Opportunities that make a difference

Young Solange received the tools to secure her first job

“Did I really pass? Is the job mine?” With tears of joy, 20-year-old Solange Sampaio received the news that she had secured her first job: a position as an apprentice at a power tools company in the town of Benevides (PA), where she lives with her mother and younger sister. Her emotion was justified. The road to this achievement had been long and filled with obstacles. But her acceptance proved that her dreams were not only possible but truly within her reach.

The journey to her acceptance began in 2022, when Solange was 18 years old and had just completed secondary school. It was time to consider her next steps. However, the path forward was neither clear nor easy to follow: “I had finished school and I knew I couldn’t afford private university. I also didn’t think I would be able to attend a public one. It all seemed so far out of reach for me,” she explains.

It was at that moment that opportunities began to arise, allowing Solange to take her first steps toward building her future, allowing Solange to take her first steps towards building her future. The young woman was able to enroll in a free college prep course offered by the municipality. There, she got involved with a new youth and adolescent civic engagement initiative in her town: the Adolescent Citizenship Centre (NUCA), groups set up by local councils, such as in Benevides, that participate in the UNICEF Seal programme.

By joining the group, Solange says that a true “spark” was ignited in her. “It was there that I started to gain direction. We would talk about the future, about what we wanted to do… And that’s where I was told about the courses being offered,” she recalls.

In partnership with 1 Million Opportunities (1MiO), a UNICEF initiative that promotes education and decent work opportunities for teenagers and young people, Benevides town was also offering training programmes. Enrolling in these courses helped Solange take even more steps towards her dreams. “I took courses in IT, diction and public speaking, and female entrepreneurship… And they made all the difference because before, I had no experience to include on my CV. I wasn’t prepared for a company to see me as a young person with skills,” she says.

To create opportunities for vulnerable young people in over 1,800 towns across the country, 1 Million Opportunities counts on strategic partnerships with Accenture, Iberdrola, Microsoft, Silatech, BMW, and the Arymax Foundation.

Opportunities

Around a year later, Solange’s first major achievement would reflect the results of her hard work. She was accepted into the Federal University of Pará to study Theatre Production, becoming the first person in her family to attend a public university. But her journey didn’t stop there. A few months after her university acceptance, Solange applied for a position as a young apprentice. The knowledge she had gained from the training programmes proved even more valuable and helped her secure her first job, without needing to give up her studies. “When I went for the job interview, I already felt fully prepared. I knew what to say and how to behave in a work environment. I had received the tools, right? To pave my way. And luckily, I was given this opportunity,” she explains.

Solange was on the last day of her apprenticeship when she was interviewed by UNICEF. She continued her studies, now in the second year of her degree. “I am feeling more confident about having a job. And that’s really important for a young person’s growth, to later get a permanent job, continue my degree, and support my family,” she says.

She also remains actively involved with the youth participation group in her town. And in 2024, she took on an even more significant role: she was elected as one of the Youth Representatives in the Municipal Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CMDCA), the body that discusses and implements child and adolescent rights policies in the city. There, she hopes to be a role model for other young people, like herself. “I try to show the strength of youth, because young people have opinions. We see society’s problems and we want to help,” she says.

And this applies not only to participating in the Council but to all the other opportunities that set her on a path to success in her career—and in life. “Many people just need an opportunity. Especially in places like where I live, in a peripheral area with high crime… Many young people here just need the awareness that they can do what they dream of. Just like me, they can achieve it too,” she affirms.

Photo credits: UNICEF/BRZ/Luiz Marques