Consultancy: RootsLab Narrative Research

Terms of Reference

RootsLab Narrative Research

Introduction

Roots Lab is a collaborative pilot project by FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Global Fund for Women, Oxfam and Young Foundation that seeks to test how best to incubate social change driven by young women activists.

Oxfam in Lebanon is looking to hire a Consultant (individual/team) to conduct a narrative research piece that builds on the work and results of the RootsLab pilot project.

Project Background

FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Global Fund for Women, Oxfam and the Young Foundation have joined together to adapt a potentially game-changing approach to advance young women's rights, leadership and collective action. The project responds to the fact that deep-rooted gender inequality prevents millions of young women from making choices about and taking control of their own lives. Yet not enough resources go to young women directly to help them address, innovate around and combat these challenges. We believe young women activists are best placed to imagine and develop impactful solutions in their communities, but they often lack the opportunity and support to do so. Young women often lack the connections across sectors, financial resources, professional skills, networks necessary to develop their ideas, scale their projects, and access mentoring and coaching support.

RootsLab seeks to tackle these challenges through offering a space for collective problem solving, and a structured support process to develop and test prototypes for new and exciting interventions. It provides formal linkages with women’s rights and feminist groups, tangible resources, key partnerships and support in targeted strategies for engagement, community mobilization, advocacy and communications.

Purpose of the Research

The narrative research aims to contribute to knowledge around supporting feminist activism and movement building. It will capture learning from the RootsLab Lebanon pilot, through the stories of women and trans activists who are taking part in the journey as well as others involved in the project. The research will follow the RootsLab journey throughout its different phases, as experienced by the activists themselves, project team members, and other resource people (trainers, mentors, etc.)

This will involve examining existing structures in relation to access to resources for and support to young women and trans activists, barriers to and enablers of young feminist activism, and possibly the issues addressed by initiatives.

The researchers will be guided by the pilot’s core learning objectives and feminist principles and will work closely with the RootsLab Project Management and PMEAL (Partnerships, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Teams.

Methodology

The aim of this activity is to produce a feminist research piece – feminist in its process, methodology, tools, approach, analyses and contribution to knowledge – in line with RootsLab’s principles.

The research team is expected to design a methodology and tools, together with the RootsLab project team. As a minimal requirement, the researchers should integrate the following concepts into the methodology:

• A feminist approach, which entails establishing a more equal relationship between the research team, the project team and the activist teams. It is also essential to examine assumptions and biases in designing data collection tools and methods and to challenge power dynamics involved in the research process.  An intersectional lens must be added to the methodology and analysis, taking into account the diversity of RootsLab’s activist teams. Finally, RootsLab’s activists would participate in collecting their own stories, rather than becoming research subjects.

• A narrative or storytelling approach, which involves capturing the stories of the teams and their experience of the RootsLab journey, through which the learning questions below will be answered. It is suggested that the approach mixes individual storytelling with a collective or sense-making approach, to allow people involved to reflect on shared meanings, explore discrepancies in personal and collective stories, and to reflect as a group on their stories and experiences.

Methods and tools are flexible as per the research team’s area of expertise and proficiencies, and could potentially include digital storytelling or other visual data collection tools.

Learning Questions

The research will be guided by the following learning questions:

Learning Question 1: What tools, resources and support systems do young women and trans people need to enable their activism and innovation?

Learning Question 2: What types of spaces, linkages and connections enable collaborations amongst young women and trans people to advance their rights?

Learning Question 3: What types of spaces, linkages and connections enable collaborations across sectors to advance gender justice?

Target Audience

This piece of research will aim to build knowledge around how best to support feminist activism. Therefore, it will serve to open a space for local activists to share learning - and examples of powerful change – with audiences inside and outside of Lebanon, specifically local and international stakeholders working on gender justice. It will also highlight the issues and activism of young women and trans activists working in Lebanon today.

The research could be used to inform gender programming and make the case for more and better resources geared towards feminist innovation.

Task                                           Role                                            Proposed Deadline

Research proposal                     Consultants                                 End of May 2018

Review and Feedback on Methodology                                         RL Team           First week of June 2018

Finalized Methodology               Both                                             Second week of June 2018

Develop Tools                            Consultants                                 Second week of June 2018

Review and Feedback on Tools RL Team                                     Third week of June 2018

Finalized Tools                           Both                                             End of June 2018

Data Collection                           Consultants/RL Team (support) Ongoing – until end of December

Draft Product(s)                          Consultants                                 Second week of January 2019

Product(s) review and feedback RL Team                                     Third week of January 2019

Final Product(s)                          Consultants                                 End of January 2019

• The final product(s) will take the form of a research report and possibly of communication products. The exact format of the final product(s) will be agreed upon with RootsLab’s project team and will depend on the tools and methodology adopted, and to the type of data collected.

• Raw media/footage/notes/data of interviews and data collection exercises with project participants and team will be delivered according to an agreed schedule.

• The research process is expected to start as early as possible, and no later than 31 May 2018.

• Story collection will be intermittent and exact dates, if needed, will be determined in coordination with the Project Manager based on the project’s timeline.

• The final product(s) will be delivered by 31 January 2019.

Key Competencies

• Proven research skills
• Experience in conducting research related to feminism or gender justice issues
• Experience in narrative research methods and/or storytelling
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Knowledge of feminist and gender justice issues in Lebanon
• Proven commitment to the advancement of gender justice in Lebanon and the Middle East
• Previous involvement in feminist initiatives and/or social activism in Lebanon (Preferred)

Language

Fluency in Arabic and English

Working Conditions

• The consultants are expected to carry out the duties within the timeframe of the contract.
• Should individual consultants be selected to perform separate parts of the work, they may be asked to work as a team. It is preferred that consultants apply as teams where possible.
• Flexibility to visit the participants in different areas of Lebanon is required.
• RootsLab’s project team will feed into the design of the methodology and tools, as well as the final product
• The Consultants will follow data protection guidelines shared by RootsLab’s project team. RootsLab Lebanon maintains ownership of the data collected and material produced as a result of this assignment.

Interested individuals, firms or teams must submit their proposals, in two sections (i) Technical Proposal and (ii) Financial proposal. Proposals should be received by the deadline, May 20, 2018 to Lebanonjobs@oxfam.org.uk.

The Technical proposal should include:

• A methodology for achieving the above objectives and deliverables;
• A detailed work plan, in-line with the timeline section above, including number of days;
• The Curriculum Vitae for all experts on the consultancy team;
• List of previous experiences that are similar and/or relevant to this consultancy in terms of type and scale;
• Samples of previous work;
• Any other supporting documents.

The Financial proposal should include a general budget and breakdown.