Title: Regional Study on Gender Dynamics, Risks, and Decision-Making Related to Syrian Returns in Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria

Background

The question of Syrian return has gained renewed prominence across the region following shifts in the political and security landscape since late 2024. After more than a decade of protracted displacement, the Syria crisis remains one of the largest globally, with over 6.1 million Syrian refugees hosted primarily in neighboring countries, including approximately 2.9 million in Türkiye, 755,000 in Lebanon, and 611,000 in Jordan .

Since December 2024, there has been a significant increase in return movements, largely spontaneous and occurring under evolving and often uncertain conditions. As of early 2026, estimates indicate that over 1.5 million Syrians have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, primarily from Türkiye, Lebanon, and Jordan. Of these:

• Over 500,000 returns have been recorded from Türkiye alone

• Approximately 180,000 returns from Jordan

• Hundreds of thousands have returned from Lebanon, including over 500,000 departures reported in 2025 and 168000 due to the recent escalation in Lebanon

More broadly, over one million refugees have returned from neighboring countries since late 2024, alongside nearly two million internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning within Syria. Projections suggest that millions more may return in the coming years, underscoring the urgency of understanding return dynamics.

Despite these movements, returns are taking place in a context where 16.7 million people inside Syria still require humanitarian assistance, and where infrastructure, services, and protection systems remain severely strained. Evidence indicates that many returns are not necessarily driven by improved conditions in Syria alone, but also by increasing pressures in host countries, including economic hardship, restrictive policies, reduced assistance, and rising social tensions.

While the scale of return is growing, there remains a critical gap in understanding the gendered dimensions of return decision-making, experiences, and outcomes. Existing data and policy discussions often treat return as a household or population-level phenomenon, without adequately capturing how gender norms, roles, and power relations shape who decides, who moves, under what conditions, and with what consequences.

Women, men, girls, and boys experience displacement and return differently. Gender intersects with age, disability, marital status, legal status, caregiving roles, and access to resources, shaping:

• Return intentions and aspirations

• Exposure to risks and protection concerns

• Access to livelihoods, services, and documentation

• Reintegration outcomes and long-term sustainability

Importantly, emerging evidence suggests that many return decisions are not fully voluntary, but rather shaped by structural pressures, including:

• declining access to income and services in host countries,

• insecurity related to legal status and documentation,

• social and political pressure to return,

• and misinformation or lack of reliable information about conditions inside Syria.

At the same time, there is limited systematic evidence on the lived experiences of returnees, particularly from a gender perspective. Questions remain around:

• how return affects intra-household dynamics and decision-making power,

• how gender roles shift post-return,

• and whether return leads to improved safety, dignity, and resilience for different groups.

Given the scale of ongoing and anticipated return movements, there is an urgent need for a regional, gender-responsive analysis that captures both:

1. The perspectives of Syrians who have already returned, and

2. Those who are considering or planning return from host countries.

This study, covering Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria, aims to fill this gap by generating evidence on the gendered drivers, risks, decision-making processes, and reintegration outcomes of return. The findings will support more informed, rights-based, and gender-responsive approaches to policy, programming, and advocacy, ensuring that return processes align with principles of voluntariness, safety, dignity, and sustainability. In addition, there is a need to better understand how displacement itself may have reshaped gender norms, roles, and individual agency.

Purpose and Objectives of the Study

This study aims to generate evidence on the gendered drivers, decision-making processes, risks, and reintegration outcomes of Syrian return across Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria, in order to inform gender-responsive policy, programming, and advocacy, with a focus on how power, gender norms, and control over resources shape people’s ability to make decisions about return, mobility, and their future. Specifically, the study will:

• Examine how gender norms, roles, and intra-household power relations influence return intentions and decisions, including who decides, under what conditions, and to what extent decisions are voluntary**, as well as how perceived trade-offs related to safety, livelihoods, dignity, and personal freedoms influence these decisions.**

• Assess differentiated risks faced by women, men, girls, and boys in relation to return, including exposure to GBV, movement restrictions, forced recruitment, child protection risks, and social stigma.

• Analyze how gender affects access to civil documentation, housing, land and property (HLP), livelihoods, basic services, and mobility—both in shaping return decisions and in post-return reintegration.

• Evaluate the extent to which returns are safe, voluntary, and dignified, and how return impacts safety, economic security, social roles, and well-being across different population groups, including potential changes in agency, autonomy, and mobility, particularly for women and girls.

• Provide practical, gender-responsive recommendations to inform humanitarian and development programming, advocacy priorities, and policy engagement on Syrian return at national and regional levels.

Scope of Work

This study will be conducted at a regional level, covering Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria, and will generate both comparative regional analysis and country-specific insights on gendered dimensions of Syrian return based on primary information gathering.

The study will include:

• Syrians who have already returned to Syria, and

• Syrians currently residing in host countries who are considering, discussing, or planning return.

As part of the assignment, the consultant/team will be responsible for:

1. Refining the research framework
   Further develop and refine the research questions, ensuring they capture gendered drivers, decision-making processes, risks, and reintegration outcomes across contexts.

2. Designing a context-appropriate methodology
   Propose and apply a mixed-methods, gender-sensitive, and protection-informed research approach, combining:

• desk review of existing data and literature,

• qualitative methods (e.g. key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews), and

• where feasible, complementary quantitative data collection or analysis.

The methodology should ensure disaggregation by sex, age, and other vulnerability factors, and allow for comparative analysis across countries and population groups.

1. Defining sampling and geographic coverage
   Identify feasible and relevant locations and participant groups in each country, ensuring inclusion of diverse profiles (e.g. women, men, youth, persons with disabilities, and female-headed households).

2. Conducting data collection and analysis
   Collect and analyze primary and secondary data to generate evidence on:

• gendered return intentions and pressures,

• protection risks,

• access to services and livelihoods,

• reintegration experiences and outcomes, and

• changes in gender norms, roles, and agency across pre-displacement, displacement, and post-return contexts.

1. Producing actionable outputs
   Deliver a set of analytical outputs, including a regional report and practical recommendations to inform policy, advocacy, and programming.

Key Principles

The study will be guided by the following principles:

• Do No Harm: Ensure that all research activities minimize risks to participants and do not exacerbate existing vulnerabilities or protection concerns.

• Informed Consent: Participation must be fully voluntary, with clear explanation of the study purpose, use of data, and the right to withdraw at any time.

• Confidentiality and Data Protection: All data must be collected, stored, and reported in a manner that ensures anonymity and protects sensitive information.

• Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Approach: The research design must actively account for gender dynamics and ensure meaningful inclusion of women, men, girls, boys, and marginalized groups, while recognising them as active agents with diverse perspectives, preferences, and aspirations, rather than only as groups at risk.

• Protection-Centered Approach: All tools and interactions must be sensitive to protection risks, particularly related to GBV, child protection, and other vulnerabilities.

• Conflict Sensitivity: The study must consider the broader political and social context and avoid reinforcing tensions or harmful narratives.

Ethical and Safeguarding Requirements

The consultant/team must demonstrate a robust approach to ethics and safeguarding, including:

• Clear safeguarding protocols for working with vulnerable populations

• Procedures to ensure confidentiality, anonymity, and secure data management

• Protocols for handling distress, disclosure, or sensitive information, particularly related to GBV or protection concerns

• Identification of safe and appropriate referral pathways where needed

• Measures to avoid raising expectations related to assistance, return support, or services

All research activities must align with international ethical standards for research in humanitarian settings, particularly when engaging women, children, and other at-risk groups.

Deliverables

The consultant/team will be expected to produce the following:

1. Inception Report: Including refined research questions, methodology, sampling strategy, tools, workplan, and ethical safeguards.

2. Data Collection Tools: Draft and final versions of interview guides, FGD guides, and any survey tools, including consent protocols.

3. Preliminary Findings Presentation: A concise presentation of emerging findings for validation and feedback.

4. Draft Regional Report: Comprehensive analysis including methodology, findings, comparative insights, and initial recommendations.

5. Final Regional Report: Revised report incorporating feedback, with clear, actionable, gender-responsive recommendations.

6. Final Presentation: Presentation of key findings and recommendations to stakeholders.

Duration

The assignment is expected to be completed within 10–14 weeks. The consultant/team is expected to propose a detailed timeline as part of the inception phase.

Budget

The budget ceiling for this assignment is 16,614 JOD.

Team Requirements

The assignment may be undertaken by an individual consultant or a team, with preference for a multidisciplinary team covering the full regional scope.

Required expertise:

• Proven experience in gender analysis and feminist research approaches

• Strong knowledge of Syria displacement, return dynamics, and regional contexts (Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, Syria)

• Demonstrated expertise in qualitative and/or mixed-methods research

• Experience working on protection, GBV, or humanitarian programming

• Strong analytical and report-writing skills in English

Language requirements:

• Fluency in Arabic is required

Desirable:

• Experience working with women-led, refugee-led, or local civil society organizations

• Experience translating research into policy and advocacy outputs

Application Requirements

Interested consultants or teams are requested to submit a complete application package including the following:

1. Technical Proposal
   Including:

• Understanding of the assignment and key issues

• Proposed methodology and approach (including gender and protection considerations)

• Proposed workplan and timeline

• Team composition and roles (if applicable)

• Approach to ethics, safeguarding, and risk mitigation

1. Financial Proposal

• Detailed budget, including daily rates and estimated number of working days

• Breakdown of key cost categories (e.g. personnel, travel, data collection, translation, reporting)

1. Curriculum Vitae (CVs)

• CV(s) of the lead consultant and key team members, highlighting relevant experience

1. Relevant Work Samples

• At least 1–2 examples of similar research or analytical work, preferably related to gender, displacement, or humanitarian contexts

1. References

• Contact details for at least two professional referees for similar assignments

Submission Instructions

• Proposals should be submitted electronically to ari.jobs@actionaid.org.

• Deadline for submission: June 21, 2026

• All documents should be in PDF format.

• Regional Study on Gender Dynamics, Risks, and Decision-Making Related to Syrian Returns in Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria link :

Technical Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZwRxz-YdjLwOIMdLSjUkT4ZOhCk4pg16/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113933132343415204910&rtpof=true&sd=true

Financial Proposal: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lQNJA3Uz8Iwc9ZUKNYyXkP8PaW-G7wTk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113933132343415204910&rtpof=true&sd=true

How to apply

Submission Instructions

• Proposals should be submitted electronically to ari.jobs@actionaid.org.

• Deadline for submission: June 21, 2026

• All documents should be in PDF format.

• Regional Study on Gender Dynamics, Risks, and Decision-Making Related to Syrian Returns in Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria link :

• Technical Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZwRxz-YdjLwOIMdLSjUkT4ZOhCk4pg16/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113933132343415204910&rtpof=true&sd=true

• Financial Proposal: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lQNJA3Uz8Iwc9ZUKNYyXkP8PaW-G7wTk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113933132343415204910&rtpof=true&sd=true