Beneficiary Identification and Land Rights Workshop

1. Beneficiary identification and land rights 224 South Africa, 2008 This workshop looks at the purpose, advantages and process of beneficiary identification, and the issues of land rights and protection during transitional settlement and reconstruction

2. Workshop objectives ! • The key learning objectives of this workshop are to form an • understanding of: • Workshop: listing beneficiaries identification criteria • 2. Presentation: beneficiary selection and vulnerability • 3. Presentation:land rights and protection during transitional settlement and transitional reconstruction

3. 15 mins Workshop Key point Working in pairs, use handout in participant folder to list criteria that you have used for beneficiary identification Discussion in pairs Each pair agrees a key point

4. Workshop objectives ! • The key learning objectives of this workshop are to form an • understanding of: • Worskshop: listing beneficiaries identification criteria • 2. Presentation: beneficiary selection and vulnerability • 3. Presentation:land rights and protection during transitional settlement and transitional reconstruction

5. Purpose of beneficiary identification • For beneficiary identification, governments and humanitarian organisations need a defined and agreed acceptance criteria based on need and vulnerability. • The purpose of beneficiary identification is to determine the type and level of support required in transitional settlement and reconstruction, by understanding: • who has been impacted, to determine the scale of response • how they’ve been impacted, to determine the priorities of response • their needs and vulnerability, to determine the nature of response • their legal rights, such as land tenure, to determine how they may be assisted Mozambique, 2000

6. Beneficiaries:checklist for identification • A checklist of 10 activities may inform the process of • beneficiary identification: • 1. agree a strategy for beneficiary identification • 2. agree criteria for beneficiary identification • 3. agree criteria for group and individual vulnerability • 4. communicate strategy and criteria to the population • 5. interview the affected population • 6. announce preliminary beneficiary list • 7. over an agreed period, support a complaints procedure • 8. select beneficiaries • 9. publish the beneficiary list • 10. review and repeat

7. Beneficiaries:transitional settlement • Accurate beneficiary identificationfor displaced • populations is vital to the provision of support • When identifying beneficiaries consider: • dispersed options • beneficiaries may be indistinguishable • from the host population • rural and urban self-settlers may have • different rights from existing informal settlers • grouped options • may or may not be easier to distinguish from • the host population • beneficiaries may be indistinguishable • from combatants Host family Urban self-settlement Rural self-settlement Collective centres Self-settled camps Indonesia, 2007 Planned camps

8. Beneficiaries: transitional reconstruction Bangladesh, 2007 • In transitional reconstruction, the rights of non-displaced beneficiaries must be determined before assistance may be given • In numerous circumstances, tenants and occupants with no legal status: • are omitted from beneficiary lists • are included as beneficiaries in transitional settlement but not transitional reconstruction • are often the most vulnerable and least able to return to sustainable livelihoods • There have been few circumstances where landlords have been included as beneficiaries of assistance to their rental properties • The rights of owner-occupiers are often the most straight-forward to determine Occupant with no legal status House tenant Apartment tenant Land tenant Apartment owner-occupier House owner-occupier

9. Beneficiaries may move between options • Beneficiary assessment and land use will need to continually monitored and reviewed • as displaced populations move between transitional settlementoptions over time • as non-displaced populations move to different transitional reconstruction options Transitional settlement Transitional reconstruction Apartment tenant Owner-occupier Host family Self-settled camp

10. Beneficiaries:vulnerable groups Bangladesh, 2007 For each response, develop criteria for identifying vulnerable beneficiaries within the beneficiary selection process Consider vulnerable groups and individuals in every step of beneficiary identification, planning and implementation Vulnerable groups and individuals may have difficultiesin expressing their opinions and may need additional support • Vulnerable groups and individuals may include: • minority groups – for example, if hosted in a community that is unfamiliar with their culture • women – for example, if displaced with no social protection • children – for example, if orphaned • the elderly – for example, if not living with extended family

11. Beneficiaries:process of identification The government is responsible for assessment, monitoring and protection of beneficiaries • The beneficiary identification process must be: • ongoing • coordinated with assessment, monitoring and evaluation • part of regular strategic review

12. Workshop objectives ! • The key learning objectives of this workshop are to form an • understanding of: • Worskshop: listing beneficiaries identification criteria • 2. Presentation: beneficiary selection and vulnerability • 3. Presentation:land rights and protection during transitional settlement and transitional reconstruction

13. Land rights and protection • 224 • Land rights issues are often the main barrier to governments and humanitarian agencies providing support to affected populations • After natural disaster or conflict, land and tenancy records are often lost • In some cases, formal records never existed, however traditional records will exist • Every individual in the affected populations have rights, not only owner-occupiers and male heads of household • The rights occupants with out legal tenure and vulnerable groups and individuals must be considered Mexico, 2007

14. Land rights and protection • The following checklist of land rights and protection for • populations in transitional settlement and transitional • reconstruction were derived from the Pinheiro Principles and • other relevant publications: • Protection for all • Settlement, return, and resettlement must be voluntary • Alternative options supported • Movement between options supported • Property restored and support for tenants • Opportunity to engage in participation • Vulnerable minority groups represented • Governments responsible for systems and procedures • Role of the humanitarian community to offer support

15. #1 Protection for all Transitional settlement and reconstruction form the foundations to the protection of families and communities impacted by conflict and natural disaster • “1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour or reputation • Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attack” • Article 17, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Office of the UNHCR, 1966)

16. #2 Voluntary movement • In each transitional settlement option, from host families to • camps: • refugees and IDPs must be protected from being forcibly displacedagain • displaced populations have the right to return to their homes and must be offered timely and appropriate information on their settlement options • return must be voluntary • resettlement should be supported where agreed The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005) “Refugees and displaced persons shall not be forced, or otherwise coerced, either directly or indirectly, to return to their former homes, lands or places of habitual residence. Refugees and displaced persons should be able to effectively pursue durable solutions to displacement other than return, if they so wish, without prejudicing their right to the restitution of their housing, land and property.” Para 10.3, Pinheiro Principles, 2005

17. #3 Alternative options supported Identify alternative transitional settlement options and support them For example, if options selected by displaced populations are hazardous or illegal “In cases where evictions of secondary occupants are justifiable and unavoidable, States should take positive measures to protect those who do not have the means to access any other adequate housing other than that which they are currently occupying from homelessness and other violations of their right to adequate housing. States should undertake to identify and provide alternative housing and/or land for such occupants, including on a temporary basis, as a means of facilitating the timely restitution of refugee and displaced persons’ housing, land and property. Lack of such alternatives, however, should not unnecessarily delay the implementation and enforcement of decisions by relevant bodies regarding housing, land and property restitution.” Para 17.3, Pinheiro Principles, 2005 The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)

18. #4Movement between options Over the period of return, affected families have the right to moveto different transitional settlement and reconstruction options. They should not be penalized in any way for moving, and instead should be supported in their choices “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and the right to choose his or her residence. No one shall be arbitrarily or unlawfully forced to remain within a certain territory, area or region. Similarly, no one shall be arbitrarily or unlawfully forced to leave a certain territory, area or region.” Para 9.1, Pinheiro Principles, 2005 The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)

19. #5 Property restored • Transitional reconstruction should support: • each affected family, even if reconstruction cannot occur on the original site (for example, site is hazardous) • transparency in restitution through appeal procedures • land rights for displaced; displacement can be a cause of deprivation of land, homes and other property • tenants and occupants without legal status, as well as owners “Forced displacement often leads to the loss of land, homes and other property with serious consequences for individuals and communities, who as a result are deprived of their main source of physical and economic security...It is important that efforts to address deprivation of land and property form part of the protection response during all stages of displacement.” Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, 2007

20. #6 Opportunity for participation Transitional reconstruction must express the needs of affected families and communities, allowing and facilitating their consultation and participation “States and other involved international and national actors should ensure that voluntary repatriation and housing, land and property restitution programmes are carried out with adequate consultation and participation with the affected persons, groups and communities.” Para 14.1, Pinheiro Principles, 2005 The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)

21. #7 Vulnerable minority groups Special attention must be given to vulnerable minority groups “States and other involved international and national actors should, in particular, ensure that women, indigenous peoples, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, the disabled and children are adequately represented and included in restitution decision- making processes, and have the appropriate means and information to participate effectively. The needs of vulnerable individuals including the elderly, single female heads of households, separated and unaccompanied children, and the disabled should be given particular attention.” Para 14.2, Pinheiro Principles, 2005 The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)

22. #8 Government responsibility • Governments are responsible for: • the transitional settlement of displaced populations regardless of the options they choose • establishing and maintaining cadastre systemsfor recording titles over land, land rights and land use • establishing and maintaining procedures and access for displaced populations to claim restitution The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005) “States should establish or re-establish national multipurpose cadastral or other appropriate systems for the registration of housing, land and property rights as an integral component of any restitution programme, respecting the rights of refugees and displaced persons when doing so. Para 15.1, Pinheiro Principles, 2005

23. #9Role of humanitarian community • The international community should support governments with: • expert technical guidance and • capacity • When absolutely necessary, and only upon specific request, the • international community may take on some responsibilities • “International organizations should work with national Governments • and share expertise on the development of national housing, land • and property restitution policies and programmes and help ensure • their compatibility with international human rights, refugee and • humanitarian law and related standards. International • organizations should also support the monitoring of their • implementation.” • Para 22.3, Pinheiro Principles, 2005 The Pinheiro Principles (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)

24. Bibliography ‘Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons’(Global Protection Cluster Working Group, 2007) ‘Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the Pinheiro Principles’ (UN/OCHA, UN-Habitat, UNHCR, FAO, OHCHR, NRC, IDMC, 2007) ‘The Pinheiro Principles. United Nations Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons’ (Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2005)