message from this report, would be the same: youth are still differentially disadvantaged compared to other segments of the population.

The main sources of quantitative data for this study are the Sudan 2009 National Baseline Household Survey (NBHS) and the 2014/15 National Household Budget and Poverty Survey (NHBPS). Both surveys, conducted by Sudan’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), employed a two-stage stratified cluster design in which the enumeration areas were selected in the first stage based on the 2008 Census, and individual households were randomly selected in the second stage following household listing exercises in the selected enumeration areas. The sample was designed to be representative both at the national and state levels, accounting for 8,000 and 11,953 households in 2009 and 2014, respectively. These sources are complemented by additional data sources such as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2014); World Development Indicators (WDI) database; Doing Business (2019); the Women, Business and the Law (WBL) database (2021); the Enterprise Survey (2014); Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex 2011– 2014); the Afrobarometer (2018); and the Arab Barometer (2018). Econometric analysis was used to examine the determinants of some outcome variables relevant for women and youth.

Additional information has been drawn from existing empirical literature and country-specific resources, including a review of the current legal and policy framework. The literature review focuses on the perspectives of anthropological, sociological, and gender studies. Given the limited literature specifically focusing on women and youth in Sudan, before conducting the literature review, the team reached out to a number of leading scholars of Sudan, including Balghis Badri, Nafisa Bedri, Janice Boddy, Ellen Gruenbaum, Sondra Hale, Shadia Mohammed, Nada Mustafa Ali, and Harry Verhoeven, who recommended particular scholars’ work. The literature review includes academic monographs, peer reviewed journal articles, and reports from the World Bank and UN organizations, in combination with descriptive survey data from the World Bank, the Arab Barometer, and others. Selected online news sites, such as Dabanga, were also referenced.

The qualitative research element of the study provides a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the binding constraints on women and youth from both the supply and demand side of jobs by conducting focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) in three different states of Sudan. A survey firm (Consulsat) was hired to develop and implement qualitative research instruments to improve the understanding of the constraints both women and youth face in joining and staying in the labor force, finding a job, and accessing self-employment. A total of 33 FGDs with different segments of youth and women (urban/rural, employed/unemployed, and so on) were carried out regarding issues such as access to information, decision-making power and processes, and challenges to enter and stay in the workforce. The FGDs, 12 each in Khartoum and Madani and 9 in Nyala, were conducted separately with men, women, male youth, and female youth. The focus group participants had varying levels of education—primary school to post-secondary education. In-depth interviews with employers (28) include employers’ concerns, policies, and experiences related to hiring and retaining young people and women. The KIIs and FGDs were conducted in Arabic and then translated into English. The data were coded and then compiled, according to themes, in Excel spreadsheets. In addition to shedding light on urban/rural divides, the qualitative work highlights regional differences in three different states where services, agriculture, and industries are the predominant employment sectors: Khartoum (Khartoum State), Madani (Al-Gezira 5