The Um Milhão de Oportunidades (1MiO) initiative, from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has reached 1,294,165 professional training, apprenticeship, internship, and formal employment opportunities effectively provided to adolescents and youth aged 14 to 29 in vulnerable situations in the country since its launch in 2020.
The survey, released this Wednesday (17) by UNICEF, showed that 473,501 adolescents and youth completed trainings aimed at developing skills for the world of work through 1MiO, and 820,664 secured apprenticeship, internship, and formal employment positions.
The goal is to provide access to professional training opportunities, decent work, and civic participation. To this end, the initiative operates in partnership with public authorities, companies, civil society, and the young people themselves. The initiative’s digital platform is the hub through which opportunities and partners flow.
The target audience totals 12 priority profiles, including:
• Black and brown people,
• Indigenous,
• Quilombolas,
• Youth with disabilities,
• LGBTQIAPN+,
• Young mothers,
• Residents of urban peripheries and rural areas.
“We work so that companies and governments have processes and protocols for hiring, retaining, and developing youth in vulnerable situations. With public education networks, we act by strengthening discussions on life projects and the development of skills and competencies for the world of work,” said Mônica Dias Pinto, head of Education at UNICEF Brazil.
However, the organization assesses that reaching 1 million opportunities does not mean that the challenges of productive inclusion in Brazil have been resolved. According to PNAD Contínua Educação from June 2025, 8.9 million adolescents and youth between 15 and 29 years old neither study nor work in the country.
“Historically, youth unemployment is double the population average. This is even more intense among female adolescents and youth, as well as among Black youth, those with disabilities, and other priority profiles for 1MiO. We still have the largest generation of youth in our history, 48.6 million between 15 and 29 years old, and we have a window of a few decades to develop all this potential,” said Mônica.
Source: Agência Brasil