteeing that migrants and refugees are registered in the Single Registry (CadÚnico), a first step to accessing social protection. In this sense, UNICEF supported Boa Vista and
Pacaraima in launching two CadÚnico stations in the triage posts (PTRIG) to expand the registration capacity for migrants and refugee families. UNICEF’s support also aims to consolidate these service points as sustainable public-service modalities, including standard operating procedures (SOPs), staff training packages, quality assurance, and improved data and information management to inform decision-making and service planning in the post-emergency period. A step further to inclusive Social Protection in the territory is to strengthen social assistance services to properly address the needs of migrants, refugees and indigenous people.

To ensure effective coordination, support the humanitarian-to-development transition, and strengthen post-emergency institutional capacities and knowledge generation for Social Policy activities (migration response, Yanomami response and HD nexus), UNICEF will recruit a UN Volunteer who will be based in Boa Vista

Under the overall supervision of the Chief of Social Policy and the guidance of the Chief Field Office in Boa Vista, the selected UN Volunteer will have proven sound and in-depth knowledge of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) in Brazil and will contribute to UNICEF’s work undertaking the following tasks:

• Provide technical support to the Social Assistance and Social Protection agendas in Roraima;
• Support the planning and implementation of the transition from humanitarian response to post-emergency recovery and systems strengthening, including the identification of actions for institutionalization, handover and sustainability with government counterparts and Operação Acolhida coordination mechanisms;
• Advocate and support government officials in the development of a knowledge management and information management plan for Social Assistance/Social Protection in Roraima, including data routines and periodic briefs;
• Liaise with key stakeholders and partners at municipal, state and federal level;
• Provide technical support and advice on UNICEF’s strategic engagement with federal, state and municipal social assistance counterparts;
• Constantly map out bottlenecks, barriers and opportunities to strengthen Social Assistance and Social Protection in Roraima, including those related to sustainability, institutional capacity, workforce, SOPs, and integration of emergency modalities into routine service delivery;
• Report regularly and timely the ongoing initiatives and results achieved in Roraima.
• Support the programmatic implementation of the Social Protection initiatives, considering the migration and Yanomami responses, the Humanitarian-Development nexus, and the transition to post-emergency, government-led systems in Roraima.
• Coordinate CadÚnico strategy in partnership Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, the state government of Roraima and the municipal governments of Boa Vista and Pacaraima.;
• Provide technical support in social protection to Selo UNICEF, including technical support to its implementing partner.;
• Extend technical support in particular to the Implementing Partners and to the Social/Assistance/Social Protection local Network, and actively contribute to UNICEF initiatives and to the existing coordination mechanisms of Operação Acolhida.;
• Support evidence generation, needs assessments and routine monitoring related to Social Assistance/Social Protection.;
• Assist in capacity-building activities related to social/assistance/social protection and the Humanitarian Development nexus.;
• Provide weekly updates on Social Assistance/Social Protection activities in Boa Vista to the Chief of UNICEF's Zonal Office in Roraima and coordinate joint advocacy with the Social Assistance/Social Protection partners and stakeholders, if required or necessary. Activities developed in Pacaraima should be previously aligned with UNICEF Outpost coordination in the territory.;
• Any other related tasks, as may be required or assigned by the supervisors.

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:
• Improved information management and relationship between social protection field partners (municipal government, non-government organization, UN agencies, and others) and UNICEF in Boa Vista and Pacaraima.
• SOPs, training materials, workflows, and handover actions to support continuity of inclusive Social Assistance/Social Protection services beyond emergency operations.
• Quality knowledge products and analytical materials for internal and external audiences produced in a timely fashion, including for training, supporting post-emergency institutional strengthening and the humanitarian-development nexus.
• Adequate support provided to the Social Protection team.
• Capacity development and technical assistance provided, when working with governmental or non-governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs), considering also the Humanitarian-Development nexus.
• 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.