Assessment of Women’s Housing Land and Property Rights in Sudan

Terms of Reference

1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

As of July 2021, there are an estimated 3 million IDPs in Sudan. Darfur region in particular continues to suffer from protracted and recurrent conflict and displacement since 2003 which has resulted in the internal displacement of approximately 2.1 million individuals. Since the drawdown of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation (UNAMID), the region witnessed a deterioration in the security environment. Violent clashes in various localities have caused both secondary and new displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Access to land, disputes over rights to use natural resources, and widespread secondary occupation of land left by IDPs and refugees continue to drive conflict. Weak land governance and administration processes have had a significant impact, leaving families without security of tenure, limiting access to adequate housing, agricultural land, and grazing opportunities that can help to strengthen household resilience. Unresolved conflict over land and natural resources remains a major cause of violence/ conflict in the state.

While much research has been devoted to understanding HLP challenges, and how social norms shape relationships between men and women, significantly less has focused on the current status of women’s access to HLP rights. Some aspects of women’s experience with HLP have been documented, however, there is an overall gap in information on women’s actual access to HLP rights in practice.

Preliminary data indicates that both customary and statutory systems have aspects that are both protective of, and discriminatory against, women. For instance, despite equality guarantees in the Constitution Declaration and other relevant laws, land ownership in Sudan remains largely restricted to men. Gender inequality which often limits actual ownership or access, is systematic and often occurs in marriage, inheritance, legal status, and resource distribution. This impacts women’s capacity to access, use, control and own land. Actual access tends to be even more restricted in areas with a high degree of customary influence. The rights of the few women who are able to access land in such areas with strong customary influence are generally highly insecure. Their access is often indirect and determined through family linkages.

In displacement contexts, women have unique vulnerabilities as well as opportunities. Linked to the loss of land is the increased distances women have to walk outside of IDP camps to access water and firewood which exposes them to increased protection risks. On the other hand, interestingly, access/ control of land for women as well as political participation may have increased in some displacement contexts. In IDP camps, there are a large number of female-headed households, though it is unclear precisely how many. In the absence of a male head of the household, women may exercise a greater degree of control over land and other resources. There are also an increasing number of female local leaders in IDP camps, where the proportion of women and girls is high, but their participation is too often limited to women’s affairs. Recent research from North Kordofan by UNEP, UN Women, and UNDP also indicates that natural resource management can be a strong entry point for women’s engagement in peacebuilding and economic empowerment.

Clearer research on women’s lived experiences could go a long way to ensuring that program interventions meet the needs of women struggling to access their HLP rights.

NRC’s Programme in Sudan

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent rights-based humanitarian organization working to protect the rights of displaced and vulnerable persons during crisis. NRC recently established operations in 5 States in Sudan; North Darfur, West Darfur, South Kordofan, Gedaref, Khartoum in line with the humanitarian response plan. Across the 5 area offices, strategic programme priorities are focusing on Education, Livelihoods and Food Security, Camp Management, Shelter and Information, Counselling and Legal assistance (ICLA). The ICLA programme provides services to displacement affected populations to enable them to claim and exercise their rights and contribute towards attaining durable solutions through various thematic areas including; legal identity and civil documentation, employment laws and procedures and housing, land and property rights (HLP).

2. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

NRC is seeking a short-term consultancy, between August and November 2022, to lead a research that will aim to identify challenges faced by women in Sudan in exercising their housing, land and property (HLP) rights. On this basis, the consultant will make recommendations for policy and programmatic approaches for NRC and partner agencies to strengthen women's HLP rights, and ensure that activities on Housing, land and property rights are adapted to women's specific capacities and vulnerabilities in this context.

The overall goal will be to better inform and improve NRC’s programming for displaced women and to provide well-researched legal, policy and practice recommendations for governments and civil society in NRC’s areas of operations.

 

Key objectives of the research include:

 

1. Review the legal framework governing women’s HLP rights in Sudan from an international and domestic legal perspective
2. Identify the HLP needs and rights of women in Sudan in relation to violations as the result of inter alia conflict, displacement, customary practices and deprivations of rights by family or community members.
3. Examine aspects of both customary and statutory systems that are protective of, and/or discriminatory against women access, use and ownership of land and natural resources.
4. Identify specific challenges facing women in Sudan in exercising their HLP rights as well as difficulties in attaining security of tenure under both customary and statutory laws
5. Detail and assess the existing formal and informal legal mechanisms and structures by which women in Sudan are able to resolve HLP disputes
6. Assess the capacity of government and civil society to address these challenges to women’s HLP rights and identify potential partners.
7. Formulate recommendations to improve the current legal framework in Sudan to strengthen HLP rights of women in Sudan
8. Draft recommendations to address programmatic gaps in order for NRC and partner agencies to support women's HLP rights in Sudan

 

3. EXPECTED RESULTS

• Detailed work plan
• Inception report
• Survey tools and methodology (including ethical approach to research)
• Data collection from displacement-affected women and key informants
• Presentation of draft findings/recommendations and preliminary report to the ICLA Specialist, before the draft report
• Annexes (list of interviews, documents consulted and data collection tools)
• Assessment report to be comprised of the following:
  • Approx. 40-60 pages, including executive summary, conclusion, and recommendations, whilst excluding accounts of stakeholder meetings;
  • Tasks in above listed Objectives which include specific chapters detailing:
    • International and national frameworks on women HLP rights including customary systems
    • Comparative analysis of the HLP needs and rights of women in Sudan as affected by several factors such as the conflict, displacement, customary practices etc
    • Comparative analysis of the provisions of both customary, religious and statutory systems as it relates to women’s access to HLP
    • Outline of challenges facing different groups of displacement affected women in Sudan in exercising their HLP rights under both customary and statutory laws
    • Outline of all existing formal and informal legal mechanisms and structures by which women in Sudan are able to resolve HLP disputes
    • Based on findings, provide an analysis of the capacity of government and civil society to address the identified challenges to women’s HLP rights and identify potential partners for possible collaboration with NRC
• Documented account of stakeholder meetings with government, UN, INGO and partner agencies
• Guidelines for addressing women's HLP rights and security of tenure in Sudan and specifically in Darfur.
• A 2-4 briefing note, with practical recommendation on further programming and advocacy initiatives to promote HLP rights based on research findings;
• Debriefing and validation of findings workshop (1/2 day) with the senior management and ICLA team.

 

4. SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY

The consultant shall use NRC existing framework to carry out the analysis of the conflict and displacement situations and to identify possible responses and implementation modalities. It is expected that the consultant will conduct the following:

• Literature review and stakeholder consultation on key challenges for women in exercising their HLP rights and security of tenure ((i.e. specific challenges and potential vulnerabilities)
• Consultation, mediation observations, and focus group discussions with women and girls to identify risks and proposed solutions to the HLP challenges in Sudan; supplemented by broader community consultation and in particular with vulnerable groups.
• Document at least 5 case studies on women’s HLP rights
• Document of challenges, capacities and potential vulnerability of women and girls in this context.
• Drafting of policy and programme recommendations

The Women’s HLP Rights Consultant reports to the ICLA Specialist in-country.

The consultancy requires travel to Republic of Sudan for part of the assignment and includes field travels to the locations mentioned above.

 

English will be the primary language of communication, key discussions in any other language are expected to be summarised in English as needed. The outputs produced will be in English unless agreed otherwise.

 

5. DELIVERABLES, PHASES AND TIMELINE

Phase	Duration
Desk review, development and pre-test of research tools and training on data collection. (Submission on inception report at the end of this phase)	3 weeks
Field data collection	4 weeks
Analysis and production of a draft report, feedback with NRC	4 weeks
Submission of final report	2 weeks
Dissemination phase	2 days

 

6. CONSULTANCY TEAM COMPOSITION

 

The Research Lead should have the following qualifications:

• An advanced degree in Law, Political Science or related social sciences, or a combination of a Bachelor degree in any of the specified fields of study plus extensive professional research experience, with focus on HLP, access to justice and collaborative dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Sound knowledge of HLP including women’s rights in conflict or post-conflict communities, including forced displacement, humanitarian assistance and development.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data collection in field settings.
• Experience carrying out analysis of complex analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.
• Previous experience in Sudan - Darfur or similar context is preferred.
• Knowledge of participatory survey approaches, gender responsive tools

This consultancy is open to both national and international consultants. There is a preference for a combination, where international expertise is combined with national/local knowledge. NRC and local partners on the ground can be engaged for data-collection and logistical support.

7. INSTITUTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The consultant is expected to be available for in-country for the field data collection. NRC Sudan will be able to provide logistic support for movement within Sudan including the booking of UNHAS/commercial flights, accommodation, the cost associated with in-country travel.

Duties of the Consultant;

• Reports should be submitted in Microsoft Word format in electronic format, in UK English. All text should be unformatted. Graphs or other graphical devices should be editable (i.e. not pictures). All references must be cited according to convention, and detailed in a bibliography.
• All verbatim quotations must appear in quotation marks, and must not be of excessive length. All data collected under the consultancy must be submitted with the deliverables, in a widely recognized format such as Microsoft Excel in electronic form
• Everything submitted to NRC must be the original work of the consultants. Any plagiarism in any form, or any other breach of intellectual property rights, will automatically disqualify the consultant from receiving any further payments under the contract by NRC, and NRC will seek to recover any payments already made.
• NRC retains the right to copyrights with regard to products, processes, and other materials which the Individual Consultant has developed for NRC under this contract and which bears a direct relation to or are produced or prepared or collected in consequence of, or during the course of, the performance of the Contract, and the Individual Consultant acknowledges and agrees that such products, documents and other materials constitute works made for hire for NRC.
• The consultant will follow Ethical Research Involving Children guidance on the ethical participation of children. In addition, all participants in any study or other interaction will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the interaction and their requested involvement. Informed consent must be obtained for any photographs, audio or video recordings, etc., in accordance with NRC’s policy on consent.
• Equipment to be used: the consultant will use their own personal laptop
• International and domestic travels are covered by NRC. For international travel, the Consultant is responsible for the booking through BCD Travel Operations Oslo (NRC will provide guidance) while domestic travel will be facilitated by ICLA team
• There is no travel allocation or per diem for international or national travels. This is an all-in-fee consultancy.
• Local travel, transport, and accommodation is covered by NRC. Where possible, NRC will host the consultant in existing guesthouses. If no room is available, the consultant will be booked into either humanitarian hubs, or in security cleared hotels.
• The Consultant must observe all NRC security policies and regulations while working with NRC and while in NRC premises or vehicles. The consultant agrees to observe NRC’s Code of Conduct while working with NRC.

 

Duties of NRC

 

NRC will provide an initial briefing and clarification on the scope of work for the consultant at the onset of the consultancy. NRC will review initial drafts of outputs and revert back with feedback to be incorporated by the Consultant in the final draft of deliverables.

 

As part of the in-country piece of work, NRC may support the consultant with arranging transportation, accommodation, visa invitation letter and processing, domestic flights, and administrative work behind workshops. However, costs for these, and other travel associated costs (i.e. visa, insurance) are borne by the consultant. The lump sum fee for the consultancy will therefore be the only financial cost borne by NRC.

 

8. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

 

Commencement:  The Assignment shall commence in August 2022.

 

Period for the Assignment:  The consultancy will last for a total of 13 to 15 weeks over the months of August and November 2022. Final drafts of the main deliverables should be submitted by November 2022, incorporating necessary feedback in advance.

 

9. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

All interested are requested to submit their curriculum vitae along with other required documents listed below to the following email: sd.tenders@nrc.no

The e-mail subject of the application should be titled: “Study on women’s access to HLP rights in Sudan”

Only short listed/successful candidates will be contacted.

Offer should include:

1. Technical proposal not exceeding 5 pages which provides an outline of the research framework and methods, including comments on the TOR
2. Bidding form in the template provided
3. Proposed timeframe and work-plan.
4. CVs, references for previous relevant work, and an extract (3-5 pages) from past research projects.
5. Financial proposal (bid) detailing the budget (in USD). The financial proposal should provide professional fees and all costs required for undertaking this consultancy
6. Certificate of Registration / Incorporation if applying as companies
7. Tax Registration Certificate if applying as companies
8. Submit the offer through the indicated channel and no longer than September, 1st

Applicants will be evaluated against the following criteria: professional competencies, expertise and qualification for the tasks described above (50%), Previous experience (30%), Technical quality of submitted work samples (10%), and financial offer (10%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Please provide information required in the templates below

1. Bidding Form

 

Please provide information against each requirement.

Additional rows can be inserted for all questions as necessary. If there is insufficient space to complete your answer in the space provided, please include on a separate attachment with a reference to the question.

 

1. Bidder’s general business details

1. General information

                                  

Company name:
Any other trading names of company:
Registered name of company (if different):
Nature of primary business/trade:
Primary contact name:
Job title:
Phone:
Email:
Registered Address:
Business licence number:
Country of registration
Registration date:
Expiry date:
Legal status of company (eg. partnership, private limited company, etc.)

 

2. Owners/Managers

Please fill in the below table with the full names and the year of birth of the company’s owner(s) and manager(s)*:

 

Full name	Year of birth

 

                  * Please note this information is necessary in order to conduct the vetting procedure referred to in clause 25 of the         Invitation to Bid-General Terms and Conditions.

 

3. Employees

Please list the employees who would be involved with NRC in the event of contract award:

 

Employee name	Job title	Role on NRC project	Phone	Email
1.
2.
3.
…

 

4. Company bank account details:

 

Beneficiary name:
Beneficiary account no.:
Beneficiary Bank:
Bank branch:
SWIFT:
IBAN:
Bank address:

 

2. References 

Please provide details of at least 3 client references whom NRC may contact, preferably from NGOs and UN agencies, for similar related works:

 

Client/company name	Contact person	Phone	Email	Contract details ( location, size, value, etc)
1.
2.
3.
…

 

3. Equipment

Please provide details of any relevant equipment owned by the company that would potentially be used for carrying out of  the Base Line Survey.  (do not mention rented items):

 

Type of equipment/ vehicles	Quantity
1
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
…

 

 

4. Bid Validity

Please confirm the validity of your bid below (in calendar days):

 

5. Confirmation of Bidder’s compliance

 

We, the Bidder, hereby certify that our tender is a genuine offer and intended to be competitive and we confirm we are eligible to participate in public procurement and meet the eligibility criteria specified in the Invitation to Bid. We confirm that the prices quoted are fixed and firm for the duration of the validity period and will not be subject to revision or variation.

 

The following documents are included in our Bid: (please indicate which documents are included by ticking the boxes below).

 

Documents	included
Section 4: Technical proposal & Pricing Proposal; completed, signed and stamped	☐
Section 5: Bidding form; completed, signed and stamped	☐
Section 6: Service Provision Schedule; completed, signed and stamped	☐
Section 7: Company Profile and Previous Experience; completed, signed and stamped, including publicly available works or studies commissioned earlier.	☐
Section 8: Supplier’s ethical standards declaration; completed, signed and stamped	☐
Certificate of Registration/ Incorporation	☐
Tax registration certificate	☐
Financial Offer (Excel) detailing the budget (in USD or NGN)	☐
Copies of Curriculum Vitae and Motivational Letter	☐
Recommendation letters from previous organizations served OR 2 organizational references who can verify the quality of the consultant’s work and/or publicly available works or studies commissioned earlier	☐
Sample of similar assessment performed	☐

 

We understand that NRC is not bound to accept the lowest, or indeed any bid, received.

We agree that NRC may verify the information provided in this form itself or through a third party as it may deem necessary.

 

We confirm that NRC may in its consideration of our offer, and subsequently, rely on the statements made herein.

Name of Signatory:	Tel N°:
Title of Signatory:	Name of Company:
Signature & stamp:	Date of Signing:
	Address:

 

•  

 

2. Consultancy Provisional Schedule

Consultancy Schedule:

Attach the Service schedule here:

 

Schedule to include:

1. 1. 1. 1. Detailed list of consultancy to be completed in reference to Consultancy Description
         2. Duration of each of the activities and completion date.

 

Table for breakdown of service provision

 

Activity	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7

 

 

Manpower:

In addition, provide a list of the manpower involved in the activities on site with an estimate of the total man-hours completed by each of the skills. Format to follow the below simple format:

 

#	Proposed Personnel/Manpower	# of workers allocated to the Consultancy Service
1
2
3
4
…

 

NOTE: The manpower list and service provision schedule shouldn’t be limited to this Form.

A comprehensive list has to be submitted adapting the Form as necessary.