Terms of Reference for Subject Matter Expert / Trainer to Document Human Rights Violations Through a Feminist Lens

1.0 About ActionAid International Kenya

ActionAid InternationalKenya is a non-partisan, non-religious development organization that has been working in Kenya since 1972 to end poverty and injustices. ActionAid Kenya is among the leading anti-poverty agencies in Kenya having presence in 16 counties working directly with over one million people living in poverty and exclusion.

We are un-apologetic in advancing Women’s Rights and ensuring that Women Living in Poverty and Exclusion are at the center of our work. AAK commit to work with Women, Children and Youth living in poverty and exclusion to claim and realize their constitutional rights through working within three main pillars of Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA); empowerment, solidarity, and campaigning.

AAIK is committed to undertaking all its work in a manner which promotes inclusivity, benefit sharing, non-exploitation, and nondiscrimination at all levels. In implementing her work, AAIK is guided with feminism principles and good environmental practices which do not violate or abuse human and environmental rights. All persons undertaking any work with AAIK must always adhere to these safeguards during their assignments.

2.0 Background of the task

Multinational companies often manage to avoid any consequences for pollution, land grabbing, exploitation of workers, violence against human rights defenders and other misconduct linked to their activities. The current global economic system prioritizes private profit of (transnational) corporations (TNCs) over wellbeing of people and the environment. This system is intrinsically linked with corporate impunity for human and environmental rights violations. Women and their communities continue to face land grabbing, environmental damages and pollution, and labour rights abuses. Due to existing inequalities and structural discrimination, women are impacted in differentiated ways by these abuses such as an increased workload and burden of care for their families or sexual and gender abuses.

Unfortunately, access to justice remains as difficult as it ever was due to the non-binding character of the current existing voluntary international standards on Business and Human Rights. It has been almost impossible for women and their communities to hold transnational corporations to account and ensure access to remedy. In June 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 26/9 on the elaboration of an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations (TNCs) and other business enterprises with respect to human rights.

Such a legally binding instrument is essential to end corporate impunity and address the power of TNCs which has reached unprecedented impacts on affected communities.

It should be noted that TNCs systematically put profits before the environment and people’s rights. Many TNCs are richer and more powerful than the states that should be regulating them in public interest and too often big business captures political decision-making spaces and processes, and in so doing shape policies to suit their interests. In most developing nations, businesses are too well protected and rarely held to account for their abuses.

There has been a slow pace in the actualization of a legally binding instrument on TNCs since the idea was mooted in 2014. In UN and government processes across the world, there has been reluctance to constructively engage in the human rights treaties process further depicting that corporate power is interwoven in the current neo-liberal model, and thus the genesis of establishing the UN Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights.

In Kenya, the impact of TNCs continues to be felt especially in the large-scale acquisition of land for purposes of investment. For instance, a total of 24 deals in Kenya at different stages of negotiation. Of these, 14 deals have been concluded, nine of which are through lease or concessions. Prior illustrations of land deals included foreign acquisitions (e.g., Dominion farms), a government economic policy focusing on mega infrastructure projects has been driving a much higher pace of land acquisitions either for primary infrastructure, or for the economic activities that flowed from the primary infrastructure as well as concessions for TNCs investing in the country.

This piece of work will focus on the Teita Sisal Ltd, in Taita Taveta County to document the violations that the community around have been exposed to and eventually be part of a three country joint documentations which will be exhibited or shared in the next UN Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights meeting.

3.0 Call for expression of interest

AAIK would like to engage an external person to document the violations for a short-term period through the development of a report with a feminist lens to the human rights abuses, indicate their impacts and recommend remedies for them.

3.1 Role of the Expert

Under the overall supervision of the Programme Coordinator – Resilient, Livelihoods and Emergencies, the documenter will assist in responding to the following issues:

• The nature of the business activities at Teita Sisal Ltd and general adverse impacts to the community.

• Clearly indicate the gendered impacts women are experiencing because of human rights and environmental violations due to the corporate conduct of the said investor.

• Indicate the social and cultural violations being experienced by the migrant workers employment in Teita Sisal Ltd.

• Indicate national policies, legislations and regulations in place that govern the business activities of the corporation in this case. Also include continental (trade) legislations that regulate TNCs.

• The community (women) actions to hold the Teita Sisal Ltd accountable clearly delimiting targets for the actions. Attendant document the past and current as well as make recommendations for future actions?

• Identify the similarities and differences of the impacts in terms of gender comparing the different case studies across geographical zones, sectors, and contexts?

• The remedies at national, regional, and international levels actors ought to undertake to address the adverse gendered impacts of corporate conduct and ensure access to justice.

3.2 Expected Deliverables

• Develop the report with a gender lens with emphasis on feminism to the violations enumerated. • Conduct a gender impact assessment. • Gender responsive remedies for the violations. • Provide video and still photo documentation captured during the field exercise.

3.3 Required expertise

The person should possess the following attributes:

• A background in gender programming and/or trade especially international investment and economics.
• Wide knowledge on human rights and the attendant legislative frameworks.
• Knowledge and expertise in documenting human rights violations and deep knowledge of women rights’ violation issues.
• A good understanding of labour (worker) rights in Kenya and regionally
• A good understanding of the Kenya labour and employment laws.
• Familiarity with the various good practices of corporates in the same field.
• A good understanding of the Kenya’s communities’ culture in relation to ancestral “home”.
• Solid social action research and analytical skills.
• A good understanding of gender lens within the work environments and policies
• Ability to take quality videos and well captioned still photographs
• Ability to edit and interpret the interviews captured in video into English