O acampamento de “Sem Terra” ( Assentameno Alegre), do Pov. Alto Bonito, município de Riachão, Maranhão – Brasil, foi criado em 08 de junho de 2003 por trabalhadores rurais sem terra com o objetivo de conquistar uma área para o sustento. Após alguns meses decidiram acampar as margens da Rodovia Federal - BR 230, entre os povoados Alto Bonito e o Povoado Posto Fiscal.

El Asentamiento Ka`atygue, se encuentra localizado a 30 km del distrito de Santa Rosa del Lima, en el Departamento de Misiones ubicado en la Región Oriental del país, distante a unos 248 km de Asunción, Capital de Paraguay.

The webinar Land Rights for Slum Dwellers in the East Indian State Odisha: Making technology work for the urban poor took place on 14 February, 2018. 

The webinar discussed anecdotes of the land rights policy in the state, application of innovative technology, processes and partnerships in the project execution and best practices followed in gaining rights for slum dwellers. 

This report provides a brief summary of the webinar dialogue and the main points that emerged.

Four years ago, I was part of a research team looking at access to land and basic services in informal settlements.

We conducted field interviews in Mukuru slums in Eastlands. We were amazed at the levels of development in the area. People were constructing permanent structures despite the fact that they were under the impression that informal settlements are characterised by temporary structures.

Four years later, there are ongoing discussions to address the plight of informal settlements. A fundamental starting point is to address issues of tenure security.

Formal land administration systems in developing countries have failed to cope with the wide range of land rights that have evolved under non-formal land tenure arrangements. Urban informal settlements in particular pose a challenge to existing land administration infrastructure in these countries. The tenure types, land rights and spatial units found in such settlements are inconsistent with the provisions of existing land law. Conventional land administration approaches can not work in these settlements.

The World Bank (2015) classifies Kenya as a lower middle income country and one of East Africa‘s fastest growing economies. According to Society for International Development (SID) however, Kenya remains one of the most unequal societies when compared to of Uganda and Tanzania (SID, 2004). Inequality therefore remains a key challenge to Kenya. In order to respond to this challenge, there is need for a clear understanding of the causes, nature, effects and manifestations of socio-economic inequalities (SID, 2006).

The practice of forced eviction is a global phenomenon. Between 1995 and 2005, a survey covering only ten countries, showed that over ten million people were forcibly evicted. These people were left homeless and subject to deeper poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. A number of such evictions involve entire communities of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. Such communities are invariably evicted against their will and in most cases without any compensation or alternative housing.

The main aim of the study was to examine water provision in informal settlements in Nyeri town. The objectives of the study were; to identify the current water sources in Nyeri‟s informal settlements, assess the current levels of mains provision in the informal settlements, to identify and suggest ways of ensuring a sustainable method(s) of providing water services to the informal settlements within the municipality. The provision of this crucial service particularly in informal settlements is a major challenge and cannot be expanded at the desired rate.

The ‘Price Penalty’ exists where a poor person pays an above-average price per unit of the facility, product, or service. The ‘Quality Penalty’ refers to the provision of a facility, product, or service of low quality, which is still offered at a price similar to that of higher-quality.

Providing formal titles to residents in densely populated informal settlements without fuelling conflict or encouraging gentrification presents several challenges. It has been argued that, in some contexts, forms of collective tenure such as a Community Land Trust may help to overcome some of these problems. This paper analyses one attempt to legalise informal tenure arrangements, minimise relocation and prevent gentrification by introducing collective titling in an informal settlement in Nairobi.

The Constitution of Kenya provides that every citizen has the right to property. The provision ensures that an individual or group of people that acquire land have the protection to own this property if acquired lawfully. Individuals living in informal settlements then have a right to have property when acquired through proper means. Even though there are processes in progress to address the issue of securing tenure rights in informal settlements by the government.

Contains cleaning up the mess at Lands? – an exclusive interview with Hon. Amos Kimunya, Minister for Lands and Settlement; land: political patronage’s greatest weapon – an interview with Odenda Lumumba, National Coordinator, Kenya Land Alliance; corruption thriving in informal settlements – an interview with Jane Weru, Executive Director, Pamoja Trust; land: Kenya’s simmering powder keg by Odindo Opiata, Kituo cha Sheria; land rights for poor people key to poverty reduction, growth – World Bank (Policy Research Report).