Associate - We-Can Project
Organizational Context
UN Women is dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, working to eliminate discrimination and promote women's rights. The organization advances gender-responsive climate and environmental action, recognizing the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls. UN Women supports governments and partners in strengthening climate policies, enhancing women's leadership, improving access to climate finance, and promoting sustainable economies, guided by its Climate and Environment Strategy (2026-2029).
Job Purpose
This role supports the Women Empowered for Climate resilience through Ag iNnovation (WE-CAN) project, which aims to enable women smallholder farmers to access and adopt climate-smart biofertilizers. The UN Volunteer will engage directly with farmers, collect data to assess project effectiveness, and contribute to developing communication materials. This position offers practical experience in gender-responsive and climate-resilient agriculture programming, focusing on improving soil health, crop productivity, income, and resilience to climate change for women farmers in Madhya Pradesh, India.
Responsibilities
The UN Associate Volunteer will support community engagement and capacity building for women farmers by assisting project partners in organizing and documenting training sessions, meetings, and awareness activities. This includes preparing training materials, participating in field visits, and gathering farmer feedback to ensure their perspectives are integrated. The role involves assisting with field data collection, monitoring, and progress documentation, including surveys, data entry, cleaning, and documenting success stories to strengthen evidence on climate-resilient agricultural innovations. Additionally, the volunteer will contribute to knowledge product development and communications by supporting the creation of case studies, photo stories, presentations, and social media content that highlight project achievements and innovative approaches.
Work Experience
Minimum of 1 month of demonstrated interest and/or experience working with smallholder farmers (especially women), agriculture, and climate change. Experience in conducting simple assessments (quantitative and qualitative research methods) with basic data management and analysis skills (Excel, Kobo) and report writing is required. Openness to travel to rural areas and work with humility in farmstead and tribal communities is essential.
Skills
Key competencies include communication (writing, speaking, listening), creativity, adaptability, flexibility, proactiveness, and commitment. Essential values involve working respectfully and with an open mind towards rural and tribal communities, cultural sensitivity, gender sensitivity, and integrity. Skills in facilitating discussions and training, strategic thinking, and documenting through creative media (photography, storytelling, social media) are also important.