Project description
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There is increasing international recognition of the need to address land and property issues as part and parcel of a national development strategy, particularly for vulnerable groups such as IDPs and refugees. Decades of conflict and insecurity have created multiple waves of displacement and return in the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa. The area is home to some 12 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and some 10 million refugees. Many of these families do not have lost land to secondary occupants or have no legal proof of their land rights. Others do not have security of tenure in the places in which they have settled, whether in their home country or in a foreign country.
UN-HABITAT and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Secretariat will collaborate to strengthen the capacity of Governments and practitioners to understand and address the land and property issues related to IDPs and refugees in four pilot ICGLR Member States. In 2006, the 11 ICGLR Member States signed a Peace and Security Pact that includes protocols related to IDP/refugee land and property rights that are to be adapted to national legal and institutional frameworks.
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Location: Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa |
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Branch: |
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Partner: UN-HABITAT,Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania ,Zambia |
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Themes: |
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Budget: USD 459,000 |
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Received/Pledged: |
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Focus Area(s)
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Background
Following decades of endemic conflict and persistent insecurity in the region, 11 Heads of State and Government of the Great Lakes Region met in Tanzania in November 2004 to sign the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration. The Declaration commits Member States – namely Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia – to work collectively for peace and development in the region. This grouping became the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). In December 2006, the 11 Member States signed the Pact on Peace, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region. The Pact provides the legal framework for cooperation and for the implementation of the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration, including its 10 protocols and 4 Programmes of Action. The Pact entered into force on 21st June 2008. Two protocols are of specific relevance to this proposal: first, the Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, which commits Member States to “adopt and implement the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,” (Article 12 of the Pact); and, second, the Protocol on Property Rights of Returning Persons, which commits Member States “to provide legal protection for the property of internally displaced persons and refugees” (Article 13 of the Pact), including the adoption of legal principles and the creation of a legal framework for resolving property related disputes.These two protocols reflect a growing international recognition of the need to address land issues as part of conflict transformation and development processes. Land and natural resources are often the object of conflicts – people and communities fighting for control of territory. Fighting over land can also prolong conflict, providing financial resources or historical grievances that can sustain conflict for decades. At the same time, the failure to address land issues can undermine hard-won development gains and lead to a return to conflict.While peace agreements have been concluded in Burundi, Southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, enormous challenges remain in identifying and facilitating the conditions necessary for sustainable solutions for the internally displaced and refugees in these countries. Land and property issues have remained a challenge for those in displacement and upon their return.
Objective
- Increased Government and practitioner capacity to address the land and property issues of displaced persons and refugees in selected ICGLR Member States
Target Group
- Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia
