Legal Coverage Assessment

Legal Coverage Assessment – General Research Overview

Donor:DFID
Time frame:Field Research: 10 January 2014– 31 January 2014
Preliminary Analysis – 1 February – 28 February 2014
Written Report:1 March – 20 March 2014

Background:
 
Serious Housing, Land and Property (HLP) challenges face both women and men in the Gaza Strip, including Israeli military operations such as the December 2008-January Operation “Cast Lead” and the November 2012 Operation “Pillar of Defense” which resulted in a very high number of families having their houses damaged or totally destroyed. An increasing number of Palestinians living in Gaza are either unable to access their land or have had their land destroyed through Israeli levelling operations in the Access Restricted Area (ARA) between the Israeli security fence and the Gaza Strip, which covers 17 percent of Gaza total land and 35 percent of the agricultural land of the Gaza Strip. There is a high population density in Gaza with more than 1.7 million people, more than half of them children and two-thirds registered Palestine refugees.
 
Recently, local authorities in Gaza have begun carrying out land evictions and confiscations. In 2012, the eviction of one neighborhood resulted in the destruction of 102 houses and 771 persons were displaced, the majority of whom were women and children. In 2013, authorities in Gaza have initiated new plans for expansions of roads of the Gaza Strip in order to implement new housing projects. Such proposed projects could potentially result in the confiscation of up to 25 percent of private lands.
 
Women in particular are affected by the denial of inheritance rights by family members and cultural attitudes in the Gaza community, lack of recognition of ownership rights in their matrimonial homes as well as overcrowding and inadequate living conditions.
 
 
Objective:
 
The objective of the legal coverage assessment is to assess the extent to which Palestinians at risk of displacement living in the Gaza Strip are able to access legal services to address their housing land and property (HLP) legal problems. In doing so, the assessment will seek to: determine the prevalence of certain HLP violations including but not limited to destruction or damage to housing, evictions, difficulty to access inheritance and restrictions on access to land.
 
Further, the assessment will seek to identify the respective availability of legal representation services (both legal aid and private lawyers) available for those affected by the aforementioned HLP violations. In this process the study will identify gaps in geographical and thematic coverage of legal services. Where significant gaps in legal services are identified the study will examine the barriers faced by the population in accessing legal services.
 
Audience:
 
The assessment is primarily for the NRC Palestine ICLA Gaza programme to inform programmatic direction and interventions required to improve access to HLP legal services. The study will also be used by other actors like the Palestinian Bar Association (PBA), Legal Task Force (LTF), Legal Aid Providers Network, NGOs and INGOs in Gaza to improve coordination and maximize legal aid coverage in HLP matters. Beyond this, the study will also be shared with the donor and diplomatic community, humanitarian actors and the authorities to inform broader discussions related to gaps in service delivery, access to justice programming and coordination. The assessment will also serve as a comprehensive baseline from which future development in HLP legal aid coverage can be measured.
          
Methodology:
 
Literature Review
 
A review of existing reports and statistical data will be undertaken, including, previous NRC assessments (2012 and 2013), NRC case information, reports as well as other primary and secondary sources as relevant.
 
Research:
 
Statistically Representative Beneficiary Survey
 
A statistically representative survey of beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries of HLP legal services will be conducted. The analysis conducted in the literature review will be used to refine target communities from which to determine a sample. The survey will seek to assess the availability level of legal assistance services including, representation through both formal and informal mechanisms, by PBA, legal aid providers and private lawyers, for selected HLP violations. Further the survey will ascertain the views of beneficiaries about any barriers they face in accessing legal services. NRC will work with a consultant to conduct this survey.
 
Time frame:

Annex 1:
 
Terms of Reference for Survey/s:
 
The survey consultant will perform duties and responsibilities in accordance with the objectives and activities mentioned below:
 
1-In cooperation with NRC ICLA staff, finalise an outline for a detailed research study on the legal coverage for HLP violations in the Gaza Strip
2-In discussions with NRC review relevant data to develop appropriate survey sample and methodology
-The refinement of the sample framework is to be informed by the following:
-Communities identified as experiencing HLP violations by NRC;
-ICLA Gaza Database maintained by NRC
-Relevant PCBS population and other information including population and population density information for the Gaza Strip;
-Other sources of information identified as relevant by the survey consultant and NRC.
-The survey/ surveys will measure actual occurrence and experience of the beneficiaries (rather than perception).
-The results of the survey will be able to provide results disaggregated by:
-The different HLP violations (housing demolition; evictions; ; difficulty to access inheritance rights, restrictions on access to land, lack of ownership documentation);
-Family size (at time of HLP violations)
-Does the beneficiary have Palestinian identity document?
-Type of housing damage (total, major, minor)
-Location by neighborhood and disaggregated by governorate. Location will further identify whether violations occurred within the 1,000 meter range of the Access Restricted Area
-Current shelter information (displacement details) including family current location
-Number of displacement/ eviction times
-In case of house demolition and/or eviction, has the beneficiary been provided with alternative shelter and by whom
-If beneficiary knows type of land and what is the status of land title
-Gender
-Refugee status
-If legal services have been received or consulted, whether they were provided by private lawyers or legal aid organisations.
-Others as identified by NRC and the survey consultant.
 
The survey will seek to survey a proportional number of female headed households as identified by the PCBS. The survey will also try to achieve proportional representation of people with disabilities.
 
3-Provide written an inception report including methodology and survey questionnaire for comments by NRC monitoring and evaluation technical adviser and make adjustments as necessary;
4-Implement survey/surveys in the five governorates of the Gaza Strip as necessary for primary research, including:
-Implementation of a comprehensive questionnaire to measure prevalence of certain HLP violations, legal coverage for those violations and reasons legal services were not accessed as determined by methodology.
5Presentation of data and analysis to NRC. Copy of raw data provided to NRC
6-Final report on analysis and results of survey/s submitted to NRC
 
Timeframe:

Interested applicants should submit a covering letter setting out their expertise to conduct the assessment together with a CV in English to [email protected]  Please use the text ‘Legal Coverage Assessment’ in the email subject line and include the following information: dates of availability; number of estimated days of full-time work required; and requested daily consultancy rate in the covering letter.
 
Commencement:As soon as possible. Assessment and final report must be completed no later than 20 March 2014.
 
Closing date:2 January 2014

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