Disaster-induced displacement is a growing concern globally. In 2012, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimated that 32.4 million people were displaced as a direct result of natural disasters or due to an acute threat of being affected by a natural disaster. These figures do not include populations affected by slower onset disasters such as drought and sea-level rise. Over the last 30 years, the number of climate-related disasters has increased, and experts believe that such events are likely to become more frequent and more damaging.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recognizes the importance of addressing land tenure and property rights (LTPR) issues in disaster risk reduction and post-disaster programming. Effective response, reconstruction efforts, and building long-term resilience for disaster-affected communities require recognizing the continuum of land tenure arrangements that exist in practice prior to a disaster. Strengthening the land rights of vulnerable groups, including women, youth, migrants, and the poor, is crucial to mitigate the impact of disasters on communities.
Disaster-affected populations are not homogeneous groups, and certain segments are more vulnerable to the effects of disasters than others. Vulnerability to disasters increases when land governance systems discriminate against populations based on their class, ethnicity, sex, or caste. Particularly vulnerable groups include lower-income people who settle in areas that lack sufficient infrastructure to mitigate the effects of disasters, women and children whose weak inheritance rights may make it difficult to reclaim property after a disaster, and migrants to cities who may settle in areas without necessary infrastructure or planning to mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
In post-disaster settings, it is essential to consider LTPR issues, including differences among disaster-affected populations with respect to their land tenure and property rights, ways in which weak land governance systems exacerbate the effects of disaster on vulnerable populations, and strategies for identifying and addressing LTPR issues. Proactively addressing LTPR can serve as an effective disaster risk reduction measure. USAID programming should prioritize building resilience by identifying and addressing LTPR issues, particularly for vulnerable populations.
USAID has identified several possible approaches to post-disaster property claims, including restitution of property for property owners who have lost their documented land claim in the disaster, initiating community-driven mapping and enumeration exercises for property owners who do not have formal documentation to prove their land rights, and facilitating partnership with land governance authorities to formalize outcomes of community processes. These approaches aim to strengthen the land rights of vulnerable groups and mitigate the impact of disasters on communities.