FAO guide on Access to rural land and land administration after violent conflicts

The FAO guide on Access to rural land and land administration after violent conflicts has been prepared to assist land tenure and land administration specialists who are involved with the reconstruction of systems of land tenure and land administration in countries that are emerging from violent conflict. Providing secure access to land is particularly complex in such situations. Violent conflicts typically result in the displacement of much of the population. At the end of the conflict, people returning home may find that others occupy their property. There may be several competing, legitimate claims to the same land as a result of successive waves of displacement.

Many people may not be able to recover their lands and have to settle elsewhere. At the same time, weak capacity in central and local levels of government may hamper the process of resolving claims to land, and especially claims of the vulnerable which almost invariably include women and children, and may also include ethnic or political minorities.

The guide provides advice on specific issues that should be considered by land tenure and land administration specialists when working in post-conflict situations. It provides an overview of the conditions that typically exist in a country after a violent conflict, and shows why it is important to resolve issues of access to land and land administration. The guide identifies key aspects that should be analysed during initial assessments, and gives examples of short-term actions that may be implemented relatively quickly. It presents policy considerations for the restitution of land to rightful claimants and the resettlement of people who are landless or who cannot return to their homes.