Background:

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 Somalia works to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment by supporting government institutions, civil society, and communities. Guided by its triple mandate of normative support, UN coordination, and operational programming, UN Women focuses on key priorities including Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), gender responsive humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction (Hum/DRR), and leadership through initiatives such as the Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Protection (LEAP) programme. Through these efforts, UN Women promotes women’s participation in decision making, strengthens livelihoods and resilience to climate and humanitarian shocks, and supports inclusive and sustainable development in Somalia.

Reporting to the Programme Specialist and working in close coordination with the Country Programme Manager and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the Gender and Agri-Technology Programme Specialist provide programme support for the effective implementation of the project Enhancing Women’s Climate Resilience and Livelihoods through IT-Enabled Climate-Smart Agriculture in Kismayo, Jubaland State. The Specialist contributes to the design, implementation, monitoring, and optimization of climate-smart agriculture interventions, working closely with NEC-XON, a Japanese company. The role strengthens climate-resilient advisory services, improves women farmers’ access to digital tools and markets, and supports institutional capacity building within the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. The Specialist collaborates closely with programme and operations teams, government counterparts, and other stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of climate-smart agriculture initiatives and improved livelihoods for women farmers.
 

Scope of Work:

Contribute technically to the development of programme strategies in climate-smart agriculture, digital agriculture and women’s economic empowerment:

• Provide technical inputs to the design and formulation of programme and project proposals related to digital agriculture, climate-smart agriculture and women’s economic empowerment;
• Contribute to the development of strategies that promote the use of digital technologies to strengthen climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable natural resource management;
• Ensure programme strategies integrate gender-responsive agricultural innovation and improve women farmers’ access to climate information, digital tools and markets:

Provide technical support to the implementation and management of the thematic area programme

• Provide inputs to the annual workplan and budget as required;
• Coordinate and monitor the implementation of climate-smart agriculture and digital agriculture programme activities;
• Support the deployment and operational use of NEC-supported digital platforms for agricultural advisory services, crop monitoring and climate information dissemination;
• Identify field-level risks and implement bottlenecks and propose corrective actions to ensure effective programme delivery;
• Ensure digital agriculture services, tools and advisory content are gender-responsive and accessible to women farmers and marginalized groups;
• Coordinate with implementing partners and government counterparts to ensure activities align with programme priorities and approved workplans;
• Review and coordinate submission of implementing partner narrative and financial reports;
• Train partners on Results Based Management and programme reporting requirements.

Provide technical assistance and capacity development support to project/programme partners:

• Provide technical guidance to implementing partners and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation on the use of digital agriculture systems and climate-smart agriculture practices;
• Organize field-level mentoring sessions and peer learning events to strengthen institutional learning and knowledge exchange;
• Design and deliver training for ministry staff, extension workers and partners on digital agriculture tools, climate advisory services and gender-responsive agricultural approaches;
• Develop training materials, guidance notes and operational procedures adapted to local contexts and varying digital literacy levels;
• Promote gender-sensitive agricultural extension approaches that enhance women’s participation, leadership and decision-making in agricultural value chains;
• Identify opportunities for institutional capacity strengthening and promote inclusive agricultural innovation that supports women farmers.

Provide technical input for the monitoring and reporting of the programme/project:

• Monitor progress on programme activities, results and indicators related to digital agriculture, climate-smart advisory services and women’s economic empowerment;
• Support monitoring of implementing partner activities and field verification missions;
• Analyze data generated through digital agriculture platforms to assess adoption, performance and outcomes;
• Provide input into quarterly reports, donor reports and other programme reports;
• Ensure monitoring systems capture gender-disaggregated data and track women’s access to agricultural technologies and services;
• Conduct field monitoring visits and verification exercises to ensure activities meet quality standards and approved targets;
• Track adoption of improved seeds, fertilizers and climate-smart agricultural practices supported through programme activities.

Provide technical input for the management of people and finances of the thematic area programme:

• Monitor budget implementation and programme expenditure and support budget revisions when required;
• Provide inputs to financial reporting and ensure alignment between programme activities and approved budgets;
• Support oversight of programme associates and assistants when required to ensure quality programme delivery.

Contribute to building partnerships and resource mobilization strategies:

• Provide inputs to resource mobilization strategies to expand digital agriculture and climate-smart agriculture initiatives;
• Facilitate collaboration with private sector actors and buyers to expand digital market opportunities for women farmers;
• Support collaboration with government institutions, private sector actors, development partners and community organizations;
• Provide inputs to project summaries, concept notes, briefing notes and donor communications.

Provide technical inputs to inter-agency coordination on climate-smart agriculture and women’s economic empowerment

• Provide technical support to UN coordination efforts related to climate resilience, digital innovation and women’s economic empowerment;
• Provide inputs to background reports, briefs and coordination meetings with UN agencies, government partners and stakeholders.

Provide inputs to advocacy, knowledge building and communication efforts:

• Document lessons learned, best practices and innovations related to digital agriculture and climate-smart farming;
• Provide inputs to knowledge products, briefs and presentations related to women’s climate resilience and digital agriculture;
• Collect and analyze feedback from farmers and extension workers to improve advisory services and digital platform performance
• Support the organization of training, workshops, advocacy activities and knowledge sharing events;
• Contribute to communication materials including human-interest stories, social media content and visibility products highlighting programme results;
• Capture high-quality photos and develop communication content such as tweets and human-interest stories to showcase programme results to donors and partners.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills;
• Knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings;
• Good analytical skills;
• Good knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, digital agriculture systems, and women’s economic empowerment in agricultural value chains.
   

Education and Certification :

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Agricultural Science, Agricultural Engineering, Agri-Technology, Environmental Science, Climate Change, Rural Development, or a related field is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Certification in project or programme management (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) is an added advantage

Experience :

• At least 2 years of relevant work experience in development programme or project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, and capacity building is required;
• Experience in digital agriculture, agri-technology, climate-smart agriculture, or agricultural extension programs is desirable;
• Experience working with government institutions, particularly in the agriculture sector, is desirable;
• Experience supporting women-focused, inclusive, or gender-responsive agricultural programs is an asset;
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is desirable

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required;
• Fluency in Somali is desirable.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.