Education Specialist

Volunteering Teaching & Training

Overview

Support implementation of education initiatives focused on equitable access and quality education for vulnerable children in the Amazon region.

You have:

• 3 years of professional experience relevant to education programmes, public policies, social development, child rights, humanitarian-development contexts or related areas.
• Experience working with education policies, school retention, learning recovery, adolescent engagement, intersectoral programming or inclusive education initiatives is considered an asset.
• Previous experience working with vulnerable populations and territories, particularly indigenous peoples, quilombola’s communities, riparians populations and other traditional communities, is highly desirable.
• Experience working with governmental institutions, civil society organizations, educational networks and/or international organizations is considered an asset.
• Familiarity with the Brazilian public education system, especially in the Amazon region, is highly desirable.
• Knowledge and understanding of issues related to educational inequalities, racial equity, social inclusion and culturally contextualized education approaches are considered strong assets.
• Strong analytical, organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in multicultural and intersectoral environments.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office applications, virtual collaboration tools and data systematization.
• Knowledge of Spanish and/or indigenous languages spoken in the Amazon region is considered an asset.
• Availability and willingness to travel frequently within the Amazon territory, including remote areas.

Contract

This is a UNV contract. More about UNV contracts.

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

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS). The UNICEF competencies required and expected for this post are: Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness; Works Collaboratively with others; Builds and Maintains Partnerships; Innovates and Embraces Change; Thinks and Acts Strategically; Drive to achieve impactful results; Manages ambiguity and complexity.

• 3 years of professional experience relevant to education programmes, public policies, social development, child rights, humanitarian-development contexts or related areas. Amazon region or International experience are considered an asset. • Experience working with education policies, school retention, learning recovery, adolescent engagement, intersectoral programming or inclusive education initiatives is considered an asset; • Previous experience working with vulnerable populations and territories, particularly indigenous peoples, quilombola’s communities, riparians populations and other traditional communities, is highly desirable; • Experience working with governmental institutions, civil society organizations, educational networks and/or international organizations is considered an asset; • Familiarity with the Brazilian public education system, especially in the Amazon region, is highly desirable; • Knowledge and understanding of issues related to educational inequalities, racial equity, social inclusion and culturally contextualized education approaches are considered strong assets; • Experience in planning, monitoring, reporting and implementation of programmes and projects is desirable; • Strong analytical, organizational and communication skills; • Ability to work collaboratively in multicultural and intersectoral environments; • Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office applications, virtual collaboration tools and data systematization; • Availability and willingness to travel frequently within the Amazon territory, including remote areas.

Knowledge of Spanish and/or indigenous languages spoken in the Amazon region is considered an asset.

Belem is the largest city in population in the state of Pará. The municipality has about 1,398,531 inhabitants. The city still has a high population density for the standard of northern Brazilian municipalities. It is one of the oldest in Brazil and is characterized by its ethnic diversity, made up of Indigenous people, Africans, and descendants of Europeans. It is the most important urban center in Pará, with a high HDI (Municipal Human Development Index) and a vibrant culture influenced by these origins.

The capital of Pará comprises continental and insular areas, with 42 islands, which represent 65% of the territory. Located in the Eastern Amazon, it has a hot and humid climate, being the rainiest capital in the country. It is the most populous municipality in the state and the second in the North region, with 1,398,531 inhabitants. Classified as one of the capitals with the best quality of life in the North region, it has an HDI of 0.746 (high), occupying the 22nd position among the capitals.

The disorderly growth of the city had a direct impact on its structure. The lack of urban planning culminated in the creation of many housing areas of irregular occupation, which have precarious housing conditions. The city is divided into 8 districts and 72 neighborhoods.

All United Nations personnel must scrupulously comply with UNDSS procedures and recommendations during their assignment. For missions in rural areas or indigenous reservations, special procedures may apply; UN personnel should consult with the local DSS office in advance.

You may check the full benefits and allowances applicable to the duty station using the UVP calculator. Please see the Conditions of Service for UN Volunteers for more information and details.

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Potential interview questions

Added 2 days ago - Updated 1 hour ago - Source: unv.org