Land, Property and Conflict

• Identify a range of complex land and property disputes and assess their relation to a particular conflict;
• Understand the various mandates and entry points of international actors with regard to land and property disputes;
• Assess the desirability of a range of intervention options for addressing land and property disputes in a given context;
• Apply lessons learned from several case studies of complex conflict-related land and property disputes;
• Understand and apply over-arching “principles of engagement” to interventions related to land and property disputes.

Land, Property and Conflict Course

INTERNATIONAL ACTORS AND MANDATES

• Map the range of international actors engaged in land and property issues
• Understand the various mandates, perspectives and entry points of these actors and how this has evolved

NATIONAL ACTORS AND FRAMEWORKS

• Map the national actors engaged on land and property issues
• Understand different national legal frameworks for land and property, including customary law and legal pluralism 

INSECURE TENURE

• Explore how tenure insecurity can lead to conflict
• Understand forms and causes of tenure insecurity
• Case studies: Sudan, Kenya, China

FORCED MIGRATION AND DISPLACEMENT

• Understand forced migration and displacement in conflict
• Explore the land and property aspects of displacement and return
• Critically assess the emerging international legal framework 
• Case Study: Forestry and Conflict in Liberia 

LAND GRABS AND THE “NATURAL RESOURCE CURSE”

• Resource Persons: John Bruce and Deborah Isser
• Understand the nature and scope of the issues
• Examine entry points for engagement
• Case Study:Land Grabbing in Burma

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

• Explore how to protect and/or preserve land rights in crisis
• Provide overview of mapping and data
• Case-study: land and shelter in Haiti

LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION

• Programming to support legal protection of property rights
• Programming to support land reform (redistribution, land use management, access to housing) 

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE CONSIDERATIONS AND POSTCONFLICT LAND ISSUES

• Explore relevance and impact of transitional justice for addressing post-conflict land issues
• Highlight conditions for victims-centered approach 
• Case Study: Addressing Land from a Peace Building Perspective in the Democratic Republic of Congo 

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• Programming to support peaceful means of resolving disputes related to displacement and otherwise
• From property claims commissions to community mediation