Terms of Reference for Municipal Innovation Fellowship
Unleashing Digital Acceleration and Ambition of Nepali Youth (UDAAN)
Applications ClosedIntroduction
Heifer Project Nepal has a critical municipal-level role within UDAAN because of its long-standing work with women-led cooperatives, inclusive agri-food systems, community institutions and cooperative digital transformation. Under Heifer Project Nepal coordination, the Municipal Innovation Fellowship will connect digital inclusion with concrete local economic priorities such as youth employment, enterprise development, agriculture, cooperative digitalization, municipal data systems, public service delivery and local governance.
Background
Nepal’s expanding digital connectivity and large youth population create a strong opportunity for inclusive employment, entrepreneurship, services and civic leadership. Yet young women and men, especially from rural, indigenous, marginalized and remote communities, face unemployment, skills mismatch, limited mentorship and unequal access to digital tools, markets and networks. These gaps are most visible locally, where national digital ambitions must become practical opportunities. The UDAAN (Unleashing Digital Acceleration and Ambition of Nepali Youth) project, led by Youth Innovation Lab together with Heifer Project Nepal, NAAMII, and Women In Animation and supported by the European Union, is a nationwide initiative aimed at empowering young women and men across Nepal with the skills, opportunities, and resources needed to thrive in the digital economy.
Implemented over four years, the project focuses on advancing digital literacy, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and creating pathways to employment through training programs in AI, coding, and creative technologies, as well as internships, fellowships, and innovation hubs in partnership with local governments, academic institutions, and the private sector.
With a strong commitment to gender equality and social inclusion, UDAAN prioritizes marginalized and underrepresented youth, contributing to a more inclusive, resilient, and future-ready workforce in Nepal. The action is implemented through four interconnected components:
- PATHSHALA – Digital Skills Development: Builds future-ready digital skills through AI, Coding, and Animation schools. Using tiered, hybrid learning, it prepares young Nepali women and men for jobs, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the digital economy.
- KARYASHALA – Innovation and Experimentation: Transforms youth skills into real-world digital solutions through hackathons and bootcamps. It nurtures innovation with mentorship and incubation, turning ideas into scalable impact.
- KARMASHALA – Employment and Career Pathways: Connects young Nepali youth to real-world work experience through internships and fellowships. It bridges skills to careers by placing youth in government and private sector roles, building employability and professional confidence.
- NITISHALA – Policy and System Strengthening: Strengthens youth participation in digital governance through policy dialogues, innovation hubs, and civic engagement. It bridges youth, communities, and local governments to institutionalize inclusive and sustainable digital transformation.
Innovation Fellowship
Innovation Fellowship provides an experiential platform for young Nepalis who are interested in building their careers in local governance, innovation, entrepreneurship, and civic technology. Through the fellowship, young professionals under the age of 30 years will be embedded in selected municipal governments to work closely with elected representatives, municipal officials, youth groups, cooperatives, CSOs/CBOs, and local stakeholders. The fellowship gives young people practical exposure to municipal systems while also allowing them to contribute to digital literacy, innovation hub development, digital rights awareness, youth engagement, and local-level digital governance.
While many municipalities are interested in digital transformation, they often face gaps in technical capacity, human resources, local policy guidance, and practical models for managing innovation spaces. Innovation Fellows will implement and institutionalize the UDAAN project components at their respective municipalities.
Job Information
| Position Title | Terms of Reference for Municipal Innovation Fellowship |
|---|---|
| Project | Unleashing Digital Acceleration and Ambition of Nepali Youth (UDAAN) |
| Duration | 8 Months |
| Number of Fellowships | One fellow per municipality; five fellows in the current cohort |
| Working Areas |
Scope of Work & Key Responsibilities
Digital literacy, AI awareness and safe digital participation
- Facilitate or co-facilitate digital literacy and awareness sessions for elected representatives, municipal officials, youth, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, CSOs/CBOs and community groups on AI, digital tools, cybersecurity, digital rights, media and information literacy, data protection and responsible use of technology.
- Improve access to UDAAN-supported learning platforms, including Shikshya.org, and support interested youth and local stakeholders to enroll in relevant courses using locally adapted examples and facilitation content.
Local challenge identification and solution co-creation
- Facilitate municipal consultations and co-creation sessions with youth, officials, cooperatives, schools, CSOs/CBOs, entrepreneurs and communities to identify priority challenges in agriculture, livestock, public service delivery, data management, digital governance, youth employment and enterprise development.
- Develop a municipal challenge bank and support youth teams to convert priority issues into problem statements, prototype ideas and submissions for UDAAN hackathons, bootcamps and innovation activities.
Youth engagement, inclusion and outreach
- Mobilize young women and men, especially from marginalized communities, indigenous groups, Dalit communities, rural wards, women’s groups and disadvantaged youth, to participate in Pathshala, Karyashala, Karmashala and Nitishala activities.
- Coordinate with schools, youth clubs, cooperatives, CSOs/CBOs and ward offices to promote safe, respectful and GESI-sensitive participation.
Agri-tech, cooperative digitalization and enterprise support
- Map cooperatives, producer groups, farmer groups and local entrepreneurs that could benefit from digital tools, agri-tech orientation, digital record keeping, market information or digital financial literacy.
- Support orientation, basic handholding, opportunity identification and documentation of cooperative, agriculture, livestock and enterprise-focused digital innovation
Municipal Innovation Hub Establishment and Institutionalization
- Prepare monthly work plans and progress reports, while maintaining activity records, participant lists, photos, consent records, challenge bank entries, hub usage data and other required documentation.
- Document learning notes, success stories, innovation ideas, barriers and recommendations while ensuring ethical data collection, informed consent, privacy protection and safeguarding standards.
Coordination and representation
- Work closely with UDAAN/Heifer Project Nepal, municipal focal persons, ward offices, relevant municipal sections and consortium partners, and participate in training, review meetings, coaching and learning events.
- Represent UDAAN professionally at municipal and community forums and perform other relevant tasks consistent with the fellowship purpose.
Qualifications & Competencies
Minimum Qualification
Applicants must have at least a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Agriculture, Livestock, Environmental Science, Development Studies, Business Development, Public Policy, Local Governance, Social Work or another relevant field related to digital learning, innovation, entrepreneurship, community development or local governance.
Required Competencies
- Basic practical knowledge of digital tools, computer applications, MS Office or Google Workspace, internet-based learning platforms and digital communication tools.
- Experience or demonstrated interest in training facilitation, digital literacy, youth mobilization, community engagement, entrepreneurship, hackathons, bootcamps, startups, cooperatives or local governance.
- Ability to work respectfully with elected representatives, municipal officials, ward offices, schools, cooperatives, CSOs/CBOs, youth groups, women’s groups and local entrepreneurs.
- Strong communication, facilitation and documentation skills in Nepali; working knowledge of English is required, and local language ability will be an advantage.
- Commitment to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, human rights, safeguarding, responsible digital participation and ethical data handling.
- Problem-solving orientation, teamwork, integrity, accountability, willingness to learn and readiness to travel to wards, schools, cooperatives, farmer groups and field locations.
Reporting & Supervision
- Women, youth from marginalized communities, indigenous groups, Dalit communities, persons with disabilities and candidates from rural or remote communities are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Preference will be given to candidates who are local to, or willing to reside in, the assigned project municipality for the full fellowship period.
- Prior exposure to AI, coding, animation, agri-tech, cooperative digitalization, digital financial literacy, entrepreneurship support, youth work, cooperatives or municipal digital governance will be an advantage
Fellowship Support & Benefits
- Stipend per month per fellow will be NPR. 62,000/- (includes renumeration and transportation inclusive of all liable taxes, accidental insurance
- Five-day residential training on AI, digital rights, cybersecurity, innovation hub management and UDAAN implementation approaches.
- Technical mentoring, coaching and exposure to municipal governance, cooperatives, youth innovation, agri-tech, digital inclusion and entrepreneurship ecosystems.
- Certificate or letter of completion upon satisfactory completion of the fellowship and submission of required deliverables.
Required Documents
- Updated CV with reference.
- Brief motivation statement explaining interest in municipal digital innovation, youth engagement and inclusive local development.
- Copy of academic qualification certificate or transcript.
- Citizenship certificate or valid identity document.
- Relevant experience certificates, if available.
- One recommendation letter (preferably academic)
- Please Submit the application from along with above mentioned documents via the link below by 21 July 2026 before 5:00 PM
This Vacancy Has Expired
This vacancy has expired and is no longer accepting applications.