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Land rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts are an increasing area of concern within the humanitarian and development communities. Conflict can often result in dramatic changes to a country’s land tenure regime and administration. Even when conflicts end, land rights may be threatened, especially for women, Internally Displaced People (IDPs), returning refugees, migrants and farm labourers. This may be due to: unclear land titling procedures; land records being destroyed accidentally or deliberately during the conflict; inadequate state capacity to respond to the mass return of IDPs and refugees; lack of, or ineffective programmes to inform people about land rights; increasing population pressure on arable land; the complex, time-consuming and expensive nature of private registration of land tenure; and gender inequalities in land rights. Secure land rights are, therefore, a critical issue for humanitarian response, sustainable peace-building and longer-term economic recovery, particularly in countries where a significant proportion of the population relies on agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The situation can be even more complex in mine-affected countries as mine/ERW contamination may deny communities access to land for decades. Despite the importance of land, humanitarian organisations typically ignore the issue, claiming it is too complex and politically sensitive. Mine action organisations also tend to sidestep the issue. In response, GICHD commissioned several country case studies (Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Yemen) in 2010 to examine what mine action organisations can do to better address land issues as part of their response to humanitarian emergencies and post-conflict recovery.
In October 2010, GICHD organised an international workshop in Cambodia, in association with CMAA, on Landmines and Land Rights in Conflict Affected Contexts. Approximately 55 participants from Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Lao PDR, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Yemen attended, representing the mine action, development and land rights communities. Based on the findings of the country case studies and the workshop discussions, GICHD published a policy brief which provides mine action practitioners with guidance on how to mainstream land rights issues into their operations. The GICHD has also compiled a list of organisations to contact for more information on land rights issues, as well as additional research and tools on land rights issues.
During the 10th Meeting of States Parties to the APMBC, GICHD organised a side event on Landmines and Land Rights in Conflict Affected Contexts, featuring speakers from the International Organisation for Migration, the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan and the SCBL Gender and Mine Action Programme. GICHD organised a side event on land rights in conflict-affected contexts during the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development on 1 November 2011 in Geneva. The side event featured experts from the the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UN-HABITAT. |
