Health Expert

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.

The United Nations General Assembly mandates UNICEF to advocate for the protection of
almost 27 million children and adolescents (49.7% of the total) are denied one or more rights. Infant mortality, malnutrition, high rates of prevalent childhood illnesses, lack of access to early childhood education, in addition to the high incidence of domestic violence and sexual abuse, have been identified as some forms of violation rights of young children in the region. The most affected are black girls and boys, living in rural areas of the North and Northeast regions. In this context, rural children, quilombolas and indigenous peoples are the most affected and excluded from services and policies. At the same time, a great concern has been raised by UNICEF regarding the secondary effects of the pandemic among pregnant women, children and adolescents. The decreased offer and demand for essential health services as well as the social distancing have threatened the adequate growth and development of children in many ways. Data in Brazil confirm the increase of poverty, decreased access to healthy food, lower vaccination coverage and increased mental health disorders. In this challenging context, UNICEF has been persistently advocating and providing technical support to essential primary health services. Bringing a positive agenda, UNICEF in Brazil works in the most vulnerable municipalities of the Amazon and Semi-Arid territories through the UNICEF Seal strategy and in urban centers in the Southeast region. UNICEF works with governments, businesses, civil society and academia to strengthen these systems so that children receive the services required for their developmental needs – and to make sure that the institutions that shape the lives of children and families work together to create a supportive environment for them. The Health and Nutrition Area at UNICEF Brazil works on several fronts to promote the rights of children and adolescents, including mental health, comprehensive and integrated adolescent health, nutrition, immunization, the promotion of adequate early childhood development (ECD), among other topics, while also working at the health/nutrition response to the humanitarian situation with Venezuelan migrants and Yanomami indigenous population. The UN Volunteer will support the implementation of programmatic activities from the Health and Nutrition Area that will promote qualified health services and integrated policies for children and adolescents, with special focus on mental health. In support of UNICEF Brasilia Health and Nutrition Area, working closely with the chief of UNICEF Health and Nutrition, the purpose of this assignment is to support the development of the programmatic activities, with focus in adolescent health

Under the supervision of the Chief of Health and Nutrition, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Brasilia Health team and ZOs receiving high level technical support for the elaboration and implementation of specific activities in the areas of health, nutrition, Adolescent Health integrated approach with mental health, Unidade Amiga da Primeira Infância (UAPI) and UNICEF Seal. Provide technical assistance to the health team with situation analysis, the identification of national trends, planning/program/monitoring initiatives related to children and maternal’ s health. The technical assistance will cover:
• Elaboration of ToRs considering the priorities of the Unit area.
• Monitoring of contracts, PCAs and SSAs and other partnerships as well as coordination with partners and potential partners such as the Ministry of Health among others.
• Elaboration of strategies for improving psycho-social care to adolescent population.
• Development of communication campaigns on the intersectoral approach for immunization and adolescent health.
• Elaboration of donor proposals and donor reports according to set deadlines.
• Implementation of adolescent health data analysis.
• Systematization of the results and lessons learned related to UAPI implementation and UNICEF Seal; and
• Elaboration of UNICEF’s annual reports.

For local level, it is expected that the UN Volunteer will provide technical assistance to:
• Implementation of Adolescent health integrated approach, UAPI and UNICEF Seal.
• Regular contact with the Zonal Offices to follow up the implementation of projects related to children, adolescents and maternal’ s health.
• Monitoring of partners’ deliveries in timely manner.
• Participate in meetings to provide technical assistance to children, adolescents and maternal’ s health and implementation in the migratory/indigenous health/climate change emergency when requested.
• Provision of inputs for colleagues in their advocacy work or official communication when requested.