Media Launch: GRF Durable Solutions | Housing, Land and Property Rights Pledge

Media Inquiries | Official Briefings: Dr. Jamal Browne at brownej@unhcr.org | cc: DRSDurSol@unhcr.org.

This pledge follows the theme ‘Advancing Durable Solutions through Secure Housing, Land and Property Rights’ – which effectively promotes sustainable reintegration, local integration, and other local solutions, and thereby contributes to Objectives 1 and 4 of the GCR (to ease pressures on host countries and support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity).

It seeks to consolidate and build upon the many promising practices at the national and sub-national levels that reinforce adequate housing as a human right, and secure access to land as a cross-cutting imperative for durable solutions and long-term development outcomes.

The pledge is firmly established in the ideals of good land governance – characterized by accessible, transparent processes that enable forcibly displaced persons to participate in decision-making on how land is used, managed, and developed, ultimately contributing to the overall recovery from conflict, peace-building and bringing displacement to an end – and is therefore framed squarely against recommendations 18 through 20, backed by recommendations 9 through 11 of the 2021 High Level Officials Meeting.

It is furthermore understood that secure access to land plays a critical role in facilitating access to a range of human rights – as prescribed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – including the right to food, shelter, water, sanitation, health, work, security, and freedom of movement, just to mention a few.

Member States and other prospective pledging entities – including multi-lateral financial institutions, development cooperation and foreign aid agencies, refugee-led, civil society and humanitarian organizations – are hereby encouraged to facilitate and/or promote:

• Provisions for restitution

State actors in countries of origin commit to undertaking and/or initiating activities and accommodating international and/or local support (as required) toward facilitating restitution of housing, land and property for returnee men and women - including by way of shaping the requisite policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, and provision of material and/or in-kind support for restitution processes and programming – as per the      'Right to Adequate Housing' and in accordance with International Law.

• Formally-recognized documentation of tenure in the allocation/ provision of housing and/or land

State actors commit to undertaking and/or initiating activities and accommodating international and/or local support (as required) toward the provision of formal documentation of tenure and improved perceptions of tenure security for refugee and returnee men, women and children as a central facet of housing and/or land allocation programmes.

• Material support for initiatives promoting adequate housing and/or land allocation – underpinned by secure tenure – for forcibly displaced persons 

Donor States and other development actors commit to supporting refugee-hosting states and countries of origin – by way of resource mobilization (via earmarked financial instruments and technical assistance) and other forms of material support – in addressing the barriers to secure access to adequate and affordable housing and/or land for forcibly displaced men, women and children.

• In-kind support for initiatives promoting adequate housing and/or land allocation – underpinned by secure tenure – for forcibly displaced persons

Donor States and other development actors commit to supporting refugee-hosting States and countries of origin – by way of technical assistance and other forms of in-kind support (including via development cooperation programming) – in addressing the barriers to secure tenure for forcibly displaced men, women and children.

​Supplementary to the above, this pledge further encourages the engagement of development actors in support of capacity-building for National Statistical Offices (NSOs) – via methodological guidance, technical assistance, and/or earmarked financing – toward the inclusion of forcibly displaced population types in the monitoring of SDG indicator 1.4.2 (on tenure security) for forcibly displaced men and women as accounted for under the Multistakeholder Pledge on Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Persons in National Statistical Systems and Surveys.