Project Description
The Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA) program is a flagship initiative and one of its core competencies. This specialized legal protection program supports displaced and conflict-affected individuals by providing legal aid. ICLA also emphasizes building local capacity and advocating for systemic change, enabling individuals to claim their rights and seek justice for violations. Currently, the ICLA program operates across 40 NRC country offices worldwide.
The ICLA program’s design is based on three foundational building blocks: capacity development, legal empowerment, and advocacy. As a central element of ICLA’s Global Development Strategy (2022–2025), advocacy is as a key priority playing an integral role in addressing barriers to enjoying rights for vulnerable groups. It aims to influence positive change in behaviour and legal frameworks at state, regional, and global levels. Advocacy, however, is the most important ICLA action that no one knows about, due to lack of systematic measurement, reporting and organisational architecture that does not directly promote it.
In 2024, NRC commissioned IRMA to conduct an Evidence Mapping to analyze ICLA’s advocacy efforts. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding of how advocacy is integrated into ICLA programming and identify opportunities for improvement. By compiling and mapping evidence, the study sought to:
- Highlight the coverage and range of advocacy interventions.
- Contribute to enhancements in resource allocation and strategic planning.
- Point to improvements needed in the measurement and reporting of advocacy outcomes.
- Support the achievement of long-term results.
The study focused on two key research questions:
- To what extent, where, and how is NRC/ICLA engaged in advocacy? How effective have these engagements been? This was examined through global literature and insights from three case studies.
- What is the nature of ICLA’s advocacy efforts, and how can the program improve its use and measurement of advocacy?
The research employed a structured, exploratory, and non-experimental design using mixed methods composed of qualitative (conducting exploratory interviews with key stakeholders and coding text inside documents) and quantitative (comparing the frequencies of codes across the document and data sets) approaches. It used three country Case Studies (Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan) to add insights and explanations from the ICLA chosen sample.
The study team analyzed 352 documents, including materials from ICLA’s Core Competency (CC) framework. Key ICLA stakeholders at the headquarters level and case study informants contributed through interviews and collaborative discussions. Insights from 15 interviewees, conducted as part of a parallel ICLA strategic review, were also incorporated. To ensure actionable outcomes, a “data party” was organized with ICLA Global and Regional Advisors. This interactive session facilitated the interpretation of findings and the development of practical recommendations.
IRMA’s team for this assignment was Lezlie Morinière and Isimbi Sebageni, with Marilise Turnbull in an advisory capacity.