Project “Strengthened the active participation of women (Jordanians, Syrian Refuges, Youth and Women with Disabilities) with a comprehensive approach

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR Youth-Led Research on Environmental Challenges and Women’s Rights

Project “Strengthened the active participation of women (Jordanians, Syrian Refuges, Youth and Women with Disabilities) with a comprehensive approach to rights in Jordan”, funded by AECID – Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

INTRODUCTION

Alianza por la Solidaridad-ActionAid was born with the vocation of working to achieve a better and more sustainable world for all, regardless of where they were born or where they decided to live. We invest all our work, knowledge, experience, and creativity in defending and advancing global rights in all parts of the world and for all people.

Our work responds to the defense of the rights of migrants, the rights of women around the world, the sustainability of the environment and the defense of the rights of people affected by humanitarian crises. For this, we know that we need to build an informed, critical global citizenship that is eager to get involved in the social changes necessary to achieve a world that puts people and human rights at the center. And we know that advocacy is key to achieving this.

Alianza-AA has been working in Jordan since 2007. The organisation has always collaborated with Jordanian organizations of a strong feminist nature and supported the work of civil society, especially in terms of empowerment and women's rights, prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence, both with Jordanian women and refugees. It is specialized in the detection and care of cases of GBV through clinics and OneStop Centres, training to non-specialized actors for the detection, referral and response to cases of GBV, the application of standard procedures and policies to ensure quality in multisectoral services, training and awareness in GBV and women’s rights, promotion of women leadership and participation, studies, etc.

Project context

These ToR are developed within the framework of the program (hereinafter the Convenio) entitled "Strengthened the active participation of women (Jordanians, Syrian Refugees, Youth and Women with Disabilities - WwD) with a comprehensive approach to rights in Jordan", funded by the Spanish Cooperation – AECID.

Alianza por la Solidaridad-ActionAid is part of a consortium formed by three Spanish NGOs (Alianza-AA, MPDL and NOVACT), of which Movement for Peace – MPDL is the lead, organization for this intervention, along with the local partners: Be Positive; Community Based Rehabilitation Center (CBR); I Dare; and Housewives Association (HSF). The direct local partner of Alianza is HSF.

To contribute to this, Activity A1.4 will engage youth activists from Jordan to design and implement two participatory research projects. These studies will explore the intersection between environmental challenges (including climate change) and women’s rights, such as:

• How climate and environmental changes affect women’s daily lives and rights (e.g., access to resources, health, participation).
• How women and girls contribute to environmental protection and community resilience.
• The role of youth and women’s activism in advancing environmental justice and peace.

Objectives

This initiative provides a learning-by-doing opportunity for young activists to lead their own research projects, supported by Alianza-AA and Liwan mentors. The goal is to:

• Build young people’s knowledge and skills in participatory and feminist research.
• Strengthen their leadership and advocacy capacities.
• Generate evidence and recommendations to inform local action and community awareness on issues linking women’s rights and gender issues with environmental challenges.

Roles and Responsibilities

To ensure smooth implementation and clear coordination, responsibilities will be shared between Liwan Youth Space and Alianza por la Solidaridad-ActionAid (Alianza-AA) as follows:

Selection Process:

Conducted jointly by Liwan and Alianza-AA. Liwan will play a key role in identifying and assessing candidates based on their familiarity with youth groups and local context, while Alianza-AA will ensure alignment with project objectives and criteria.

Capacity Assessment:

• Led by Liwan, given its close engagement with participants and understanding of their capacities and learning needs.

Training and Capacity-Building Design:

• Co-developed by Liwan and Alianza-AA to ensure both contextual relevance and technical quality.

Training Implementation:

• Led by Liwan, utilizing its internal team and network of resource persons. Alianza-AA will provide complementary technical support where needed, either directly or through external experts.

Mentoring and Research Process:

• Liwan will provide continuous, hands-on mentoring to youth researchers throughout all stages of the research process, including topic selection, data collection, and drafting.
• Alianza-AA will provide overall supervision and coordination, including reviewing and approving research outputs and offering targeted technical support when needed.

Coordination and Oversight:

• A focal point from Liwan will ensure day-to-day coordination and communication with Alianza-AA and partners.

Summary of the process

The process of Activity A1.4 involves different steps:

1. Selecting a group of motivated young activists (approximately 6–8 participants), divided into two research teams of 3–4 members each, ensuring diversity in gender, background, and geographic representation. Assessing their shortcomings in the skills needed to design and conduct the research work and providing specific training to remedy these deficiencies. Tentatively, some of the topics that the training module may include are:

• Participatory and feminist research methods
• Ethics in research
• Elaboration of a research paper
• Gender issues and climate change
• Group work in research

1. Participatory selection of the two (2) research topics; 2. Design and implementation of the research process (including literature review, data collection, findings analysis and writing the research paper). This will be mainly held and led by the young activists, with the mentoring of Liwan and the supervision of Alianza-AA; 3. The research outputs will be primarily developed in Arabic to ensure accessibility and full engagement of participants. However, key outputs (including summaries or selected sections) will be translated into English to facilitate review, supervision, and broader dissemination. 4. Presentation of results in a public youth-led event to promote dialogue on gender equality, environmental justice, and community resilience.

Expected Roles of Youth Researchers

Youth who participate will be expected to:

• Actively participate in capacity-building sessions on research design, data collection, analysis, and advocacy.
• Work collaboratively in small teams to design and implement one of the two research projects.
• Conduct interviews, focus groups and/or surveys with community members, women’s groups, and local institutions in an ethical way.
• Analyze findings with guidance from mentors and Alianza-AA.
• Draft a research report and co-create visual or creative materials (e.g., infographics, videos, posters) to present findings.
• Present research results in a dissemination event to an audience of approximately 50 participants, ideally held in a Youth Hub or another youth-friendly venue. If needed, the event can be organized in an external venue supported by the project.
• Document reflections and lessons learned to feed into Alianza-AA’s learning and advocacy efforts.

Benefits

• Exciting learning experience, with the support of experts, while contributing to evidence-based advocacy on Gender and Climate Justice;
• Certificate of participation for those engaged until the end of the process;
• Participants will be engaged through a volunteering agreement and will receive per diems in line with project regulations and budget allocations (estimated at 15 JOD per full working day equivalent), based on their level of engagement and participation.
• Transportation to research areas out of the residence area, if applicable and needed;
• Exposure and possibility to get involved in other activities od the organization or project partners.

REQUIREMENTS & SELECTION PROCESS

We are looking for motivated youth activists who are passionate about environmental and gender justice, and who wish to strengthen their leadership in community action and research.

Profile requirement

• Age: 18–30 years old.
• Nationality / Residency: Open to Jordanian and refugee youth residing in Amman, Zarqa, or Mafraq.
• Commitment: Able to dedicate approx. 6–8 hours per week during the activity period (estimated 6 months maximum; 240h in total).
• Interest: Demonstrated interest in environmental protection, women’s rights, peacebuilding, or community work.
• Education: Background in any of the following fields is desirable but not required:
- Environmental sciences, climate studies - Social sciences, gender studies, peace and conflict studies - Media, communications, or community development
• Skills (desirable but not mandatory):
- Good communication and teamwork skills. - Curiosity and openness to learn research and advocacy techniques. - Basic writing or digital documentation skills (e.g., note-taking, photo/video, social media). - Good command of English is desirable. While the research outputs will be primarily developed in Arabic to ensure accessibility and full engagement of participants, key sections and summaries will be translated into English to support supervision, quality assurance, and broader dissemination.
• Experience volunteering or engaging in youth/community initiatives.

Special encouragement:

Applications are strongly encouraged from:

• Young women and girls interested in activism and community leadership.
• Youth with disabilities wish to explore inclusion and environmental issues.
• Refugee youth who want to highlight environmental and gender challenges in their communities.

Application process

All applications should be submitted by (2 weeks after the posting date). Please send your application to Ari.jobs@actionaid.org subject line: "Green Research Volunteer - \[Your Name\]".

Pre-selected candidates may be requested to have an interview.

“Alianza por la Solidaridad (the Spanish member of ActionAid International) is committed to preventing any kind of unwanted behavior at work, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and/or financial misconduct. We expect all our staff, volunteers, suppliers and partners to share this commitment and adhere to our code of conduct, as well as other policies related to and approved by the organization. Only those who share our values and code of conduct will be selected to work with us”