In many cases, support for displaced women is only provided as an ‘add-on’ to existing humanitarian programmes. In other cases, humanitarian programmes may unintentionally reinforce existing inequalities, to the detriment of women´s rights. In this context, NRC presented two research projects to look at different aspects of displaced women´s housing, land and property rights in Ecuador and Gaza, during the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty.
The Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty organized by the World Bank Development Economic Research Group (DECRG), held in March 2015, was a key global event where representatives from governments, civil society, academia, the development community, and the private sector came together to discuss new developments and progress on land policy and implementation. The conference aimed to foster dialogue and sharing of best practices on the diversity of reforms, approaches and experiences that are being implemented in land sectors around the world. A special focus on access to land for women was considered.
The reports presented by NRC document the main challenges for displaced, refugee and returnee women’s housing, land and property rights, considering the national legal and social context and the role of customary justice mechanisms in securing these rights.
Housing, land and property rights in Gaza, Ecuador and Panama
Report: Post-conflict Land Tenure Challenges and Opportunities in the Gaza Strip
In July and August 2014, the Gaza Strip suffered its third war in six years. As a result of the conflict approximately five per cent of the housing units in the Gaza Strip were rendered uninhabitable; an estimated 16,000 housing units were either totally destroyed or severely damaged and more than 117,000 people were displaced. Additionally over 70 per cent of private land in Gaza remains unregistered, whilst 30 per cent of the land in Gaza has not been surveyed, further complicating the protection of land rights.
The presentation performed focus on the challenges to and opportunities for improving security of tenure against the backdrop of the recent war and the depressing task of rebuilding Gaza once again. Based on recent conflict, humanitarian needs and political context, the presentation summarised the challenges in registering land, particularly when much of the land in Gaza remains unsurveyed, are highlighted. The case was made that the dire humanitarian needs of internally displaced people for shelter and transitional housing may in fact present some significant opportunities to promote tenure security, such as through completion of the land survey, combined with a range of other land law initiatives.
Report: Securing land rights for Colombian refugee women in Ecuador and Panama
The armed conflict in Colombia causes constant forced displacement into neighbouring countries. Ecuador is the country receiving the highest number of Colombian refugees. By the end of 2013, 135.588 people living in a refugee-like situation were registered in Ecuador by UNHCR, with an average of 1.000 new claims each month. In Panama, UNHCR estimates that 18.297 people are living in a refugee-like situations, mostly in urban areas or marginalised suburbs. However the rate of recognition of refugee status for Colombian asylum seekers is generally low in the region. This low rate of recognition leaves most of people in need of international protection without regular status and documentation in those countries, generating important implications and barriers for access to land.
The presentation performed described the situation of Colombian women that face a range of social, psychological, cultural and economic difficulties in exercising their housing, land and property rights. Moreover, the paper presented by NRC, stressed that the lack of access to housing and land undermines lasting solutions to displacement and perpetuates the protection risks for these populations.
