NRC I Displacement, HLP and access to civil documentation in the south of the Syrian Arab Republic
METHODOLOGY AND VALIDITY
This assessment is based on qualitative and quantitative data. The research
team surveyed 734 IDP households, covering all five districts of Dar’a and
Quneitra. Despite some limits to access, the local humanitarian partner
organisation who undertook the field work reached households in NGCAs
in all but four sub-districts. The household survey data was complemented
by 15 focus group discussions and 21 key informant interviews targeting
local de facto authorities in NGCAs and decision-makers involved in
housing, land and property rights as well civil documentation. One of
the key informant interviews and three of the focus group discussions
were held with Syrians in Jordan including some with technical expertise,
complementing the 20 interviews and 12 discussions that were spread
across 11 of the surveyed sub-districts of southern Syria. In Jordan, the
focus groups were as follows: a group of women, a group of lawyers, and
a group of men with knowledge of property registration.
Through surveys with 734 households, comprising 467 male respondents
and 267 female respondents, the research team compiled a family member
dataset of 4,047 persons. While the majority of data is at household level,
the latter dataset reflects details for individual family members, for example,
their possession or lack of valid identity documents. All male household
survey respondents were heads of household, while only 8 per cent of
female respondents were. The majority of female respondents were the
highest status female in their household; they were surveyed in place of
the head of household in order to ensure that female respondents were
represented in the dataset.
The proportional selection of households in each sub-district was informed
by IDP population data from the 2017 HNO. Given the focus on HLP, the
location of IDP accommodation within the sub-district was used as a basic
sample frame to ensure inclusion of a variety of locations, communities,
shelters and tenure types. The research team liaised with local leaders to
inform the sampling, while methods such as randomised door knocking
were also used to mitigate local biases. Sampling was limited by security
and access considerations: it was not possible to reach all sub-districts,
nor to reach all parts of the 17 sub-districts that were surveyed. As
such, one limitation to the dataset is that it does not represent all IDPs
across Dar’a and Quneitra; instead, it only accurately represents IDPs
in accessible parts, and it may over-represent those who are known to
local leaders and, for example, those who are therefore included in locally
compiled beneficiary lists.
8 I NRC Assessment Report