Durable Housing, Land and Property Solutions for Customary Displacement Contexts

Each year increasing numbers of people are forcibly displaced from their homes because of conflict, violence, human rights abuses, natural disasters, climate change and socio-economic transformations that marginalize local communities. Many remain within their country of origin but lose access to their homes and livelihoods. 

Housing, Land and Property (HLP) issues underlie all aspects of displacement and must be resolved to prevent it, mitigate its impact and ensure durable solutions. Displacement often occurs from or to customary and communal lands, where housing, land and property rights are outside the formal land registration system, and rules regulating land allocation and management are unwritten. 

The paper "Durable Housing, Land and Property Solutions for Customary Displacement Contexts", developed by UN-Habitat and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) with financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany, analyses case studies from seven countries, including Somalia and Sudan. It provides evidence-based recommendations on how to prevent or provide durable solutions to displacement in customary contexts through housing, land and property rights interventions. The case studies explore various scenarios such as voluntary return, local integration and relocation in other locations, while also highlighting measures to prevent internal displacement. You can download the full report below.