Consultant-MECR

Climate change is one of the fundamental challenges for sustainable development in the 21st century and is likely to have significant impacts on Sri Lanka. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patterns, floods, prolonged dry spells and droughts, storms, intense lightning and hurricanes, together with land degradation and human-wildlife conflicts, are some of the main impacts that climate and environmental change are having on communities across the country. These climate-related hazards magnify the risks and uncertainties of human life and livelihoods, jeopardizing the living standards, livelihoods, and well-being (material, social, and cognitive) of people across the country.   

The impacts on vulnerable communities are particularly acute, especially for those living in climate-vulnerable zones and who rely upon nature-based livelihoods such as farming and fishing. In addition, daily paid jobs and self-employment are also directly and indirectly affected due to climate shocks due to reduced coping capacities and increased vulnerability. 

Human mobility linked to climate change, disasters and environmental degradation takes place in multiple forms, including migration, displacement, and planned relocation, amongst other forms of mobility and immobility. 

The decisions to migrate in the context of climate change, disasters and environmental degradation can span extended periods such as in the case of slow-onset environmental degradation that reduces crop yields over multiple seasons, leading to eroding incomes. Sudden-onset events force immediate decisions to flee, such as in cases of displacement due to floods or landslides. However, environmental degradation and natural hazards rarely act in isolation. Human mobility is driven by multiple and interrelated factors: economic, political and socio-cultural. 

Displacement and migration can happen either permanently or temporarily within a country or across administrative borders. Although displacement is mostly a direct impact of climate-related disasters, other forms of migration are also influenced by social, political, economic, demographic, and environmental drivers (anyone or many of which can cause migration). Thus, human mobility in the context of climate-related events is a multi-dimensional issue. With the right conditions in place, migration can be a powerful tool for climate adaptation. It can diversify income sources, create new livelihood opportunities, and enhance peoples’ knowledge and skills. For example, planned evacuation as a disaster management strategy has significantly reduced the risk of deaths, here in Sri Lanka and overseas.  

Furthermore, state-led, community driven planned relocation initiatives in landslide-prone areas in the central hills of the country have proven necessary steps towards mitigating disaster risks and anticipatory actions for disaster risk reduction. However, such mobilities can also produce negative outcomes, including increased trauma, loneliness, loss of livelihood, access to education, heavy workload, conflict, loss of social cohesion, loss of identity, loss of socioeconomic and cultural ties, stress of the new environment, burden on health, hygiene, and sanitation, loss of routine lifestyle. Ultimately, these negative impacts affect the material, relational, and subjective aspects of the wellbeing. A safer and secure environment for settlement is crucial for people affected by climate change. Since this is an accelerating phenomenon with surging climate change-related disasters, policy interventions and inclusivity are of paramount importance. 

Sri Lanka has already taken important steps to address these challenges through a range of national policy frameworks. Key instruments include the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for Climate Change Impacts (2016–2025), the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) (2023–2030), the National Policy on Climate Change (2023) and the Third Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) (2026–2035).  

These frameworks increasingly recognize the links between climate change, disasters and human mobility. However, the extent of integration varies. Some instruments, such as the NDMP (2023–2030), provide more operational provisions, including measures for resettlement and relocation of disaster-affected populations. Others, such as the NAP (2016–2025) and earlier climate policy instruments, acknowledge displacement as a potential impact but do not yet provide concrete mechanisms to address migration or planned relocation. Similarly, the NDC 3.0 (2026–2035) recognizes migration as a potential adaptation strategy, though it remains only partially operationalized within implementation frameworks.  

Beyond core climate and disaster frameworks, several additional national instruments also contribute to this policy landscape, including the National Environment Policy (2022), the National Policy and Action Plan on Migration for Employment (2023–2027) and the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2023–2027), which address aspects of vulnerability, displacement and migration in specific sectoral contexts.  

Overall, while more than half of the identified national policy instruments in Sri Lanka reference human mobility in some form, only a limited number directly integrate it into concrete policy actions and implementation mechanisms.  

 
Building on the existing national Roadmap on Climate Mobility and related assessments, develop a governance-focused pipeline of priority actions to support the operationalization of climate mobility within Sri Lanka’s policy and institutional frameworks. The pipeline should      focus on policy, coordination, institutional and planning measures required to strengthen climate mobility governance at national and, where relevant, selected sub-national levels. 

The pipeline may include indicative actions related to policy integration, inter-agency coordination, technical working mechanisms, data-policy linkages, capacity strengthening, consultation processes, development of guidance tools, and alignment with relevant national planning processes. It should not constitute a full Climate Mobility Investment Plan or a detailed portfolio of community-level interventions, but may identify where further dedicated investment planning or community-level programming would be required. 

The pipeline should include indicative sequencing, responsible or relevant institutions, potential implementation modalities, and possible financing or partnership entry points where these can be reasonably identified through the policy analysis. Consideration should also be given to whether the existing Climate Mobility Roadmap should be refined, updated or repositioned to support implementation. 

The individual consultant shall be reporting to the Project Manager of the MECR unit. 

The consultant will be directly responsible for the assessment’s activities, progress and the accuracy of the output.  

The activities in connection with the assessment will be conducted by the consultant with consultation and consent from the Project Manager of the IOM team.  

1. Depth and comprehensiveness of policy analysis 

1. Quality and practicality of recommendations 

1. Effective facilitation of consultation and validation workshops 

1. Timely delivery of outputs 

1. Alignment with national priorities and project objectives 

1. Quality of written documentation and policy matrices 

1. Effective engagement with government and technical stakeholders 

1. Alignment with regional methodological approaches 

1. Timely incorporation of feedback from IOM and stakeholders into deliverables