Project: The Global Policy and Solutions (P&S) team is a dynamic team that maximizes the power of the International Rescue Committee’s ideas to solve the biggest challenges facing IRC’s clients across the “arc of crisis.” From combating the drivers of conflict to meeting the needs of displaced people, the team partners with innovative problem solvers, experts, and those with lived experience to identify solutions and bring them to life. We take pride in being solutions-oriented and creative. We are detailed in our goals, tactics, and messages. We lead change year over year, knowing that system change takes dedicated focus while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging global needs. Finally, we are collaborative. We work not only with programs, strategy, research and innovation, and communications teams across the IRC but also externally. We are constantly seeking new ideas and perspectives from others in our sector and beyond.
Within the global P&S Department, the Protection Pathways team works to develop actionable, scalable policy solutions related to pathways to protection, including resettlement, asylum, and integration, for IRC’s clients.
Role: Climate change is among the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. Yet, its impacts on human mobility are largely misunderstood and often misrepresented in media and policy-making spaces, with a tendency toward alarmist rhetoric of an impending “climate refugee” crisis. While some people impacted by climate change are forcibly displaced across borders, other people stay in place and adapt to new climate conditions, move short distances or are internally displaced, or are trapped in place without the resources to move nor adapt.
Migration is multi-causal, and extreme weather compounds existing vulnerabilities. Where climate change interacts with humanitarian crisis, it is accelerating these emergencies. In many of the countries in which IRC works, we are seeing this convergence of climate change and conflict. Sixteen climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries account for less than 10% of the global population, but 60% of all humanitarian need and over 70% of internal displacement. Yet, most people impacted by climate change remain in their own countries, and those who cross international borders are generally not subject to any specific protection related to climate mobility.
Through this fellowship, the Fellow will build upon IRC’s existing climate change agenda by researching the current policy landscape related to climate mobility. The Fellow will perform desk research to scope existing policy debates and current or potential policy solutions to meet the needs of people whose displacement is related to climate change. The Fellow will engage with internal and external stakeholders to better understand the policy environments in which climate displacement and mobility is being debated. The Fellow will review the breadth of current IRC programming to identify any existing programming relevant to this theme. Finally, the Fellow will apply their own analysis to their findings. The Fellow, working closely with Protection Pathways colleagues, will compile their research in an internal brief which will inform the Policy & Solutions team’s next steps in identifying policy solutions related to climate displacement and mobility.
Potential deliverables:
- Policy brief, summarizing policy environment, scoping of internal and external work on this issue, and clear recommendations for future engagement,
- Internal brief including:
- Current policy landscape
- Scoping of existing IRC programming related to climate displacement
- Analysis, discussion, and recommendations
- Internal brief including:
Potential travel involved: Potential travel to one or more IRC programs to interview program staff and/or clients.
Required Skills:
- Excellent qualitative research skills
- Ability to think strategically, synthesize sophisticated information, and develop innovative solutions
- Excellent writing skills and the ability to translate complex material and data into coherent narratives
- Initiative and ability to work independently
Preferred Skills:
- Familiarity with humanitarian aid and refugee issues, particularly refugee resettlement, access to asylum, and refugee integration and inclusion;
- Fluency in a second language, especially Spanish or French
Candidates with lived experience of displacement are strongly encouraged to apply.
Requirements: Students must be a matriculated graduate or Ph.D. student at The New School. Fellows are hired as Research Associates by The New School.
Work Environment: This fellowship will work with the Airbel Impact Lab based in the IRC’s HQ in New York City. While this fellowship is remote, all Fellows must be physically located in the US.
Fellowship Length: This fellowship carries a maximum of 35 hours/week during the summer semester (May 20 – August 25, 2024). Continuation into the Fall 2024 semester (August 26 – December 22, 2024), with a maximum of 20 hours/week during the Fall 2024 semester.
How to apply: The deadline to apply is March 30, 2024. Please submit one PDF document containing a cover letter, CV/resume, and two work samples (writing and/or design portfolio – 5 pages maximum per sample) to Catherine McGahan, McGahanC@newschool.edu, and Nicole Tuszynski, tuszynsn@newschool.edu.
Interviews will be conducted in early April via Zoom.
Team: Airbel Impact Lab, Research and Innovation at the IRC. The Airbel Impact Lab designs, tests, and scales life-changing cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying the IRC’s deep technical expertise and field experience with a range of skills from the behavioral sciences, human-centered design, research, and multi-disciplinary problem-solving in humanitarian contexts, we work to develop breakthrough solutions that combine creativity and rigor, openness and expertise, and a desire to think afresh with the experience of a large-scale implementing organization. Within Airbel, the Best Use of Resources team provides analysis and decision-making support to improve the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of IRC programs.