HRC Starts New Consultancy Research with Oxfam on Local Advocacy and Negotiation on Protection

Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC) is starting a new project on Local Advocacy and Negotiation on Protection funded by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECTO), commissioned by Oxfam and conducted by HRC. The study will focus on the protection advocacy and negotiation among community-based protection groups in five target countries experiencing armed conflict, violence, human rights violations, and/or mass displacement and where the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) is active.

This project aims to build a greater understanding and evidence of protection advocacy, negotiation and influencing with duty bearers and armed actors by community-based actors for greater protection at local levels. This piece of study will contribute to the overarching objectives, which are building the capacity of stakeholders at local, national, and international levels in relation to collective protection advocacy, and contributing to the development of a more equitable, inclusive, and effective humanitarian protection system.

To achieve the above mentioned, the HRC team will conduct a) mapping of types of community structures that carry out protection advocacy and identify the intersection of local actors’ advocacy activities with humanitarian structures, and b) develop key recommendations for international humanitarian actors, in particular, protect clusters, in bridging gaps, strengthening coordination, fostering partnerships with local actors, and supporting effective community-based protection advocacy and influencing. Informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) will be carried out in each target country, as well as a minimum of six case studies on community-based protection groups and other relevant local stakeholders.

A focus on gender and intersectionality will be a core element of the work of this study. Feminist principles will inform every step of the research, and the HRC will ensure the gender balance of both the researchers in the team and the participants representing different types of stakeholders in the research. The team also expects the analysis to endeavour to account for how gender intersects with sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religion, educational attainment, and social class, wherever possible.