NEW PUBLICATION! Policy Directions: Housing, Land and Property Solutions to Resolve and Prevent Displacement
The twenty-first century has witnessed an unprecedented surge in global displacement. Over the past five years, internal displacement has risen sharply, with the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) increasing by 51 per cent. By the end of 2023, 75.9 million people were living in internal displacement, having been forced out of their homes due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, human rights violations and abuses and the adverse effects of socio-economic trends. In the Middle East and North Africa alone, more than 13 million people are internally displaced as of 2024.
Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights issues have a direct impact on displaced populations as well as the immediate operational work of humanitarian and recovery actors. If not addressed appropriately, HLP issues can directly prevent the achievement of durable solutions, and they may undermine stabilization and recovery, and the realisation of broader development goals.
First presented in the occasion of the Twelfth World Urban Forum held in Cairo, Egypt, the document “Policy Directions: Housing, Land and Property Solutions to Resolve and Prevent Displacement” was developed by UN-Habitat and the Global Land Tool Network with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany as a contribution to the UN Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement.
The document outlines the importance of developing a common vision for land and housing, land and property (HLP) rights, and provides an analysis and comprehensive set of land and HLP solutions to resolve and prevent displacement. The document: (1) analyses internal displacement and other forms of internal and cross-border population movements from the land and HLP perspective; (2) provides a set of land and HLP solutions to resolve and prevent displacement, articulated in three categories: humanitarian protection, recovery and resilience; and (3) describes enabling factors necessary to address and prevent displacement.
The publication draws on 24 case studies of durable solutions in displacement-affected contexts, of which 15 from the Arab region. These include, among others, recording and safeguarding Syrian refugees’ HLP rights and supporting evidence; building back better through spatial planning and reconstruction of housing in Gaza, Palestine; participatory planning, identification of suitable areas for settling displaced people and returnees to prevent conflicts with host communities and establishment of a fit-for-purpose land recordation system in Darfur, Sudan; land administration and land rights for peace and development in Libya; assessing and improving the low-income rental housing market in Lebanon; site selection and planning for the spatial integration of IDPs in Berbera, Somalia; and restitution, compensation, disputes’ resolution and addressing historical grievances related to properties in Iraq.
Download the policy document below: