Climate, Environment, Energy, Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency 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 recognizes that children and adolescents are more severely impacted in crisis and emergency situations, mainly due to the conditions of vulnerability that increase the risk of violence. A public policy for child-centered disaster risk reduction (CCDRR) presupposes consistent strategies for Preparedness; Response; Recovery and Protection of children and adolescents.

In 2012, Brazil innovated by establishing the “Joint National Protocol for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents, Elderly People and People with Disabilities in Situations of Risk and Disaster” (2012) as a response in emergency contexts. A new, revised Protocol (MDHC) is underway to be launched in 2025 and UNICEF is committed to supporting this revision and dissemination at local and state level.

Nine years later, 2021, an unexpected and unforeseen amount of rainfall hit the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, triggering the flagging of 139 Federally recognized Emergency-status and the identification of disaster-situations across 213 municipalities, as last informed by the Health Secretariat of the State of Bahia on 25 January 2022.

According to ACAPS, an independent-global-humanitarian monitoring center, the events in Bahia and Minas Gerais were caused by a meteorological phenomenon known as the South Atlantic Convergence Zone 5 , which amplified by La Ninã, and the passage of a Subtropical Cyclone caused damages and losses estimated in US$ 3.1 billion, according to the report “State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021” by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

UNICEF, as one of the first agencies to reach the affected municipalities, drawn on January 07th 2022, the Bahia Humanitarian flash note Nº 01, displaying the preliminary figures of 37,477 children in need; 815,597 affected population; and the displacement of 101,256 people among shelters and host communities.

In the same year, 2022, the capital of Pernambuco and more 31 municipalities in this State also suffered with heavy rains and according to the Civil Defense authorities. Pernambuco had registered the highest number of deaths (133) after severe landslides. On this situation UNICEF carried out a rapid assessment about children in 7 (seven) shelters that had been installed in public schools in the capital city.

The climate emergencies and disasters experienced by those states in the Northeast region have pointed to the importance of adopting in resilient policies the core commitments of children in humanitarian action, which means the human rights-based approach; prevention to avoid harm; non-discrimination; participation of children; acting in the best interests of the child and promoting environmental sustainability.

Under the general guidance of the Head of the Salvador Zonal Office, the selected UN Volunteer will be responsible for providing technical assistance to CEED (Climate, Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction) and Emergence Response policies implemented by the States and municipalities in the Northeast region with prioritized attention to Bahia, Sergipe and Minas Gerais state’s. The UN Volunteer will be responsible for implementing strategies of advocacy joint to state governments, as well as to establish alliances with Civil Defense Departments, civil society organizations international centers that working on the issue and with the communities and families of the territories prioritized by UNICEF. They will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities:

• To exchange successful practices and/or projects being developed by the State Civil Defenses, linked to the education and protection of children and adolescents in the context of disasters.

• Advocacy with different government bodies on the importance of including the centrality of children and adolescents in disaster risk reduction planning and actions, as well as in contextual analyses of climate risks that expose children and adolescents in the country.

• Contribute to the analysis of the bottlenecks of the old National Protocol in order to build and support the dissemination of the new document to be launched at national level, and support its implementation through capacity building initiatives.

• Offer technical assistance to municipal and states governments develop disasters preparedness child-sensitive policies and mechanisms, addressing the impacts of climate change on children and adolescents.

• Contribute to strengthening UNICEF emergency response capacities in the Brazilian semi-arid region, ensuring the implementation of the preparedness plan.

• Contribute to identifying new funding opportunities and developing fundraising proposal for climate and disaster risk reduction related actions.


Aligned with the results and programmatic goals of the Country Program and in joint action with UNICEF technical teams from Salvador and the Northeast territory, the selected UNV Volunteer Specialist will collaborate with planning activities, programmatic implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and systematization of the results and good practices achieved, contributing to the following thematic lines and objectives:

• By 2028, the most vulnerable indigenous, traditional and rural communities living in the North and North-east regions of Brazil have access to climate-resilient and safely managed water services that are safe and available, including in primary health-care facilities.

• By 2028, state and municipal frameworks for disaster preparedness and early action are child-sensitive and address the impacts of climate change on children and adolescents.

• By 2028, children and adolescents participate in climate change policy dialogue and fora so that their needs are reflected in national and subnational climate mitigation and adaptation plans