Ensuring Protection in Digital Accommodation Platforms

Terms of Reference – Ensuring Protection in Digital Accommodation Platforms

1. Background / Context

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organisation with 75 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and provides assistance within shelter and settlements, education, livelihoods and food security, information counselling and legal assistance, and water, sanitation and hygiene as well as protection. We work in crises across 31 countries, where we help save lives and rebuild futures. In 2020 we assisted more than 11 million people.

The new Protection from Violence Core Competency focuses on specialised violence prevention and response efforts. It includes activities such as case management, individual protection assistance, humanitarian mediation and support to civilian self-protection. It also includes activities related to site management.

NRC’s Shelter and Settlement Core Competency has a long-standing history of providing emergency shelter and longer-term solutions in protracted crises for those who have lost their home. Ensuring people are housed in a safe, healthy and dignified location is an essential aspect of our programming.

In recent years, the sector has seen the introduction of digital accommodation platforms offering alternative, temporary shelter arrangements for displaced families. Experience from the recent conflict in Ukraine shows that many families self-referred to digital accommodation platforms for hotels and, local short term rental companies. And these platforms actively sought to connect with vulnerable families to offer free or subsidised accommodation.

This development brings several opportunities to contribute to protection outcomes for these displaced families. It expands the pool of shelter options, enabling more families to find temporary accommodation; and the digital platforms offer a faster, more efficient way to connect with vulnerable people who might need additional help. It also brings new risks, including introducing potentially unsafe accommodation or exposing families to exploitative arrangements. Many families will also bypass traditional displacement management identification and referral systems, resulting in missed opportunities to connect families with other social and protective services. Self-referral models both recognise and honour the agency of displaced people. They also introduce potential inequities, as we know many of the most vulnerable families lack the capacities or resources to access services, including digital shelter platforms, without assistance.

2. Objective

To document early learning on the use of digital accommodation platforms as a shelter option for displaced people and to provide indicative guidance for country teams on when and how to design integrated shelter and protection from violence programs, taking into account our safe and inclusive programming obligations.

3. Outputs

The consultant will be expected to:

• Undertake a light learning exercise to document recent experiences in 2-3 country contexts
• Draft a framing paper outlining how digital accommodation platforms can play a role in shelter and protection from violence programming, including outlining key opportunities, risks and considerations for NRC teams.
• Develop an options paper which outlines possible integrated program models and guidance on when and how each could be considered.

4. Management

The consultancy will be jointly managed by the Global Leads for Shelter and Settlements; and Protection from Violence. A steering group will also be established, including the Global Leads for Safe and Inclusive Programming, ICLA and Digital, and representatives from regional and country offices.

5. Timeline and Deliverables

The consultancy is expected to take place over a period of 20 days between May and September 2022.

Initial desk research, including reviews of program documents, evaluations, and assessments – 4 days

Facilitate a 1-day learning exercise (online) – 3 days

Draft framing paper – 5 days

Draft options paper- 4 days

Final framing paper and options paper – 3 days

Presentations to management and global leads forum – 1 days