Consultancy for Developing a Safety and Security Plan for IPPF Movement Accelerator Platform

About IPPF

IPPF envisions a world free of discrimination, in which all people are free to make choices about their sexuality and well-being. Consequently, IPPF is working, including through the movement accelerator, towards a locally owned, globally connected civil society movement that nurtures and protects this vision.

About the Movement Accelerator

The IPPF M**ovement Accelerator Platform (MAP)** comprises three learning centres that focus on social movements, strategic, values-based communications and campaigns: as well as countering opposition to gender, equality and women’s rights.

The work of the centres is focused on social norm change, to complement the already strong policy and legal norm change work through IPPF’s advocacy programming. The three centres provide thought leadership, with a focus on country level innovation and learning with the aim of improving practice and implementation in the three areas.

▪ The S**ocial Movements Centre** is hosted by the Association Marocaine pour le Planification Familiale (AMPF) in Morocco. The centre seeks to improve understanding of social movements within the Federation. It also explores ways that member associations can better support and engage with national social movements for a more lasting impact on social justice issues, particularly gender, equality, SRHR, women rights and youth movements. As a result, the social movements are expected to improve their capacity to mobilise and coordinate, for greater public support, solidarity and impact.

▪ The Countering the Opposition Centre is hosted by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF). The centre leads work around increasing understanding of the opposition to gender, equality and SRHR at different levels.

▪ The Winning Narratives Centre is hosted by the IPPF European Network office. The centre uses technologies such as social media to reach a broader segment of the general public to understand and support the gender equality and SRHR shared agenda of the movement.

Background

The movement accelerator has provided small grants to member associations, social movements and other external partners that will contribute to social change in their countries, using the methods outlined above. These grantees often operate in challenging environments, where actors mobilizing for progressive change may face harassment, defamation, threats, and violence from state and non-state actors. What’s more, many MAP grantees will mobilize to advance change in areas that face powerful opposition from the public up to state- level actors and are therefore at risk of persecution for their work.

As a result, the Movement Accelerator’s staff has identified the need to develop the understanding of safety and security as it relates to MAP staff, IPPF as an organisation, and, most importantly, MAP grantees. We would like to gain a basic understanding of security so that we are better placed to understand grantees’ safety and security (S&S) needs so we can support them through project delivery and ultimately benefit the whole Federation.

We wish to identify the capacity building needs that will ensure that each member of the MAP team has sufficient knowledge and understanding of safety and security to accompany grantees to become more safe and secure as activists, movements, and organisations. We also aim at developing a S&S plan that will allow MAP team to provide support and coordination for the development and implementation of national S&S plans for its grantees.

Also, the three MAP centres are at different stages in their development journey, where some centres have a strong base of activists and social movements that they have worked and engage with for years, while other centres are starting their journey for engaging and supporting activists and social movements.

Target groups:

• Primary target group: MAP staff.
• Secondary target group:
• Human rights defenders / Activists;
• Social Movements members;
• CSOs who are members of the community of practice

Purpose of the consultancy

we are seeking to develop a MAP Safety and Security Plan that will capture the various needs and realities of different centres, within a collaborative framework. A plan that will make it possible to build a roadmap for a comprehensive S&S plan, as well as act as a guide for MAP staff to coordinate and support grantees to develop and implement their S&S national plans.

Objectives of the consultancy

1) To conduct a desk reviewⁱⁱ and provide MAP staff with an overview of relevant existing S&S models, their key characteristics, as well as the key elements of S&S that we should take in consideration to be able to work with funded organizations;

2) To provide MAP with recommendations based upon an analysis on how the MAP operates and S&S needs of MAP grantees (as identified by MAP team and through discrete number of interviews conducted by the consultant with selected grantees), and make sure such findings are articulated in

the developed plan towards the end of this consultancy;

3) Incorporating points 1 and 2 to develop a S&S plan that will lead MAP towards supporting its grantees in developing their national S&S plans, taking a holistic security approach in consideration;

4) To assess and identify MAP staff’s capacity needs, and any potential training objectives, that will allow them to support the grantees in developing and implementing their national S&S plans.

Scope of work

The Consultancy is to be carried out by the Consultant as an individual or as a part of a team. MAP envisions the assignment carried out by a consultant or consultancy team, with international and local experience preferably within the advocacy and SRH sector. The scope of work of the Consultant/s include the following activities:

1) To provide digital safety and security guidance to the MAP team.

2) To assess digital platforms currently used by MAP and provide suggestions of alternative safe and secure platforms and communication channels, whenever needed.

3) To develop a brief inception report containing key findings of the desk review, and proposing the methodology and work plan for the consultancy, as well as the tools (agendas and lists of questions) that would guide the meetings and the plan development process. The report is to be presented to the MAP S&S team for discussion and approval. The proposed methodology should provide a comprehensive, inclusive and participatory working approach.

4) To assess MAP’s existing capacities in terms of S&S and learn more about the possible ways of implementing a successful S&S plan, taking in consideration the available capacities and resources, as well as the different needs of MAP’s different centres. This assessment should also feed into both a training plan and electing management, coordination, and implementation pathways to the S&S plan through the MAP teams/centres.

5) To conduct meetings with all three MAP centres, as well as a selected number of grantees supported by each centre. The idea is to better understand MAP’s context and S&S realities of priority grantees they are working with and to ensure the MAP S&S plan intersects with their strategies and ways of working.

6) To conduct a mapping of experts who can support MAP in different areas of its S&S plan (training needs, holistic S&S approach, grantees’ support at the national level, etc.). This mapping should build on already collected information by MAP.

7) This consultancy focuses mainly on creating a plan for MAP to manage, coordinate and support S&S work of its grantees that will take place mainly at the national level. However, the consultant/s should give guidance to MAP on how to manage S&S work of grantees who do not have available national resources to create and implement their plans at the national level. For achieving this, the consultant/s will develop a two-pager with guidance on general S&S considerations for grantees who do not have the resources to contract a S&S expert at the national level. Overall, S&S MAP plan should take in consideration the diversity of grantees’ S&S capacities and abilities to implement S&S plans at the national level.

8) To develop a final consultancy draft report accompanied by recommendations for next steps to roll the plan out. The report to be finalized and approved with the MAP S&S team.

Note: These suggested activities are preliminary and can be adapted by the consultant/s, if needed, after discussion with and approval of the MAP S&S team.

Outputs and timeline

1. Brief concept report containing desk review findings, methodology and work plan – 25 September 2021
2. Agendas and lists of questions for guiding the meetings with MAP staff, grantees and other identified partners – 30 September 2021
3. First draft of MAP S&S plan and implementation strategies – 30 October 2021
4. Final MAP S&S plan and recommendation on next steps to roll it out – 10 November 2021

The Consultant’s profile Required:

Knowledge and skills:

• Proven understanding and knowledge of safety and security for social movements and Human Rights Defenders, more specifically the Holistic Security Approach;
• Strong knowledge of a range of human rights issues, to include approaches and techniques to address safety and security issues of grassroots organizations, social movements and INGOs;
• Good understanding of power dynamics and global politics around gender, LGBTIQA+ and women’s rights;
• Demonstrated knowledge of the shrinking Civic Space;
• Demonstrate knowledge of key principles of confidentiality, dignity of human rights defenders, do-no- harm in the course of carrying out the assignment activities;
• Excellent communication skills and networking experience;
• Proven ability to work independently and remotely with a multicultural team based in different countries;
• Outstanding written and spoken English.

Experience:

• Proven and strong experience in supporting and accompanying grassroots organizations, social movements, activists and INGOs in developing and implementing safety and security plans/strategies;
• Proven experience with feminist organizing, horizontal organizing, and non-profit work in the Global South;
• Proven and substantive experience in designing and developing security plans, protocols and strategies in relation to safety and protection of Human Rights defenders generally;
• Experience in developing processes and plans through inclusive and participatory approaches.

Personal qualities:

• Possess excellent team spirit and be able to work in a multicultural environment;
• Commitment to AMPF, Social Movements Centre and IPPF mission and principles;
• Highly organised and efficient, with strong attention to detail;
• Comfortable working independently & managing own workload to tight deadlines;
• Ability to innovate and experiment different tactics, as well as flexibility in improving and updating strategies based on the learning and data collected and analysed.

Desirable:

• Fluency in a third language (French, Arabic, English or Spanish);
• Experience working in a SRHR global approach;
• Experience and knowledge specifically in digital security strategies and tools.