Description of assignment (DoA) details
General
Description of assignment title
Associate - We-Can Project
Assignment country
India
Duty stations
Bhopal
Work location
On UN premises
Expected start date
12/01/2026
Duration
6 months
Sustainable Development Goal
- Climate action
Host entity
UNWomen IND
Modality
Onsite
Type
National
Volunteer category
Associate UCoS from Apr2026
Work schedule
Full-time
Number of Assignments
1
Details
Mission and objectives
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. UN Women works to advance gender-responsive climate and environmental action, recognising that climate change disproportionately affects women and girls, while also limiting progress towards gender equality. Guided by its Climate and Environment Strategy (2026–2029), UN Women supports governments, communities, civil society and partners to strengthen climate policies, expand women's leadership and participation in decision-making, improve access to climate finance, promote just transitions to green and blue economies, and strengthen gender and environment data for evidence-based action.
Context
The Women Empowered for Climate resilience through Ag iNnovation (WE-CAN) project is enabling women smallholder farmers to equitably access and adopt evidence-based, next-generation climate-smart input – biofertilizers; which contributes to improved soil health, crop productivity, income and resilience to climate change. The project is operational in Jhabua District, Madhya Pradesh with the implementation support of a civil society partner and technical support of a private sector partner. The UN Volunteer will support with 1) field-level engagement with women smallholder farmers who are part of the program 2) collecting data and supporting reporting process on what works 3) Developing creative communication and knowledge products. This role provides hands-on exposure to gender-responsive and climate-resilient agriculture programming.
Task description
Under the overall supervision of WE-CAN Project Manager and day-to-day reporting to State Lead Madhya Pradesh, the UN Associate Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Support in community engagement and women farmer capacity building: - assist project partners in organizing and documenting training sessions, community meetings, and awareness activities with women smallholder farmers. - support preparation of training materials, participate in field visits, capture farmer feedback, and help ensure that women's perspectives and experiences are reflected in project activities. 2. Assist with field data collection, monitoring and documenting progress: - support the collection, compilation, and analysis of project data related to women's adoption of cli-mate-smart agricultural innovations, including biofertilizers and other emerging technologies. Responsibilities may include conducting surveys, entering and cleaning data, documenting success stories, and supporting monitoring visits to project sites. This will help strengthen evidence generation on what works to improve women's access to climate-resilient agricultural innovations. 3. Contribute to knowledge product development and communications: - support the development of case studies, learning briefs, photo stories, presentations, and social media content showcasing project achievements and lessons learned. - Working closely with UN Women and implementing partners, help document innovative approaches that position women smallholder farmers as leaders and innovators in climate adaptation and sustainable agriculture Examples of potential assignments include: • Engaging with women farmers to assess their challenges to adoption of biofertilizers, enablers in technology adoption and learning gaps. • Documenting lessons learned in field logs with recommendations to strengthen the pilot program. • Piloting select recommendations to strengthen positive impact for women farmers. • Conducting a literature review of climate-smart agricultural innovation programs and how they have ensured adoption by women farmers. •Develop a list of best practices and recom-mendations from the literature review in a technical report. • Collate successful models of engaging women farmers as innovators or lead farmers. •Develop 3-5 participatory and creative modules of trainings for women farmers on leadership, decision-making in the household, and climate-smart agricultural practices. Use visual tools, games, and discussions. Pilot modules and document how to improve for scaling. • Conduct a market assessment for smallholder farmer’s use of fertilizer, biofertilizer, and other inputs to understand demand, supply and perceptions. •Provide a short report on the assessment. • Develop a creative photo-story to document women farmer’s voices and journey as innova-tors. •Document farmer’s perceptions of climate change, project impact, learnings and challenges.
Eligibility criteria
Age
18 - 80
Required experience
1 month
Donor priorities
.
Nationality
Candidate must be a national, legal resident or hold refugee status in the country of assignment.
Additional eligibility criteria
This assignment is funded by the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and therefore only students currently enrolled at KIIT University are eligible to apply. Students from Scheduled Tribes communities are especially encouraged to apply.
Assignment requirements
Relevant experience
1 month
Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required Hindi, Level: Working knowledge, Required
Required education level
Bachelor's degree in (Currently enrolled) in development studies, environmental science, business administration, marketing, agriculture, economics, education, or other relevant fields.
Competencies and values
- Accountability • Adaptability and Flexibility • Building Trust • Commitment and Motivation • Commitment to Continuous Learning • Communication • Creativity • Empowering Others • Ethics and Values • Integrity • Knowledge Sharing • Leadership • Professionalism • Respect for Diversity • Self-Management • Vision • Working in Teams
Skills and experience
- Demonstrated interest and/or experience in working with smallholder farmers, especially women, agriculture, and climate change. Need to be open to traveling to rural areas, being in farmstead areas, and working with humility with small farmers or tribal communities. • Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volun-teer work, internship) would be highly regarded. • Conducting simple assessments (Research methods quantitative and qualitative) with basic data management and analysis skills (Excel, Kobo) and report writing Skills in: • Communication (Writing, speaking, listening) • Ability to work respectfully and with an open-minded attitude with rural and tribal communities • Ability to facilitate discussion, training, group sessions • Creativity and strategic thinking • Cultural sensitivity and being gender-sensitive • Proactiveness and commitment • Flexibility and adaptability in field-based environments • Documentation through creative media (photography, storytelling, social media etc.)
Area(s) of expertise
Community development, Gender, women's rights
Driving license
Other information
Volunteerism is understood as a wide range of activities undertaken of free will, for the general public good, for which monetary reward is not the principal motivating factor.
Living conditions and remarks
Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, offers a comfortable and affordable living environment with access to quality housing, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, and modern amenities. Bhopal combines a rich cultural heritage with a relatively low cost of living compared to larger metropolitan cities in India. The city is well connected through domestic air, rail, and road networks, providing convenient access to major cities across the country. The position will require regular travel to field locations in Jhabua district, a predominantly rural and tribal area in western Madhya Pradesh. Travel to Jhabua involves road journeys from Bhopal and may include visits to remote villages and project sites to support programme implementation, stakeholder engagement, training activities, monitoring missions, and data collection. Volunteers should be comfortable undertaking periodic field travel, adapting to varying local conditions, and engaging directly with communities, government counterparts, and implementing partners. These field visits provide a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience of development challenges and contribute to advancing gender-responsive climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods for women and vulnerable communities As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. This position is based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. National UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan. National UN Volunteers are expected to be culturally sensitive and adjust to the prevailing culture and traditions. You can check full entitlements at https://app.unv.org/calculator For information specific to your assignment, please see below: • Monthly Voluntary Living Allowance (VLA): INR 56,126.74 • Entry lump sum (one-time payment): USD 350 (equivalent in INR) • Relocation costs: $175 at the beginning and end of the assignment if the duty station is outside of commuting distance (as determined by UNV) • Exit allowance (paid on successful completion of the assignment): $120 for each month served, paid on completion of contract • Insurance: Comprehensive coverage for health, life, and malicious acts • Annual leave: 2.5 days per month • Learning: Access to UNV's learning and career development resources.
Inclusivity statement
United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements
Selected candidates for certain occupational groups may be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in line with the applicable host entity policy
Scam warning
The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.
