Indigenous Peoples, Social Inclusion and Community Development Expert (IC)

Description of the Assignment: Despite the landmark passage of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), many Indigenous CulturalCommunities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) continue to experience poverty, marginalization, and limited accessto basic services and decision-making spaces. Women and girls remain disproportionately excluded due toentrenched sociocultural and institutional barriers that limit their leadership, control over and resources, andaccess to finance, training, digital tools, and economic opportunities. I-LEAD seeks to address these challengesby ‘affirming and strengthening the rights and leadership capacities of at least 1,600 indigenous women andgirls across four ancestral domains of Regions XI and XII in Mindanao by 2030, through improved access toinformation, decision-making spaces, economic opportunities, and leadership roles within their ancestraldomains’.I-LEADs Theory of Change posits that ‘if indigenous women and girls are equipped with the capacities, skills,and platforms to understand, assert, and exercise their rights, and if ancestral domain governance structures,national and local duty-bearers, and development partners adopt gender-responsive—inclusive-- and rights-basedservice delivery models, then indigenous women and girls will be positioned to meaningfully participatein governance and decision-making, access improved services, and engage in economic activities aligned withtheir cultural values and environmental realities’.With support from the Government of New Zealand and in partnership with the National Commission onIndigenous Peoples (NCIP), the Project will be implemented through three interlinked components:1. Strengthening Ancestral Domain Governance with Human Rights and Gender Perspectives;2. Promoting Gender-Equitable and Culturally Appropriate Economic Empowerment; and3. Enhancing the Capacity of the NCIP and other Stakeholders on Human Rights-Based, Gender Responsive,and Culturally Appropriate Policy Development and Know