Vacancy Call for
Climate Justice Programme’s
Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR)
2026-2027

Waves of Resistance Against Imperialism and
the Extractivism of Ocean Resources:
Strengthening Women’s Movement for Climate Justice

Deadline for Applications: 30 January 2026

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) invites grassroots women’s rights organisations and movements to apply for the Climate Justice Feminist Participatory Action Research (CJ FPAR) on challenging expansion of Imperialism and Extractivism of Ocean Resources, 2026-2027. Through this FPAR, APWLD will  increase the capacity of feminists and grassroots women in Asia and the Pacific to document their lived realities and expose the impacts of expansion of imperialism and extractivism of ocean resources on women’s human rights to further influence climate policies and discussions from local to global level. It also aims to strengthen feminist and community-led monitoring of blue economy policies, shape governance instruments, and facilitate people’s mobilisation for climate and economic justice grounded in the realities, wisdom, and leadership of grassroots women.

Focus areas of the research

For the Climate Justice FPAR 2026-2027, six organisations in Asia and the Pacific will work together with the community to conduct FPAR and document evidence approximately from April  2026 – August 2027 to focus their FPAR on the impact of  expansion of Imperialism and Extractivism of Ocean Resources on women’s human rights and climate policies at the local or country level, specifically in  these following streams: 

  • Fisheries and coastal communities – include the impacts of climate development projects in the marine and coastal areas on livelihood, food security, loss of marine biodiversity
  • Climate Projects in Coastal and Marine areas– includes the impacts of reclamation projects, giant sea walls building projects, renewable projects, marine protected areas, industrial aquaculture
  • Deep-sea and sand mining – includes extraction of critical minerals resources in the name of energy transition 
  • Conservation projects-includes Blue carbon projects and carbon trading schemes- displacing the coastal communities and impacting their food sovereignty and livelihoods. Besides it also includes marine conservation (which keeps mangrove areas and marine and coastal as conservation areas and traditional fisherfolk’s and sea indigenous peoples are excluded and their rights to go to sea are violated).
  1. Marine Geo-engineering– scientifically unproven and highly risky technologies, including carbon dioxide removal technologies, and carbon capture and storage which are dangerous distractions from urgently needed emissions reductions and gender just climate solutions leading to sea grabbing and harming marine ecosystems and livelihoods of coastal communities

APWLD believes in the power of local feminist movements

Under the guise of development, the blue economy is a new frontier for extractivism by imperialist countries, driven by trade liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation which covers ocean-based industries such as fisheries, tourism, shipping, and coastal resources. It has become a key part of national and global climate strategies. However, policies and investments in these sectors often prioritize profit and “green growth” over equity, sustainability, and human rights. This creates new risks of exploitation, displacement, and environmental degradation for coastal and island communities, particularly for women, small-scale fishers, and Indigenous peoples. While international frameworks such as the UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, and Green Climate Fund set global directions for climate action, national implementation through NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), Blue Economy Strategies, and Gender Action Plans (GAPs) determines whether these commitments translate into justice and sustainability on the ground. Communities across Asia Pacific must be supported to build capacity to monitor their governments’ blue economy and climate commitments, and to meaningfully engage in decision-making that affects their livelihoods, ecosystems, and rights. 

To address the need to increase evidence-based advocacy and the need to have women as vocal and effective organisers, advocates and campaigners in human rights, APWLD will provide FPAR support to six national and/or grassroots organisations led by women across Asia and the Pacific region with experience in challenging expansion of Imperialism and Extractivism of Ocean Resources in the Common Struggles for Climate Justice. APWLD will provide each partner organisation with a sub-grant not more than 14,000 USD throughout the FPAR journey. The small sub-grant should cover salary costs of a dedicated young woman researcher and activities to strengthen the capacity of women and their communities involved in the FPAR. Another flow of sub-grant, following the completion of the FPAR, will be provided to the partner organisations to conduct advocacy activities at local and national levels to support their FPAR journey.

Throughout this FPAR, the assigned mentors and young women researchers will be provided with opportunities to access high level capacity building programmes, climate related advocacy spaces particularly at regional and global levels, and networking with wider movements working on climate crises. FPAR modules will also be provided to the mentors and young women researchers to learn research skills including data gathering that are participatory with feminist lens of analysis.

The main language used during the FPAR journey will be English.

Selection Criteria

  • Applicants must be non-governmental, non-profit, feminists and women’s human rights and/or women-led organisations in Asia and the Pacific that demonstrate the following:
  • Experience in working with grassroots women and their communities;
  • Familiarity with the context and reality of climate crises including the impact of  expansion of Imperialism and Extractivism of Ocean Resources faced by women at local and national levels;
  • Provide a dedicated mentor and young woman researcher throughout the entire FPAR period;
  • Capacity to conduct participatory research methodologies that contribute to strengthen democratic leadership of feminists and grassroots women in Asia and the Pacific;
  • Ability to produce and submit reports and various FPAR related documents in English.

Highly desirable partner organisations:

  • Organisations from East Asia and the Pacific sub-regions;
  • Recommended through a letter of endorsement from APWLD members where possible;
  • Direct experience in conducting participatory research methods;
  • Direct experience in advocacy and campaign work related to climate crisis and women’s human rights, particularly in challenging false solutions;

Submit your application:

Please send completed application form to Ranjana Giri, Climate Justice Programme Officer at ranjana2@apwld.org (Please use the subject line: Application form_CJ FPAR_2026-2027_(name of your organisation). 

Please download the application form here.

For more details, please refer to the concept note.

Please note that WITCH FPAR calls for applications titled ‘Waves of Resistance Against Imperialism and the Extractivism of Ocean Resources: Highlighting Women’s Human Rights and Trade and Economic Justice’ which will be published in February 2026. 

This WITCH FPAR will address the trade, militarism, corporate capture and the introduction of neoliberal policies to expand further and extract resources, and their impact on different communities, particularly women.