Internally displaced people and refugees fear arbitrary rent increase, forced eviction and new displacement and are unable to live with integrity in safety and dignity. Access to land and housing is critical for survival during displacement but also pivotal to self-reliance and solutions. Displaced people need assistance to return home – especially if their housing or land is occupied illegally, damaged or destroyed – or to find another place to re-start their lives.
In practical terms, Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights are essential to virtually all forms of humanitarian programming as it is a core element for linking humanitarian and development actions, ensuring protection, addressing root causes, enabling solutions, and empowering recovery.
This brief explores the relevance of HLP rights protection in emergency, transitional responses and solutions through examples in three different contexts: Palestine-Gaza, Somalia and Colombia. It emphasizes the need to ensure that HLP is addressed consistently throughout all displacement phases. It is based on a session the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) prepared for the 2024 World Bank Land Conference.
