International Consultant for Promotion of Land Rights in Somalia

Background

The Expanding Access to Justice Program (EAJ) is a five-year associate award (2018–2023), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) via the Freedom House-led Human Rights Support Mechanism (HRSM) and implemented in partnership between Pact and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI), that aims to improve access to justice and mechanisms to address grievances in Somalia. The Program has a strong focus on research activities and knowledge creation to ensure that program activities and objectives are embedded in rigorous contextual understanding.

One of the thematic issues that has come up frequently in EAJ’s research and programme activities is that of land rights. EAJ prepared a dedicated research report on ‘Access to Land Rights in BRA’ in 2019. The report showed the complexity of land rights and the inability of the formal courts to play a significant role in their solution. Land rights are embedded in laws as well as numerous cultural concepts, and they are underpinned by political power dynamics. As a result it has always been difficult for development practitioners to identify approaches that could address these multiple fronts of challenges. The most affected are usually women and minority groups, as they have no means of redress.

EAJ provided a grant to its partner Action for Development Research (ADR) to implement Land Accountability Platforms and Land Dispute Committees in Mogadishu in order to address some of the challenges. ADR has since led some successful interventions combining social, political and power dynamics as well as formal law in addressing land claims. In addition, EAJ has been mainstreaming land issues in its other approaches, including in the development of legal aid clinics and the deployment of community-based paralegals (‘Justice Promoters’). While there are some anecdotal success stories, EAJ has not yet measured the impacts of its work for the information of future practitioners. Furthermore, EAJ is planning new activities in its Year 5 work, some of which may benefit from rigorous mainstreaming of land rights perspectives.

The EAJ Programme is seeking the assistance of a land expert consultant to conduct a review and provide assistance to its Year 5 activities in a) understanding the challenges and successes of past interventions, and b) enhancing the focus on land rights in some of the planned Year 5 activities.

Purpose and Tasks

The purpose of this consultancy assignment is to understand the challenges, successes and impacts of land dispute interventions conducted by the EAJ and its partners to date and to document specifically lessons that may inform future interventions. Furthermore, the consultant shall engage in some of the coming Year 5 activities and assist with mainstreaming land rights perspectives, including through a legal curriculum for the law schools EAJ has been supporting; ensuring that land rights are a topic of focus in various fora the EAJ facilitates, as well as in consultations or workshops.

Experience of Consultant

• Master’s Degree in Social Science, Law, Political Science, or related field
• In-depth knowledge about Somalia’s socio-political landscape
• At least 4 years experience in working with international organizations in Somalia
• At least 4 years of experience in land rights and land dispute mitigation in the context of Somalia
• Excellent English writing skills

Period of Consultancy

70 working days between 1 October 2022 and 30 April 2023.

Supervision

The consultant will report to the Deputy Chief of Party and the EAJ Research Team Leader

Applications:

• Cover letter/motivation letter
• Curriculum vitae

Submission Deadline : September 16, 2022

**Please send applications to:**[email protected]

In subject line, please indicate: “Expanding Access to Justice Program in Somalia”

Only selected candidates will be contacted.