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Climate change has been causing increasingly frequent and extreme events in Brazil. The country faces a complex and uneven climate risk profile, with different regions exposed to opposite but equally severe threats. Brazil's North and Northeast regions face heightened drought risk, intensified by the El Niño event forecasted to strengthen through the end of the year, a phenomenon historically associated with reduced rainfall and lower river levels across the Amazon basin. At the same time, the South region faces an elevated risk of intense rainfall and flooding, as El Niño typically increases precipitation volumes in that part of the country, a pattern that has already produced severe flooding events in recent years. Vulnerable children and adolescents, along with their families, have fewer resources to relocate or adapt to these changing conditions. Often, this group lives in geographically exposed areas and experiences the first and most intense impacts of socio-environmental shocks and their secondary economic consequences.
Brazil has a robust intergovernmental social protection system that aims to support vulnerable families in guaranteeing their rights and overcoming inequalities and poverty, including during socio-environmental shocks. The Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) works in coordination with other sectoral policies and encompasses services, benefits, projects, and programs and plays a fundamental role in the implementation of Brazil's most important national cash transfer program, Bolsa Família.
Despite the robustness of the Brazilian social protection system, COVID-19 and the most recent extreme events in the Amazon region and Rio Grande do Sul revealed challenges in adapting social protection services and benefits to ensure an effective and timely response to large-scale shocks, particularly at the state and municipal levels. These recurring experiences underscore the need for standardized, replicable instruments, such as contingency plans, that allow municipal Social Assistance systems across the country to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to climate-related and other emergencies in a structured and timely manner.
The purpose of this technical support is to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response capacities of Social Assistance at the municipal and state levels across Brazil. The initiative will result in technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans that can be tailored to the specific territorial risk profiles of different states and municipalities.
Key Responsibilities:
• Initial Assessment: Map existing Social Assistance contingency plans and practices in states and municipalities selected in liaison with SNAS, consolidating findings into a diagnostic report with preliminary recommendations, as well as a draft outline of the technical guidelines.
• Technical guidelines initial version: Develop the first version of the technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans focused on Social Assistance, incorporating findings from the Initial Assessment, for review by SNAS and other relevant stakeholders.
• Technical guidelines final version: Finalize the technical guidelines for the elaboration of contingency plans focused on Social Assistance, incorporating consolidated feedback from SNAS and other relevant stakeholders, resulting in a final document ready for official validation and dissemination by SNAS
Minimum requirements
- Excellent report writing skills.
- Excellent coordination and facilitation skillsStrong
- Professional experience in Climate Change or Disaster Risk Reduction
- Relevant experience in a UN agency
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
- An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
- Cover letter
UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.
All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.