Research Consultancy Civic Space Study

• Background information

Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

NCA implements humanitarian, development, and peace-building programmes both directly and through local partners. NCA aims to deliver results through a holistic approach, including preparedness and resilience in long-term development programmes and protracted crises, strengthening transition to early recovery in humanitarian responses, and addressing structural inhibiters to solutions.

Localization of Humanitarian action and space for civic action

Following the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, there has been a growing momentum behind to make humanitarian action “as local as possible and as international as necessary”. However, implementation of this “localization agenda” raises many questions, including the effects that taking on a greater role within the international humanitarian system may have on the actors who are expected to fulfil the “local as possible” side of the equation.

There has long been concern within the humanitarian community about shrinking “space” for humanitarian action. In parallel, the space for civil society is also under threat; monitoring of civic rights shows a year-on-year decrease of space to exercise fundamental freedoms, and faith networks report that “the work of civil society organizations (CSOs) is becoming increasingly dangerous.”

However, there is currently relatively little consideration for how these trends connect. As noted by Kristina Roepstorff: “since local NGOs are deeply embedded in the respective civil society of their country, a shrinking civic space naturally also affects their ability to manoeuvre within the humanitarian space.” Therefore, if these connections are not evaluated and accounted for, “the humanitarian sector runs the risk of pushing for localisation in contexts where there is limited room for local actors to provide life-saving services – thus making any effort for localisation futile or even counter-productive.”

Local civil society actors who take on a humanitarian role may even find it puts all their actions at greater risk. An ICVA review has found that humanitarian crises may precipitate a further decline in the space available for CSOs, when they “add a layer of complication to the underlying, pre-crisis, civic space, through enactment of new NGO laws and regulations, often deteriorating state-civil society relations, and a general decreasing quality of the operating environment for NGOs.”

Finally, while multi-mandate international NGOs have long grappled with how to reconcile their role as a development actor engaged in the inherently political arena of development cooperation with that of a humanitarian actor expected to adhere to the principles of neutrality and independence, many in the international system believe that adherence to humanitarian principles is a much greater challenge for local organizations due to their inherently more “political” nature. A Feinstein Center report concluded that this perception is “a broad generalization without strong evidence behind it” yet noted that this assumption is widespread. Since the humanitarian principles are often — though not always — assumed to be closely linked to the preservation of humanitarian space (particularly when “space” is correlated with “access”, this discourse must also be further untangled.

• contract purpose and Expected results

Overall objective:

The overall objective of the project is to explore on the effects of localisation of humanitarian aid on civic space for local actors.

Purpose:

The purpose of this contract is to conduct primary research on the topic and produce a report that includes concrete conclusions and recommendations to relevant actors.

• Scope of the Services

This is an external consultancy focusing on producing a report documenting the interconnectedness of humanitarian and broader civic space, particularly from the perspective of humanitarian actors rooted in affected communities, and what the implications are for localizing the delivery of humanitarian action. The work will be supervised by NCA’s Humanitarian Policy and Peacebuilding advisors at NCA Head Office.

The report should provide answers to the following draft research questions (the questions below may be modified by agreement between the consultant and the Research Team for this project):

• Have local civil society actors implementing humanitarian action experienced impacts on their general operational space and exposure to risks (positive or negative)?
• To what extent do local civil society actors implementing humanitarian action consider these activities as connected to or distinct from other work they do?
• To what extent are humanitarian principles considered relevant to maintaining space?
• To what extent are any space restrictions faced by local CSOs different from those of international actors?
• How can international “intermediaries” better support local CSOs to maintain space for their humanitarian actions as well as their broader work?

Methodology for this study is expected to include a desk review of relevant background literature, collection and analysis of relevant secondary information sources, and primary research, including, e.g., key informant interviews in selected countries and collection/mapping of internal information from NCA country offices and their national partners. A full methodology is to be developed by the consultant as part of the inception report, in line with NCA guidance, and approved by the Steering Group for this project.

The consultant shall commit to protect the rights and confidentiality of informants and abide by “do no harm” principles. Data and information collected during the assignment will be used for the purpose of the assignment only and handed over to NCA once the assignment is completed.