Claims to land and territory are often a cause of conflict, and land issues present some of the most contentious problems for post-conflict peacebuilding. Among the land-related problems that emerge during and after conflict are the exploitation of land-based resources in the absence of authority, the disintegration of property rights and institutions, the territorial effect of battlefield gains and losses, and population displacement. In the wake of violent conflict, reconstitution of a viable land-rights system is crucial: an effective post-conflict land policy can foster economic recovery, help restore the rule of law, and strengthen political stability. But the reestablishment of land ownership, land use, and access rights for individuals and communities is often complicated and problematic, and poor land policies can lead to renewed tensions.
In twenty-one chapters by twenty-five authors, this book considers experiences with, and approaches to, post-conflict land issues in seventeen countries and in varied social and geographic settings. Highlighting key concepts that are important for understanding how to address land rights in the wake of armed conflict, the book provides a theoretical and practical framework for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students.
Land and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative to identify and analyze lessons in post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management. The project has generated six edited books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in the series address high-value resources, water, livelihoods, assessing and restoring resources, and governance.
Foreword 1. Land: A Foundation for Peacebuilding Part 1: Peace Negotiations Introduction 1. The Abyei Territorial Dispute between North and South Sudan: Why has its Resolution Proven Difficult? 2. Land Tenure and Peace Negotiations in Mindanao, Philippines Part 2: Response to Displacement and Dispossession Introduction 3. The Role of Restitution in Post-conflict Situations 4. Land Issues in Post-conflict Return and Recovery 5. Return of Land in Post-conflict Rwanda: International Standards, Improvisation, and the Role of International Humanitarian Organizations 6. Post-conflict Land Tenure Issues in Bosnia: Privatization and the Politics of Reintegrating the Displaced 7. Angola: Land resources and conflict 8. Refugees and Legal Reform in Iraq: The Iraqi Civil Code, International Standards for the Treatment of Displaced Persons and the Art of Attainable Solutions Part 3: Land Management Introduction 9. Snow Leopards and Cadastres: Rare Sightings in Post-conflict Afghanistan 10. Community Documentation of Land Tenure and its Contribution to State-building in Afghanistan 11. Title Wave: Land Tenure and Peacebuilding in Aceh 12. Beyond Land Redistribution: Lessons learned from El Salvador’s Unfulfilled Agrarian Revolution 13. Institutional Aspects of Resolving Land Disputes in Post-conflice Socities 14. Rebuilding Peace: Land and Water Management in the Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq 15. Transboundary Resource Management Strategies in the Pamir Mountain Region of Tajikistan Part 4: Laws and Policies Introduction 16. Title through Possession or Position? Respect for Housing, Land, and Property Rights in Cambodia 17. Land Conflicts and Land Registration in Cambodia 18. Legal Frameworks and Land Issues in Muslim Mindanao 19. Unexplored Dimensions: Islamic Land Systems in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, and Somalia 20. Customary Law and Community-based Natural Resource Management in Post-conflict Timor-Leste Part 5: Lessons Learned 21. Lessons Learned in Land Tenure and Natural Resource Management in Post-conflict Societies
Jon Unruh is a Professor of Geography at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Rhodri C. Williams is a human rights lawyer who specializes in land and forced-migration issues.
