Context

Improving border governance and facilitating access to basic services in the northern border regions of Ghana are increasingly crucial  not only to national socio-economic development, but also national and regional security and stability. These regions face vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to the activities of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) currently operating in the southern border regions of the northern neighbour Burkina Faso. These vulnerabilities include, but are not limited to, relative poverty between the north and south that creates a sense of marginalization; porous land borders; already existing smuggling and trafficking networks; and inter-communal conflict.

As seen in the Sahel, VEOs could exploit these vulnerabilities to sow the seeds of political instability and insecurity. Hence, the emphasis should be on enabling inclusive and accountable governance and access to basic services as an important part of the response in countering the spread of VEO activities.  Key to this approach is increasing the access to legal identity for border communities and mobile populations. For border communities and mobile populations, such as pastoralists, for example, legal identity also means protecting their livelihoods and ensuring their inclusion in formal systems. Without proper documentation, these populations whose livelihoods, socio-cultural lives, and access to basic services, depend on cross-border mobility, face challenges in regard to their socio-economic resilience and inclusion in local governance structures, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and marginalization.

These border communities and mobile populations face some hindrances in accessing legal identity in general, including the national identity card. Recently, IOM in partnership with the National Identification Authority (NIA) undertook a pilot mobile registration exercise in Pusiga District in the Upper East Region. During the exercise some key barriers were encountered, including a lack of awareness and information about the procedures of obtaining the ID card; difficulty in accessing the NIA registration offices due to the distance and poor access roads; the low coverage of birth registration in the targeted border communities which is the first step to obtaining legal identity and one of the pathways to obtain the national identity card; a general lack of understanding of naturalization processes for eligible foreigners seeking Ghanaian citizenship; and logistical challenges, resulting in delays in printing cards for already registered persons.

Pursuant to above, IOM is seeking to hire a consultant to conduct a legal identity assessment to identify and further understand the reasons for these barriers at the legal/ policy, operational, and technical levels and proffer solutions based on global, generally accepted best practices. The overall aim of this consultancy is to assess the barriers hindering border communities and mobile populations in accessing legal identity to proffer recommendations for strengthening legal identity system in Ghana.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks using IOM Legal Identity Unit’s methodology:

1. Literature Review:

• Analyze current legal identity documents, policies, and procedures
• Review previous assessments and audits related to legal identity

2. Stakeholder Consultation:

• Conduct interviews and meetings with key stakeholders, including government officials, legal experts, and representatives from relevant organizations, USAID/Ghana and USAID/OTI, different demographics of border communities and mobile populations)
• Gather insights on the practical challenges and needs related to legal identity management

3. Gap Analysis:

• Identify gaps and weaknesses in the current legal identity framework
• Compare existing practices with best practices and standards in legal identity management

4. Regulatory/legal Assessment:

• Assess the compliance of current legal identity practices with national and international regulations
• Identify areas of non-compliance and recommend measures to address them

5. Recommendations:

• Provide detailed recommendations for improving the legal identity framework
• Suggest practical steps for implementation, including potential timelines and resource requirements

6. Reporting:

• Prepare a comprehensive report summarizing findings, analysis, and recommendations
• Present the report and present to key stakeholders and address queries for validation

• Inception Report: Outlining the literature review findings, methodology and work plan
• Interim Report: Providing preliminary findings based on stakeholder consultation, gap analysis and regulatory assessment conducted with detailed recommendations to improve the legal identity framework in Ghana
• Deliver a detailed presentation of the final report to key stakeholders for validation
• Final Report: A validated comprehensive document with findings, gap analysis, and recommendations

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements