Land and Conflict in the Arab Region: Advancing Housing, Land and Property Rights of Displaced Persons

On 9 September, the Arab Land Initiative and UN-Habitat, in partnership with the Netherlands Enterprise and Development Agency (RVO) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), hosted a one-hour webinar attended by nearly 100 participants from across the region and beyond. The session provided a platform to share experiences, achievements, and lessons learned on land and conflict and the protection of housing, land and property (HLP) rights of displace people form research and field interventions in conflict-affected contexts throughout the Arab region.

Ranked the least peaceful region in the world for the tenth consecutive year, according to the Global Peace Index, the Arab region faces overlapping crises: rapid urbanization and population growth, climate stress, and intense competition for scarce natural resources. Conflicts and disasters have displaced over 30 million people, including 11 million refugees, and destroyed vast amounts of housing and infrastructure, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated conflict-sensitive approaches to land governance across the Arab region. Securing the HLP rights of displaced people and returnees is not only a humanitarian imperative but also a cornerstone for recovery, stability, and peace.  

Mariam Jaajaa from the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature opened the discussion with a stark analysis of how land-related conflicts are undermining the region’s stability and development. She noted that the Arab region faces some of the world’s highest levels of land inequality, with a Gini coefficient above 0.65, and possesses one of the lowest shares of arable land per capita (OECD-FAO, 2018). Despite this scarcity, the region cultivates only one-third of its arable land and relies on the highest food import rates globally, leaving about 40 percent of its population food insecure.

Mariam emphasised that land can be a root cause of conflict, a trigger for violence, a bottleneck to recovery, and also a victim of war. She shared findings from the Arab Group’s upcoming study on Land and Conflict in the Arab Region, including a detailed case study on Palestine, and called for further research and stronger dispute-resolution mechanisms to address this nexus and ensure accurate, locally owned narratives and solutions.

Javier Prieto, Programme Manager at UN-Habitat Iraq, presented the project “Policy Dialogue on Legislative Reform to Improve Land Governance and Secure Tenure Rights,” launched in September 2023 and running through September 2026. Funded by LAND-at-Scale through the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development and managed by RVO, the initiative focuses on Ninewa Governorate, with a particular emphasis on Sinjar.

Implemented in collaboration with the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), the project takes a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach: policy reform through structured dialogues with public and private stakeholders; capacity building based on a detailed needs assessment, with tailored training modules; legal assistance to help individuals reconstruct ownership documentation or submit compensation claims; and community engagement to ensure inclusive participation and local ownership. 

Key achievements to date include legal assistance for 1,231 occupancy certificates, resulting in the issuance of 996 official title deeds, and support for 500 compensation claims. Awareness-raising efforts have reached over 2,000 beneficiaries through 26 dedicated sessions, while six training workshops have strengthened the capacity of local authorities and NGOs. This integrated approach promotes long-term stability and justice by enabling displaced populations to reclaim their rights and rebuild their lives on a foundation of secure land tenure.

Eleonora Serpi, Associate Programme Manager and Co-coordinator of the Global HLP Area of Responsibility at UN-Habitat, presented the project Safeguarding Evidence of Housing, Land and Property Rights of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon and Iraq. Implemented from May 2020 to June 2025, in collaboration with a diverse network of partners including GLTN, SAWA, UTOPIA, PARD, LOST, Basmeh and Zeitooneh, IOM, NRC, and UNHCR, the project used the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) and KoboToolbox to register refugee HLP claims and evidence to residential and non-residential properties in Syria, along the tenure continuum. By the end of the implementation, the project reached nearly half a million Syrians and collected over 33,000 HLP claims, benefitting approximately 72,000 individuals, half of whom are women and girls. This data has been analysed to inform the conceptualisation of housing, land and property interventions in Syria and in the neighbouring countries, and it is expected to support future restitution or compensation processes inside Syria, especially where properties have been illegally occupied, transacted, or destroyed.

For more information 

• Watch the Recording and download the presentations (find links below)
• Consult the e-library collecting key publications from UN-Habitat, GLTN, the Arab Land Initiative and their partners, RVO, the HLP AoR, NRC and Land Portal on land and conflict and the protection of HLP rights of displaced persons