Gender Champions, Women's Land Rights and Economic Empowerment in Tanzania.

Host entity: UNWomen

Areas of expertise: Human rights, Gender, women's rights, Economics, poverty reduction, livelihoods

Application deadline: 12/11/2026

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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of its efforts, UN Women is mandated to lead and co-ordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming are translated into action. It is also mandated to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In line with the Tanzania’s national priorities, UN Women’s strategic Plan 2022-2026 lays out the agency’s unique role and comparative advantage in supporting national stakeholders in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women by strengthening women’s leadership and participation in political and governance systems, gender statistics, implementation of global gender norms and standards, ending violence against women and girls, and women’s economic empowerment.

Assignment context

Grounded in its mandate to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Women Tanzania implements its Strategic Note (2023-2027) in alignment with national priorities and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). Through its Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme, UN Women supports women’s access to productive resources, decent work, economic opportunities, and participation in decision-making, with a particular focus on addressing structural barriers that limit women’s economic rights and autonomy.

As part of these efforts, UN Women is implementing the Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress Towards Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE) in partnership with FAO, IFAD, and WFP. The programme operates in Singida, Dodoma, and Zanzibar to strengthen rural women’s access to productive resources, markets, agricultural value chains, and economic opportunities while promoting gender-responsive policies and women’s land rights.

Recognizing that secure land tenure is a critical enabler of women’s economic empowerment, productivity, and resilience, UN Women Tanzania seeks the support of an online national volunteer to undertake research, documentation, and knowledge management on women’s land rights, tenure security, and economic empowerment in Singida and Dodoma. The assignment will document emerging good practices, success stories, lessons learned, and innovative community-driven approaches that enhance women’s access to land and productive resources. The resulting knowledge product will generate evidence on effective strategies for advancing women’s land rights and economic empowerment, including the role of gender champions, traditional and religious leaders, community institutions, and policymakers in addressing barriers to women’s economic inclusion.

Task description

We are looking for One Online Volunteer with experience in research and knowledge products development on women land rights and tenure security. Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Program Specialist, the candidate will work and contribute directly to the WEE (Women’s Economic Empowerment) implementation in close collaboration with the WEE unit and will provide technical support t in the development of project briefs and women land rights and tenure security knowledge products aligned with the objectives and priorities of the Joint Programme on Rural Women's Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE), ensuring evidence-based recommendations that strengthen women's land rights, resilience, and economic empowerment outcomes in Tanzania by undertaking the following tasks:
- Develop an inception report: Discuss and determine parameters for the research and research tools
- Identify and gather sources from project document and stakeholders
- Conduct research
- Develop a report on findings
- Develop a policy brief on the findings

The average estimated workload is expected to include roughly reviewing 10-12 documents (these can include scientific articles, studies, programme reports etc.). Data collection with Women Economic Empowerment and JPRWEE Focal Points at United Nations, Joint Programme Rural Women Economic Empowerment Programme Implementing Partners, Land and Agricultural Officers, Female and Male Gender Champions, Women and Men influential and traditional leaders in Dodoma, Singida and Zanzibar

The Online Volunteer/s will have the opportunity to build connections with the Women Economic Empowerment and JPRWEE Focal Point at United Nations, Joint Programme Rural Women Economic Empowerment Programme Implementing Partners, Female and Male Gender Champions, Women and Men influential leaders in Dodoma, Singida and Zanzibar and gather data on the contribution of gender champions to women access and ownership of productive resources including climate-smart inputs, assets and natural resources for agricultural production such as land, agricultural inputs and how research on Gender Inclusive Language can support inclusive communication within the Unite Nations System.

Skills and experience

Candidate should have strong research and analytical skills. Background knowledge and working experience in Women Empowerment and Gender is desirable. A master’s degree in Human Rights Law, Land Law, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy, Economics, Governance, or a related field is required. The candidate should have at least 10 years of progressive professional experience in policy development, research leadership, and programme implementation related to land governance, gender equality, and women’s economic empowerment. The candidate must demonstrate a strong track record in conducting and leading research on gender, land governance, women’s land rights, and institutional support systems, as well as extensive experience working with government institutions on land governance, gender equality, economic empowerment, and policy reform. Experience collaborating with UN agencies, international NGOs, regional organizations, and local civil society organizations working on gender, land rights, and women’s economic empowerment is highly desirable.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.