The Conference on Housing, Land, and Property Rights in Crisis Contexts held in June 2023 brought together professionals, academics, donors, the private sector, the United Nations, international organizations, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations specializing in land tenure and property.
The conference sought to share experiences and practices related to housing, land and property (HLP) issues faced by displaced and at-risk communities to build a community of practice and identify steps forward. The conference also looked at HLP rights for marginalized communities within the United States–particularly Puerto Rico–to share learnings with colleagues working internationally.
Key Takeaways
Understand how HLP rights link to climate, both in terms of how access to HLP rights can support climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation measures and how climate change impacts HLP rights.
● Understand how HLP rights intersect with many humanitarian sectors including protection, shelter, WASH, food security, nutrition, health, education, and others.
● Train humanitarian actors across sectors on how to conduct HLP due diligence.
● Share land rights mapping and recording tools with humanitarian aid implementing organizations.
● Continue to refine and develop approaches to demystify HLP to promote engagement of humanitarian actors on the concepts of tenure, security of tenure, tenure agreements, tenure systems, forced eviction, and due diligence.
● Create an online Community of Practice to continue discussion on HLP rights in crisis contexts between conferences.
● Support the development of HLP country briefs as an educational tool or pro-bono activity.