Robust strategies for strengthening resilience a Right Here Right Now study

Overview

• Application Deadline: 15 November 2024
• Interview Dates: 4th week of November 2024
• Expected Start Date: 1 December 2024

Background of the Right Here Right Now programme

The Right Here Right Now programme is a strategic partnership between Rutgers (lead), ARROW, AMPF, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Reproductive Health Uganda and RNW Media. IPPF Africa Region is a technical partner. The programme runs from 2020 to 2025, taking place in 10 countries in Africa (Benin, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia and Uganda) and Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nepal) and at a global and regional level. The programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Strengthening Civil Society for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) partnership fund. The overall vision of the programme is for young people in all their diversity to enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and rights in gender-just societies.

The theory of change of the Right Here Right Now partnership works towards lobby and advocacy, public support and empowerment of young people to make decisions about their sexuality, voice their needs and claim their rights and realise young people’s SRHR in an enabling civic space.

Growing pressure on SRHR

As the SRHR movement strives to endorse, enact, pass, renew or implement different national, global and regional laws, commitments and policy level statements to fulfil human rights gaps for SRHR, it finds itself facing an increased attack on such interventions, human rights activists and CSOs. Attacks include the undermining of international human rights, delegitimization of human rights CSOs, the spread of disinformation and the withdrawal from international human rights frameworks. This leads to shrinking civic space for dialogue, advocacy and diverse voices in many contexts. The attacks are often emanating from religious fundamentalist groups and particularly target issues such as access to safe abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and LGBTQI rights. It is crucial to invest in robust strategies that can minimise or counter the efforts of movements opposing human rights and SRHR.

The theory of change of the Right Here Right Now partnership embeds strategies on how to work in contexts of shrinking civic space, such as increasing public support and supporting CSOs to become more effective and resilient. At implementation level, the programme has invested in mapping active opponents, their strategies, and in establishing platforms (e.g. a community of practice) for monitoring, learning and exchange. As attacks on SRHR increase, and navigating such challenges becomes a routine part of our work, it is crucial to gather more evidence on the progress made by the Right Here Right Now partnership in addressing opposition to SRHR. Additionally, we need to examine how strategies for countering opposition to SRHR are effective across different contexts and under varying circumstances.

Objectives

1. To collect evidence on the effectiveness of strategies to deal with opposition to SRHR, specifically strategies that the partnership has invested in
2. To unpack whether and how those strategies contributed to the resilience of partners when facing attacks by the opposition
3. To develop convincing recommendations on what strategies to mitigate opposition are worthwhile investing in

Strategies to prepare for and counter opposition 

While partners can deploy many different strategies to prepare for and counter opposition to SRHR, this study zooms in on strategies that are key strategies in the Theory of Change of the partnership or that came up as priorities in cases of opposition. How have partners implemented these strategies? How did they ‘work’ in different contexts? And how did they hold up in times of crisis? The list with strategies to be included in the study will be finalized with input from partners and the consultant. They may include the following:

1. Working in coalitions/ alliances: In the countries where the partnership operates, diverse groups of CSOs working on youth, SRHR, gender and LGBTQI+ issues work together in coalitions. The assumption is that opposition to SRHR and shrinking civic space can be countered through strategic partnerships and that partners support each other in solidarity when one of them faces counterproductive attacks on our work. However, working on sensitive topics and opposition can also lead to fragmentation and polarisation. Especially when anti-rights movements resort to ‘divide and conquer’ strategies whereby they attack specific topics or organisations. It can also lead to fear and self-censorship among SRHR advocates. What are best practices in dealing with these tensions? How can groups of diverse CSOs effectively organise themselves when they are under attack?
2. Monitoring opposition: The partnership encourages members to actively monitor key opposition figures, their strategies, tactics, messaging, funding sources, activities, and collaborators. Monitoring can reveal new threats or suggest actions to counter opposition to your efforts. Joining relevant networks or subscribing to opposition monitoring newsletters can provide additional insights. The assumption is that by staying informed and connected, you can better prepare and respond to opposition challenges. It is important to learn how CSOs can best integrate opposition monitoring into their systems and how they move from monitoring to taking action, e.g. how they use monitoring data effectively to inform advocacy activities.
3. Preparing for a crisis: Human rights defenders, including CSOs working on SRHR and gender justice are often target of attacks themselves. Partners within the partnership have invested in holistic safety and security measures, paying attention to physical and digital aspects and mental well-being of staff and volunteers. These safety and security measures are one way of being prepared for a crisis. Have these measures help partners become more resilient in times of crisis? What other measures were key to have in place when crisis hit? How did the partnership contribute to this?
4. Building support: Right Here Right Now aims to contribute to building an informed and supportive critical mass that respects the freedom of choice of young people. An important strategy in achieving this is working with key influencers, media and young people. Types of key influencers engaged by partners differ per context and include religious leaders, community influencers, media outlets, school principals, and celebrities. The assumption behind this is that once these actors are imparted with knowledge, they develop positive attitudes towards young people’s SRHR and gender justice, and in turn become willing to take positive action. These actors are chosen as they are different messengers with a variety of audiences. Together they can reach the wider public. What can we learn about how CSOs build partnerships with these different influencers in contexts where civic space is more and more restricted? What evidence is there on effective strategies of working with influencers to build support?

Methods 

The choice of methods will be decided upon in consultation with the consultant and may include:

• Consultations or possibly a survey with RHRN partners to validate the choice of above strategies as being the most relevant and effective ones as well as identifying case studies to include in the research.

• Focused literature reviews for each strategy to identify underlying mechanisms and evidence for their effectiveness that can be tested through primary data collection.

• Interviews or focus group discussions with Right Here Right Now partners and external stakeholders (e.g. IPPFAR, IPAS, journalists/ media persons).

Deliverables

1. Short inception report that contains results and gaps of an initial review of (internal) documents as well as explains the methodology that will be used to fill the gaps, a list of key informant interview and focus group discussion participants, and data collection tools.
2. Concise draft report (30 pages max), including:

• Executive summary (2 pages max) that can be used as a standalone document
• Introduction
• Methodology chapter that includes clear explanations on methods, sampling approaches used for case studies, and that reflects on limitations
• Presentation of findings in an accessible manner
• Conclusions and practical/actionable recommendations regarding
• Appendices: list of literature and documents used; list of study participants; data collection tools used; raw data sets
• An online reflection/validation workshop; including    minutes of the workshop itself

1. 1. Final report in line with above requirements and integrating all feedback
   2. A two-pager with key findings in an appropriate format

1. Budget and timeline
2. The research should be completed by 1 March 2025. The maximum budget available for this assignment -is € 20.000 (inclusive of all taxes). Please note that a cost-benefit analysis is part of the analysis of proposals.
3. Profile of the consultant
4. The ideal candidate will possess a combination of the following experiences, qualities, and characteristics:
5. A recognized university degree and demonstrable work experience in the field of gender, human rights and SRHR, public policy and advocacy, or investigative journalism
6. Demonstrated experience and proficiency in conducting research, including focused literature reviews and qualitative interviews, to explore complex topics and synthesize key findings.
7. Sharing our values on SRHR, meaningful and inclusive participation of young people (MIYP), and inclusivity.
8. Preference for a young person(s) and a person from the Global South.
9. Someone who is a bilingual French/English speaker
10. Someone who values a participatory way of working
11. How to apply 
12. Applications for this role are open until 15 November 2024. Please submit your application by applying to the link on this page.
13. Interested parties should prepare a proposal of no more than ten pages in length, including (all annexes) and following:

• Your individual or institutional skills and background which make you suitable for this assignment.

• Your track record on conducting research in complex multicounty partnerships, with specific attention to SRHR, gender justice and advocacy. If relevant shortlisted candidates will be requested to send 1-2 examples of recent research studies or similar assignments with your application.

• Your understanding of each of the objectives and your suggested methodology for data collection and analysis to address research objectives.

•  In addition to the proposal text, please submit supplementary materials including the following:

• A brief budget and proposed work plan 

1. Interviews are scheduled for the 4th week of November. The successful candidates are expected to be ready to start the assignment from 1 December 2024.