The Initiative

The Arab region – defined as the 22 countries part of the League of Arab States – occupies a strategic position at the intersection of Europe, Africa, and Asia. 

Its fast-growing 453 million population, comparable to the one of the European Union, is concentrated on only 4 per cent of its land, along the coast and the few rivers. Such distribution enhances the vulnerability to climate change related to the rise of sea levels and the salinization of the freshwater tables, heightens the competition over the scarce habitable and arable lands and the tensions between urban and rural land uses. Good land use management and mitigation of related conflicts is a priority in the region.

60 percent of the people live in urban areas, a quarter in informal settlements. The high urbanisation rates – expected to reach 70 per cent by 2050 – presents both opportunities and challenges. While Arab cities are vibrant centres of economic, cultural and social activity, unregulated urbanization creates inefficient and unhealthy living environments that exacerbate vulnerability, exclusion and inequalities in the access to land and housing, public spaces, services and infrastructure. 

Over the last three decades, the cost of land has escalated to unaffordable levels, causing a chronic lack of adequate affordable housing, the spread of informal settlements and segmented land markets. This has contributed to the high proportion of urban dwellers living in informal settlements or inadequate housing. Improving land management in urban and peri-urban areas is crucial for sustainable and inclusive urbanisation and to enable Arab cities to play their role as engines of social and economic growth. 

With a few noticeable exceptions, particularly of small and high-income countries, land administration in the region is outdated, dysfunctional, institutionally fragmented, paper-based and non-transparent. Land administration reforms that are fit-for-purpose, supported by new technologies, and providing benefits to the whole population - including the most vulnerable, the poor and the women – are needed. 

Over the past decades, inequalities have been sharply rising in the Arab region. This led to the increasing concentration of agricultural and valuable urban land in the hands of a few powerful, wealthy and politically connected elites and transnational companies. Communal land rights have been eroded and speculative land uses have been privileged over productive land uses. 

The region hosts over 40 million migrants and over 21 million displaced by conflicts and climate change. The violent conflicts of the in the past decade often have causes rooted in land and resulted in mass displacement and violations of housing, land and property rights. 

The Arab region is by far the most affected by climate change. Increased temperatures, desertification, land degradation, droughts and water scarcity are worsening. This aggravates food insecurity, already compounded by the small areas dedicated to food production, increased population pressure, and the overall declining investment in rural productive land uses. Rural poverty and climate change contribute to the migration to urban centres. Cities and towns are increasingly functioning as safety valves that accommodate migrants and people displaced by conflict and climate change. The mechanisms for the provision of adequate housing and land for economic, cultural and recreational activities will have to be enhanced. 

Women - especially those affected by conflict, displacement and migration - are lagging behind in terms of access to land and property rights, access to credit for the purchase and use of land for economic activities, and overall participation in jobs and services in the land sector. 

Improving land governance and making access to land more inclusive and transparent will be crucial for sustainable development, peace and stability, and for the realisation of human rights, both in the expanding urban areas and in the increasingly fragile agricultural and rangelands areas, as defined in Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 5, 11, 15 and 16 of Goals and in the New Urban Agenda.