Consultancy for Research on A rights-based approach to adaptation, loss and damage, and resilience in specific national/regional contexts

Location: Latin America and the Caribbean
Type of Contract: Consulting
Languages Required: English and Spanish (native or advanced in both)
Experience Required : Experience with climate justice and human rights
Consultancy begin aim date: 17/4/2023
Duration of contract : 25 days within a period of 3 months

About ACT Alliance

ACT Alliance is one of the world’s largest coalition of churches and church-related organisations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work. It consists of 144 members working together in over 120 countries, with headquarters in 73 countries, whose aim is to create a positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards. 64% of our members are headquartered in the Global South, 30% in the Global North, and 6% are Global members. For more details about the general work of ACT, please refer to http://www.actalliance.org/.

ACT Alliance’s structure is unique, with national, sub-regional and regional forums that bring local, national, regional and international church-related organisations to work together under the same principles and standards, bringing different skills and expertise to support each other and leverage collective action in humanitarian, development and advocacy engagement. Thanks to the presence of national ACT Forums in over 50 countries, and of its global secretariat in several strategic locations (Geneva, New York, Nairobi, Bangkok, Amman, Brussels, Toronto and Bogotá), ACT Alliance is able to bring local and regional concerns to the global arena. Conversely, global trends and development can be transmitted to the regional and national levels using these structures.

Terms of reference

Climate change is a driver of inequality, poverty and disasters that keep frontline communities from being able to enjoy their human rights and lead dignified lives. Efforts to respond to the climate crisis must create a new reality for these communities. ACT Alliance has the ambition to strengthen its adaptation, loss and damage and resilience work drawing on the diverse experience, skills, and technical capabilities of its membership. At the center of this effort is the generation of evidence to strengthen a human rights-based approach, to design, build, implement and scale up actions that address climate vulnerability, promote economic equity, enhance adaptation and build resilience.

Climate action should be delivered within the purview of human rights obligations and not by any means stifle the rights of frontline and marginalized communities to a safe, adaptive, equitable and resilient present and future, this includes both rural communities and indigenous peoples, as well as vulnerable populations in urban areas who must be participants in decision-making processes. The Alliance acknowledges that coherent and tested approaches can facilitate deepened and collaborative programming crucial for delivering change at community level in the context of climate change. However, for such change to respond to needs of communities, research must inform how approaches addressing differentiated impacts of the climate crisis can effectively uphold human rights in their design and implementation. Climate responses must be modeled within the parameters of human rights with a focus on gender justice and social protection that consider structural problems such as economic inequality.

ACT Alliance intends to undertake research work in three Global South regions (Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean). We envisage to build bottom-up evidence and knowledge that will underpin an era of deepened discussion on a human rights-based approach in climate response and elevating policy calls for its strengthening at national and global levels. As such, we anticipate the delivery of valuable evidence that:

1. Strengthens a conceptual understanding of a human rights-based approach to:
   1. Tackling vulnerability, adaptation, resilience building and loss and damage, in particular climate induced displacement
   2. Enabling the realization of human rights in the context of climate change
2. Analyse the gaps, challenges, lessons and opportunities for advancing human rights-based approaches in adaptation, loss and damage and resilience work at the programming and implementation levels.
3. Provide key recommendations to strengthen climate programming to realize human rights and promote economic equity in a changing environment.

To achieve the above, the following preparatory process/initial decision-making is envisaged:

• Further elaborating the Terms of Reference at regional/national level – determine specific topics and stakeholders to be involved
• Regional / national planning meetings with DRR CCA CoP / Climate Justice CoP – determine participating ACT forums
• Developing a call for consultancies at national level for the assignment

Methodology

• Desk-based review of existing research on human rights and climate change developed by any ACT members and other actors, as well as by UN agencies and other multilateral initiatives.
• Desk-based review of existing project methods/programmes implementation strategies on a rights-based approach to Climate change in the context of addressing vulnerability through adaptation, loss and damage response, and resilience building.
• Desk-based review of nationally specific documented links between the impacts of climate change and human mobility (displacement, including internal displacement, labour migration, planned relocation, etc.)
• Participatory facilitated discussions with ACT Forums, regional and global Communities of Practice that describe in detail the human rights impact of climate change on their lives, their different experiences with programming in adaptation, loss and damage, displacement, and migration, and attempts at building their resilience.

EXPECTED ACTIVITIES

Pre-briefing

Before starting the research, a briefing meeting will be held with some representatives of the ACT “Climate, Migration and Displacement and Advocacy working groups” to build common understanding of the assignment.

Literature review

The consultant will conduct a desk-based review of the existing literature on human rights and climate change, and adaptation, loss and damage, links with human mobility in the country/region, and resilience. Key documents produced by ACT members will be availed. Case studies will be sought, and the consultant will help the alliance understand how to maximize impact and development cooperation concerning the implementation of a human rights-based approach in climate policy and programming at forum-level. This analysis should also interrogate efforts, if any, by ACT members in advancing a rights-based approach in climate change response.

Guiding questions

• Considering human rights and climate change, programming levels and approaches could be employed to strengthen a rights-based approach in climate change adaptation, loss and damage, human mobility and resilience?
• What gaps, challenges, opportunities exist at country level for strengthening a rights-based approach to climate change adaptation, loss and damage, human mobility and resilience?
• What efforts would facilitate the integration of a rights-based approaches at programming level? How would such efforts be tracked, reported, and strengthened?

Workshop/dialogue with the member organisations

Design and conduct a workshop/dialogue with ACT forum members to test some hypotheses, develop key advocacy messages, and gather additional inputs for the final report. ACT Climate / DRR CCA CoPs/ Migration and displacement working groups.

Interviews

The consultant will conduct several interviews with key informants, ideally climate and human rights experts across the policy, advocacy, and programming spheres. A list of interviewees will be generated in conjunction with the ACT forum.

Intermediate meeting(s)

Depending on the progress of the research, a minimum of one meeting will be organized on weekly or fortnightly basis with representatives of the ACT forum and respective working groups.

FINAL REPORT

A final report of about thirty pages, written in English, will present the results of the investigation, highlighting:

• The context of the study and the methodology chosen (2-3 pages).
• An overview of the human rights and climate change contexts, a conceptual underpinning of rights-based approach to climate change (6-9 pages).
• An analysis of the gaps, limitations, opportunities for advancing rights-based approach with focus on policy spaces and processes, and programming approaches (8-10 pages). A link to the global discourse and what gaps/ opportunities to elevate at a global level should be provided (2 pages).
• Case examples of rights-based approach in climate interventions at national level (10-12 pages)
• Concrete recommendations incorporating a 2-pronged approach: Policy advocacy and programming (4-6 pages)

Sharing and restitution

The consultant will be invited to present his/her analysis, conclusions, and recommendations to the ACT Forum & Climate/ Migration and displacement working groups. Following this meeting, the consultant may be required to review his or her report.

Qualifications and experience

The consultant shall have:

• At least 3-4 years of experience with climate justice and/or human rights
• Knowledge on climate change programming and policy work
• Some knowledge of migration and displacement issues.
• Good knowledge of the national policies (Honduras, Brazil, Peru, Argentina) of climate change, DRR, migration and displacement.
• Listener and highly cooperative
• Experience working with faith-based actors and/or religious groups desirable
• Effective participatory facilitation of discussions and meetings
• Ability to write high quality, clear, concise reports in English
• Excellent logistical skills
• Strong computer and virtual meeting including experience using Microsoft Word, Skype and Zoom (and Microsoft Teams as an added asset)
• Sets priorities, meets deadlines, and manages time efficiently
• Highly organised and detail oriented

Timeline

• Deadline for submission of tenders: 5/4/2023
• Selection of the offer by the working group: 11-13/4/2023
• Pre-meeting for the start of the mission: 17/4/2023
• Interim meeting: date to be determined
• Submission of the final report: 17/7/2023
• Presentation of the study: date to be determined

Reporting

The consultant will work in collaboration with the Climate program team and report to the ACT Climate Justice Manager and the ACT Forum focal point instituted for this consultancy.