Globalisation and urbanisation trends in developing countries present both opportunities for growth and development on one hand while contributing to the complex myriad challenges of managing urbanisation on the other hand. Cities and urban areas play a critical in the development of a country. They provide platforms that incorporate intense combination of economic, cultural and political factors of a country or region. Nairobi city is Kenya’s economic capital and is a major economic hub in Africa.

The need for affirmative action and the mainstreaming of the commons community plus a comprehensive strategy to secure indigenous and community land has become a major global concern of the 21st century. To achieve this will require out of the box reform mechanisms and the participation of the communities concerned, such that the reforms recognize and embrace indigenous systems and structures that offer avenues to secure collective rights, land use and management of commons resources; namely pastures, water and forests among others.

Land Registration and Administration in Kenya is currently operated on a multi-legal platform [UN 2013]. The Land Registration Act No. 3 of 2012 (LRA) was in that regard enacted to consolidate, harmonize and rationalize land registration goals; which are yet to be achieved. This is majorly because in as much as the 2012 statute repealed five out of the seven major land registration laws, they all remain in force under LRA’s transitional clauses. The Government of Kenya is making efforts to avail land registration information online via the e-citizen platform.

A presentation focusing on facts about land and land dispossession in South Africa

Northern Uganda is currently recovering from a 20-year long civil war that left the area in ruins. One of the groups, the Lord’s Resistance Army, orchestrated brutal mass murders and abductions forcing nearly two million people to live internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps for over 10 years. The war particularly affected the people of Acholi and Lango sub-regions which had previously suffered sporadic attacks by armed Karamajong cattle rustlers from north eastern Uganda.

Rapid population growth combined with fast rate of land transfer and land conversion urges for an effective land administration and management in Bangladesh. But the land administration system in Bangladesh is corrupt, inefficient, and unreliable and inherently contains systematic weaknesses. It proliferates and perpetuates the endemic nature of land disputes. Nearly 80 percent of court cases in the rural areas are estimated to be related to land-conflicts.

This fact sheet presents the results of a study carried out between Dezember 2016 and March 2017 by the Instituto del Bien Común (IBC) on the possible obstacles of land titling of native communities in the region of Ucayali. The study is developed in coordination with the Regional Directorate of Agriculture of Ucayali (DRAU) and indigenous regional organizations, with support from the German development cooperation, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, through the ProTierras Comunales project.

Esta hoja informativa presenta los resultados de un estudio realizado entre diciembre de 2016 y marzo de 2017 por el Instituto del Bien Común (IBC) sobre los obstáculos de la titulación de tierras de las comunidades nativas en la región de Ucayali. El estudio se elaboró en coordinación con la Dirección Regional de Agricultura de Ucayali (DRAU) y las organizaciones regionales indígenas, con el apoyo de la cooperación alemana para el desarrollo, ejecutada por la Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a través del proyecto ProTierras Comunales.

This Interview with Saw A--- and Saw B--- describes events occurring in Hlaingbwe Township, Hpa-an District before September 2016, including forced labour, forced porters, arbitrary demands and fighting between armed groups.

Between 2014 and 2016, the villagers who live in E--- and F--- villages, Meh Proo village tract, were forced to do forced labour for the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) led by Commander-in-Chief, Kyaw Thet, and Second Commander-in-Chief, Bo Bee.

La presente Acuerdo adopta los criterios generales de adquisición directa de bienes para el Fondo de la Unidad Administrativa Especial de Gestión de Tierras Despojadas, que servirá como instrumento para el cumplimiento de órdenes judiciales relacionadas con compensación a víctimas cuyos bienes son imposibles de restituir y atención a los segundos ocupantes resultantes de los procesos de restitución. Con el fin de materializar la adquisición directa de inmuebles por parte de la Unidad, se definirá internamente un procedimiento que permita adelantar la compra directa de predios.

The Portfolio Overview provides a global overview of DFID's programmes working on land issues and highlights lessons and trends emerging from major land programmes over recent years.

This Interview with Saw A--- describes an arbitrary arrest that occurred in Htantabin Township, Toungoo District, in January 2016. Saw A--- describes how he was arrested and sued because of a demonstration, which he and other people held against Kaung Myanmar Aung Company on January 12th 2016 after the company confiscated villagers’ lands. Saw A--- faces criminal charges for using a loudspeaker, as it broke the law against the disturbance of public peace. Chief of Police, Aye Zaw from No. 2 Police Station, Toungoo District, submitted the charge against him as a complainant.