Solutions at Scale: Overcoming Land as a Driver of Conflict and Bottleneck to Recovery - Paper

Solutions at Scale: Overcoming Land as a Driver of Conflict and Bottleneck to Recovery - PPT

Re-Establishing an Asset Base and Protecting Access to Productive Resources in Post-Conflict Areas of Northern Uganda

Re-Establishing an Asset Base and Protecting Access to Productive Resources in Post-Conflict Areas of Northern Uganda

Based on the experiences of Amerindian communities in Guyana, this briefing presents some of the main causes of forest conflicts in the country as well as recommendations for how to address these. In particular, the document presents the following points: 

• Lack of full recognition of indigenous peoples’ land rights in line with international law, absence of effective FPIC procedures and limited transparency in forest governance are key underlying causes of forest-related conflicts in Guyana; 

This is the first of a series of consultations on the human rights challenges and dilemmas involved in the
acquisition and use of land – held individually or collectively - for private or state-owned business and
economic purposes. The aim of the series of consultations is to develop a framework that leads to an end of
human rights abuses at any stage of the process – before acquisition, during acquisition, and after operations
have commenced and, if necessary, relocation and rehabilitation arranged, and compensation paid.

Rwanda is a small, landlocked country with an area of 26,338 square kilometres, only 52% of which is used or developed. The country has a population of nearly ten million people, with a population growth rate of 3.1% and a high urbanisation rate of 8% a year. The average population density for the country as a whole has been estimated at 330 persons per km in 2002, making it one of the highest density levels in Africa. This stimulates a high demand for housing, especially in urban areas where 25,000 new dwelling units are said to be needed annually.

This Policy & Practice Brief analyses the role of traditional institutions for conflict resolution, paying special attention to their relevance in post-conflict societies. Using Rwanda’s abunzi mediation system as an example, the brief considers traditional African mechanisms for conflict resolution as unique, context-specific, and responsive to the justice needs of societies emerging from conflict.

More than eleven years after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda might be an internally pacified, but by far not unified nation. There are different factors, which threaten the fragile social equilibrium. The issue of land is one of them. Land has long been a scarce and disputed resource in Rwanda. Ongoing shortages due to decreasing soil quality, growing population pressure and unequal distribution, as well as a lack of income generating alternatives beyond agriculture create an extremely precarious future to the national economy of the small, landlocked country.

Many authors contend that ethnic extremism coupled with political manipulation were the primary factors behind the Rwandan genocide. Yet, to oversimplify the cause of this tragedy makes one blind to the complicated nexus that generated the outcome. Even though this genocide was quick in its execution, the events that lead to this massacre took years to unfold. We argue that the evolution of human capital and the competition for scarce resources contributed to the genocide.

This report is part of a broader comparative effort by As the author worked with colleagues in Rwanda,
two other important dimensions of the Rwandan
experience became clear. Refugee return and land
access in Rwanda has been an extraordinarily
complex matter, with some refugees leaving just in
time for others returning to take up their homes and
lands. Rwanda has important lessons to teach us
about the need to maintain flexibility in dealing with
complexity, and raises questions about whether

Africa’s Great Lakes Region has in recent years experienced
political strife, armed conflict and population displacements
with severe humanitarian consequences. While these events
have clearly revolved around political struggles for the control
of the state, recent research has pointed to the significance
of access to renewable natural resources as structural causes
and sustaining factors in struggles for power in the region.
Contested rights to land and natural resources are significant,