Conveners and partners of the Multi-stakeholder Pledge on Durable Solutions through Secure Housing, Land and Property Rights all agree that tremendous progress has been made towards preventing and resolving forced displacement and its impact on both countries of origin and asylum. These efforts continue foster conditions for safe and dignified returns, local integration, and other local solutions, while the broad-based peace-building initiatives of various actors have fostered sustained redress for the root causes of displacement. The consensus however, is that there is yet much work to be done.
For this purpose, the 2021 High Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) – as mandated by the General Assembly – urged for more resources and better planning and program execution to support voluntary returns, as well as enhanced capacities and cooperation among key stakeholders to tackle the root causes of forced displacement in countries of origin.
Capitalising on the promising practices and opportunities for expanded engagement on safe and dignified voluntary returns and tackling the root causes of forced displacement, a multi-stakeholder pledge was developed in the lead-up to the 2023 Global Refugee Forum. This new pledge promotes sustainable reintegration and aligns with recommendations 18 through 20 of the 2021 HLOM and contributes to Objective 4 of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) – aiming to harness the current momentum around area-based initiatives with strong linkages to security of tenure in housing, land, and property across countries of origin.
The pledge also highlights recommendations 9 through 11 from the 2021 HLOM concerning GCR Objective 1, which focuses on '[Easing] pressures on host countries'. Consequently, this pledge aims to utilise new and emerging financial instruments, funding opportunities, and other platforms to promote equitable burden and responsibility sharing, increased development financing, and more flexible, predictable, and multi-year funding for refugee responses.
Entities interested in pledging support, such as Member States, multilateral financial institutions, development cooperation and foreign aid agencies, refugee-led organisations, civil society, and humanitarian organisations, are encouraged to consider the proposed pledging modalities to support conditions in countries of origin for safe and dignified returns, while also promoting local integration and other local solutions.
This Multi-stakeholder Pledge, shaped by a series of regional consultations, country missions, and desk reviews conducted between 2022 and 2023 across four key 'Areas of Focus,' aims to establish a more predictable, equitable, and sustainable response system to address the housing, land, and property challenges encountered by refugees, returnees, and their host communities.
Importantly, the pledge is promotes the ideals of good land governance – characterised 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 principally framed against recommendations 18 through 20, of the 2021 HLOM.
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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.
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Access to land has therefore been identified in some of the UN System’s most authoritative guiding documents – including ECOSOC’s ‘General Comment No. 26 (2022) on land and economic, social and cultural rights’ UNCCD’s ‘Global Land Outlook (Second Edition) – Land Restoration for Recovery and Resilience’ – as a key factor and operative link between global trends such as climate change, disaster risk, land degradation, desertification, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and the consequent escalation of tensions over access to and use of land and natural resources and forced displacement.
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The effects of climate change on the availability and utilisation of productive land in numerous humanitarian efforts have been particularly noticeable. In coastal areas, rising sea levels continue to affect housing and livelihoods. Additionally, shifting precipitation patterns and the growing frequency of extreme weather events, like droughts and floods, are increasingly impacting land access across different geographical and climatic regions.
This pledge has therefore been formulated on the premise that any effort to effectively increase the proportion of forcibly displaced men, women and children with secure access to housing and land, must be underscored by greater burden- and responsibility sharing among a wide cross-section of actors.
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UN Member States and other prospective pledging entities – including multi-lateral financial institutions, development cooperation and foreign aid agencies, refugee-led, civil society and humanitarian organisations – are hereby encouraged to facilitate and/or promote:
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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.
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Formally-recognized documentation of tenure in the allocation/ provision of housing and/or land:Â 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.
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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 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.
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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.
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In addition to the aforementioned, this pledge further promotes the involvement of development actors in aiding National Statistical Offices (NSOs) through methodological guidance, technical assistance, and/or designated funding. This support aims to include forcibly displaced populations in the monitoring of SDG indicator 1.4.2 (on tenure security) for displaced men and women, as outlined in the Multi-stakeholder Pledge on Inclusion of Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Persons in National Statistical Systems and Surveys.
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