Housing, Land & Property in Humanitarian Emergencies Skovskolen, 24 September 2013 Szilard Fricska Coordinator Global HLP Area of Responsibility
International Legal & Policy Framework UDHR (Art 25) Right to adequate housing ICESCR Art 11 o General Comment 4 Right to Adequate Housing described o General Comment 7 Forced Evictions 1951 Refugee Convention Art 21; Art 13 ICCPR Art 17; CEDAW Art 14; ICERD Art 5 Guidelines o UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement o Guiding Principles on Displacement Art 9 prevention of displacement Art 18 adequate housing Art 21 protection in displacement Art 28 return, resettlement, integration o Pinheiro Principles
Relationship: HLP and Conflict 1. Can lead to conflict (when institutions fail or when HLP issues are manipulated) 2. Can prolong conflict (grievances, territorial control or war economy based on natural resources) 3. Can delay recovery (lack of clarity re: HLP rights) 4. Can undermine peace (renewed conflict; new grievances, failure to reconcile)
Displacement Durable Solutions - No shelter - No land for livelihoods - Lost documents - Eviction - Unaffordable rents - Host community tension - Camps w/o rights - Destruction of assets - UXO/ERW contamination - Land grabbing - Secondary occupation - Ethnic/sectarian tension - Resource tensions - «Close the book» approaches
Conflict Analysis - Somaliland Structural Proximate Triggers - No int l recognition of Somaliland - decline of traditional institutions and failure of modern institutions - demographic changes (people/livestock) - economic transformation (exports) - environmental degradation - social and political fragmentation - High number of IDPs - Availability of SALW - Destabilising role of Somalia & Puntland - Remittances increase investment in resource sector - Livestock ban in 1999 and its lifting in 2009 - NGOs replace Govt service delivery (sometimes conflict insensitive) - Enclosures - Charcoal production - Water points - Boundary disputes - New settlements - Land grabbing - Drought/ Floods
HLP and Humanitarian Programming Protection Emergency Shelter Food Security/ Agriculture Mine Action
Protection Responses Incorporate HLP questions in IDP/ refugee profiling Link people to abandoned property Support to replace identity and HLP documentation Legal advice/ referral services Dispute resolution support Evictions advocacy and alternatives
Emergency Shelter Review tenure types vulnerable? Community-based adjudication Land inventory camps/transitional Treat rubble as an asset Model rental/tenant agreements Joint M/F registration of assets Tenure in hand-over certificates Building permits and codes advocacy Who is the eventual occupant?
Food Security/ Agriculture Understand the full range of tenures territorial and mobility-based De-link seeds and tools distribution from land rights Support to dispute resolution / NRM Conflict sensitive and sustainable access to water Prioritize recovery of urban markets Promote urban agriculture
Mine Action Non-Technical Survey assess tenure, disputes, future land use, land values MRE: info on HLP rights; record and report issues Priority Setting: consult women; development links and additional inputs Clearance: impact of mechanical on farms, preserve structure walls, string for boundaries Handover: public ceremony (m/f), record m/f names PDIA assess impact on livelihoods, land-use, conflict
What Support is Available from HLP AoR http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/en/areas-of-responsibility/housing-land-and-property/hlp-area-of-responsibility.html
Global HLP Area of Responsibility Established in 2007 as one AoR of the Global Protection Cluster Focus on protecting HLP rights in humanitarian emergencies Global Focal Point Agency: UN-HABITAT Overarching goal: to facilitate a more predictable, accountable and effective HLP response in humanitarian emergencies.
Partners contributing to the HLP AoR Catholic Relief Services Development Planning Unit Associates EU-UN Partnership on Land and Natural Resource Conflict Humanitarian Policy Group at Overseas Development Institute Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre International Federation of the Red Cross & Crescent Societies Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Norwegian stand-by Capacity project Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Protection stand-by Capacity projectworld Food Programme UN Development Programme UN Mine Action Service Geneva International Centre on Humanitarian Demining UN Human Settlements Programme Danish Refugee Council Displacement Solutions Oxfam Great Britain InterAction Norwegian Refugee Council International Organisation for Migration Urgence Réhabilitation Développement REACH (ACTED & Impact Initiative) UN Environment Programme World Food Programme UN High Commissioner for Refugees Joint IDP Profiling Service Danish Demining Group UNOPS United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing +Independent HLP specialists/groups
HLP coordination at country level Currently there are: Dedicated HLP groups in Protection Clusters: Afghanistan, DRC, Pakistan, South Sudan HLP embedded in overall PCs coordination: CAR, Chad, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique Nepal, opt, Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen HLP groups in non/post cluster operations: Côte d Ivoire, Burundi, Haiti, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, and Liberia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka
HLP AoR 2012-14 Workplan Strategic Objective 1 Increased global support to HLP coordination and responses in humanitarian emergencies Strategic Objective 2 Enhanced global attention to HLP through donor engagement, advocacy and mainstreaming 1.1 HeLP-desk 1.2 HLP Rapid response capacities 1.3 HLP Coordination Toolkit 1.4 HLP Training 2.1 HLP Advocacy 2.2 Donor Engagement on HLP 2.3 HLP Mainstreaming
HLP Advocacy Common Perceptions Not humanitarian Too political - Land issues root cause of many conflicts & disaster impacts - Failure to act early puts more lives and rights at risk - Can lead to perpetual cycle of emergency & response - Intl Community s value-added is its political role - Political risks can be managed - Engaging Government and Donors critical Too technical - Not everyone has to become an HLP expert - Know your limits and «Do No Harm» - Support is available
HLP in Humanitarian emergencies Saving lives and preserving dignity: lack of housing and land after crises puts people in life and healththreatening situations, undermines their dignity and expose them to a range of protection risks. Mitigating disasters and conflicts: inadequate landuse and weak protection of HLP rights increases the negative impacts of disasters; conflicts related to land and natural resources often re-emerge if these issues are not efficiently addressed. Enabling humanitarian action: access to safe and secure land for humanitarian purposes; HLP documents required to access relief assistance.
Actions that Make a Difference Preparedness & Prevention - back up land records - address discriminatory laws/ policies - monitor concessions - secure customary and informal rights - infrastructure improvements - improve land use planning Emergency Recovery Reconstruction - secure land records/archives - document rights and claims of IDPs & refugees - land inventory for shelter, camps, etc -no discrimination based on tenure - assess land risks for humanitarian - coordination - communities ID boundaries - mediate disputes - info and legal advice; civil docs - no evictions - link shelter and security of tenure - joint (M/F) registering of land & property -review existing concessions - land for landless - improved benefit sharing deals - new land policy - land reform - land law reform - review urban plans & regs - mainstream DRR in infra - civil society strengthening - donor coordination
Issues to Consider How often do DRC staff experience HLP issues? Which ones? Where? How do DRC staff address HLP issues currently? Is the response adequate?
Thank you! For more information, please contact Szilard Fricska Coordinator, HLP AoR fricska.unhabitat@unog.ch http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/en/areas-of-responsibility/housing-land-and-property/hlp-area-of-responsibility.html