Protecting and strengthening the land tenure of vulnerable groups

Disputes over land access and control often escalate into violence and conflict leading to dispossession and forced displacement within and across borders. Estimates indicate that 56 percent of conflicts are related to land and that most conflicts take place in developing countries. At the end of 2015, 95 percent of the 65 million refugees and internally displaced people were living in developing countries. The central role of land to livelihood, identity and power, most notably in rural-based economies explains why disputes over access and control of land frequently escalates into armed conflict and mass displacement. This Note is part of a series of World Bank Thematic Guidance Notes on land and conflict that present key issues, challenges and guiding principles to address land tenure issues in conflict and post-conflict environments. The audience for these Notes is both laymen and practitioners who are preparing a project or program in a conflict or post-conflict setting, including multi-lateral and bi-lateral institutions, governments, NGOs and others. These Guidance Notes seek to provide guidance on where to start and what questions to ask, not to be an exhaustive ‘how to’ for land and conflict issues. While these Notes are meant to stand alone, they are inter-related and may cross-reference relevant material from other Notes.