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Lived Experience Fellowship

Stateless persons experience several structural barriers to meaningfully participate in initiatives and programs that aim to address their lives. In many countries in the Asia Pacific, stateless persons are not even recognized as stateless people, and in most countries, stateless people cannot register organizations, seek formal employment, open bank accounts, buy sim cards, get access to healthcare, among others. 

This fight for change is often led without meaningful participation of those who are impacted by these laws and policies. This could be for several reasons, including structural barriers to access spaces or  security and safety issues for stateless persons to participate in advocacy and change-making interventions. Due to the impact of statelessness and other compounding factors that cause statelessness, impacted persons are deprived of the opportunity to receive the required training, mentorship, and guidance to participate in the civil society space. In lieu of this, CSOs need to make a concerted push in dismantling pre-existing structures that exclude the involvement of those who are impacted and facilitate the engagement of those who have lived experience to lead the fight against statelessness. 

As part of SDCC’s goal to strengthen the leadership of people with lived experience of statelessness, the Lived Experience Fellowships have been conceived that would allow impacted persons, who have not had a chance to work within this field, to gain valuable experience of working in a civil society organization and benefit from the guidance and mentorship support to build a professional career in this field. 

Goals
  • Immediate Goal – Provide opportunities for persons with lived experience of statelessness to receive training, guidance, and mentorship to build a career in the statelessness field
  • Long-term Goal – Strengthen the capacity of persons impacted by statelessness and ensure meaningful, dignified, and direct involvement of impacted persons in decision-making on statelessness in the Asia Pacific.
Objectives
  1. Capacity Building: Equip stateless persons, formerly stateless persons, and those affected by discriminatory nationality laws with professional skills, mentorship, and experience in civil society organizations.
  2. Leadership Development: Develop leadership potential among persons with lived experience of statelessness by facilitating their direct involvement in advocacy, research, communications, and organizational development.
  3. Inclusivity in Advocacy: Promote the meaningful and dignified participation of stateless individuals in initiatives aimed at addressing statelessness in the Asia Pacific.
  4. Systemic Change: Challenge and dismantle structural barriers that prevent stateless individuals from participating in civil society and policy-making spaces.
Expected Outcomes
  1. Enhanced Professional Skills: Fellows gain practical experience and professional development in areas such as research, social media, fundraising, and organizational work.
  2. Increased Representation: Fellows begin to take on active roles within civil society organizations, contributing their lived experience to advocacy efforts and organizational strategies.
  3. Strengthened Networks: Fellows establish connections with CSOs, mentors, and peers across the region, laying the foundation for continued engagement and collaboration in the statelessness field.
  4. Tailored Mentorship and Guidance: Fellows receive individualized support from Host Organizations, allowing them to focus on personal and professional growth aligned with their interests.
  5. Evidence of Change: Baseline and endline assessments document the growth in skills, knowledge, and confidence of Fellows over the duration of the program.
Intended Impacts
  1. Empowered Community Leaders: The program nurtures a new generation of leaders from stateless communities who can advocate for their rights and represent their communities on national and regional platforms.
  2. More Inclusive Policy Dialogue: Decision-making processes in the statelessness field become more representative and inclusive of lived experience perspectives, improving the relevance and effectiveness of interventions.
  3. Challenging Structural Inequities: By demonstrating the value of lived experience in shaping change, the Fellowship contributes to long-term shifts in how civil society and policymakers engage with stateless communities.
  4. Replication and Scaling: Successful implementation and evaluation of the Fellowship may encourage other organizations or regions to adopt similar models of inclusion and empowerment.
Details of the Fellowship

Number of Fellows: 4

Length of the Fellowship: 5 months (1 August to 31 December)

Eligibility

The Fellows must be residing in the Asia Pacific region and must belong to one of the following groups:

  • Stateless persons
  • Formerly stateless persons
  • Persons impacted by discriminatory nationality laws and practices
Selection Process

An open call was be made on SDCC’s website and social media accounts requesting applications for the Fellowship. The Steering Committee members along with Secretariat support reviewed the applications and shortlisted certain candidates. During the selection process, the fellows were be asked to pick an area of interest, which varied from research, fundraising, organizational development, social media, etc.

Before sending the open call out for applications for Fellows, the Secretariat asked the Founding Members to fill out a form to express their interest and the capacity in which they would be employing the Fellows at their organizations. This did not guarantee the Founding Members a Fellow, but helped with the matching process. Based on the nature of the applications received and shortlisted for the Fellowship and the form filled out by the Founding Members, the Steering Committee matched the Fellows with the interested Founding Member.

After finding the right match based on the Founding Members’ preference,, the Lived Experience Fellows and the Fellowship Host Organizations were be finalized.

Stipend for the Fellows

Each Fellow is provided a stipend based on the average salary of the country of residence. The salary was determined by the Steering Committee and the Fellowship Host Organization for each Fellow.

Role of the Fellowship Host Organizations

The Fellowship Host Organization has designated a Supervisor for the Fellow. They are responsible for assigning the tasks while abiding by the Fellowship Guidelines and coordinating with the Secretariat and fulfilling the roles and responsibilities provided in Annex – 1.

Please note: The Fellowships are catered towards providing meaningful mentorship to Fellows, in order to build their capacity in an area they are most interested to develop, and are not targeted to increase the capacity of Host Organisations.

Fellowship Guidelines

The Fellowship Host Organization needs to abide by the following rules during the Fellowship period:

  1. Attend the mandatory meeting held by the Steering Committee Members and the Secretariat to go through the Ethical Guidelines. These Guidelines would be followed throughout the term of the Fellowship. 
  2. Appoint a supervisor for the Fellow
  3. Provide orientation to the Fellow as part of an onboarding process to familiarize them with the organization’s work
  4. Assign specific tasks to the Fellow for the duration of the Fellowship
  5. Have at least two one-on-one meetings per month to review their work and provide feedback
  6. Provide professional mentorship to the Fellow that would be helpful to build a career in statelessness or human rights work
  7. Participate in the monthly meetings with the Secretariat to provide an update on the Fellowship
  8. Address concerns shared by the Fellows with care and urgency
  9. Take necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of the Fellows
  10. Provide a Fellowship Report to the Secretariat after the end of the Fellowship

The Fellows need to fulfill the following responsibilities during their Fellowship:

  1. Follow the rules and regulations of the Fellowship Host Organization during the Fellowship.
  2. Undertake the tasks assigned by the Supervisor.
  3. Provide regular feedback on the progress of their work to their Supervisor.
  4. Participate in the one-on-one meetings with the Supervisor.
  5. Participate in the monthly meeting with the Secretariat.
  6. Provide a Fellowship Report to the Secretariat after the end of the Fellowship.

The detailed Ethical Guideline should also be followed by the Host Organizations and the Fellows.