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Activity Report 2007/2008

Inadequate slum housing - Accra, Ghana. Photo: Scott Leckie
100 million displaced people throughout the world don’t want
slums, camps or aid drops, they want sustainable solutions.

Activity Report 2007/2008
Director’s Message 2
Mission 5
Methodology 6
Activities 7
Field Work - the Global HLP Rights Expert Registry 7
DS Field work 2007 - 2008 9
HLP Policy Guidance 11
Handbooks, Reports and Publications 12
Global Update 14
www.displacementsolutions.org 14
Advisory Board 16
2009 and Beyond 19
Donor Support 20
Financial & Legal 20

Director’s Message
Welcome to the first of what will become annual reports on the work of
Displacement Solutions (DS). DS is a Geneva-based organisation that
was established under Swiss Law in December 2006 and which is dedicated
to assisting the world’s displaced people to access durable housing, land and
property (HLP) rights solutions. What makes Displacement Solutions unique
among organsiations grappling with displacement is our focus on HLP issues
as some of the central ingredients of strategies aimed at preventing and
resolving displacement.
The need to address HLP issues within the specific context of displacement
is increasingly understood by a growing chorus of United Nations agencies,
governments and NGOs. As a result, in recent years special projects to
address HLP issues have been developed by the UN and local actors in
post-conflict and post-disaster settings such as Aceh, Afghanistan, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and in many others. Ensuring
that similar (and improved) initiatives take place following conflicts, disasters
and in the context of climate change is a key objective of Displacement
Solutions. The organisation was established because it was clear that no
other organisation was taking on these issues in a comprehensive manner.
There was a clear need for a small, flexible and non-partisan organisation
able to respond rapidly and in creative ways to the growing number of
housing, land and property challenges in need of resolution. As a result,
DS was born.
This work is rarely easy or straight-forward, which may explain why many
institutions have historically chosen to overlook it. Displacement Solutions
has very consciously chosen to work on some of the most vexing issues in
the world today, and our experience after two years is that the need for such
initiatives has never been greater. Tens of millions of displaced people are
currently unable to return to their original homes due to conflict, severe human
rights abuses and environmental crises and natural disasters. If current trends
continue, future large-scale displacement is inevitable as the world becomes
increasingly urban, ecologically threatened by climate change, and subject
to ongoing threats to peace and security.
We are both pragmatic and realistic, but also full of hope and committed to
a vision that there is a sense of justice that prevails in even the worst situations.
We may be optimistic at heart, but Displacement Solutions truly believes that
even the most intractable situations of long-term displacement can be resolved
in a just and sustainable manner. With innovative, rights-based strategies
and enforceable remedial measures, displaced persons everywhere can
be practically assisted to return and reclaim their homes, receive adequate
compensation or be resettled in ways fully consistent with their human rights.
Displacement Solutions aims to provide assistance to develop practical
strategies towards this end.
Displacement Solutions provides a unique global capacity for developing
solutions to displacement-linked HLP problems around the world. Displacement
Solutions provides expert and results-driven advisory services in the following
areas: Climate change-induced forced displacement; UN and regional
peace-building operations; Peace negotiations, peace agreements and
mediation processes; Post-conflict HLP legal sector reform, policy development
and dispute resolution measures; HLP restitution and compensation; and Postdisaster
HLP rights recovery and renewal.
Since the organisation was established just over two years ago, there has
been no shortage of requests for its services. Field deployments and policy
expertise have been provided in some 15 country situations and to some
14 institutions on developing their policy or institutional approaches on HLP
issues. Our work thus far has resulted in a series of detailed restitution plans,
in-depth policy papers, innovative strategy discussions, and field work that has
assisted in pushing displacement issues ever higher onthe political agendas
of many Governments and UN agencies. Our efforts on climate change and
displacement, HLP rights in Burma, IDP return strategies in Timor Leste and HLP
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policy work for several leading international organisations have been widely
lauded. We hope very much to continue these and additional efforts in the
years to come.
Fundamental to our continued ability to meet the scale of requests we have
faced will be our ability to further secure our financial future and to access
increased donor support. We are deeply appreciative for the generous
support provided thus far by our many donors, and hope that such support
will again be forthcoming to enable DS to continue its unique work. We are
therefore looking forward to continued and increasing support from donors;
not only because no one else is doing what we do, but because Displacement
Solutions really does make a difference.
Thank you again for taking the time to read our first activity report. We look
forward to hearing from you!
Scott Leckie
Founder & Director
DS Director, Scott Leckie during a mission to Karen refugee
camps on the Thai-Burma border. Photo: Kirsten Young
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Karen refugees, Thai-Burma border. Photo: Scott Leckie
“The creation of Displacement Solutions is a very timely initiative. The organisation’s
objective to create a capacity to deploy housing, land and property experts to postconflict
countries should fill a pressing need in many peacekeeping operations…
Displacement Solutions will provide a much needed service for the millions of displaced
persons around the world who wish to reclaim their original homes and properties.
I would encourage any prospective donors to support this initiative strongly.”
– Dennis McNamara (Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue)
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Mission
Displacement Solutions was established to fill an institutional gap in solving
cases of forced displacement throughout the world. While many organisations
advocate on behalf of the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons,
no other institution today - UN, NGO or otherwise - focuses comprehensively
on the question of displacement through the particular lens of housing, land
and property rights. Our aim is to help governments, intergovernmental bodies
and displaced people themselves to prevent or resolve displacement through
a focus on strengthening housing, land and property rights.
Our primary goal is to empower displaced people and refugees to exercise
their right to return and have restored to them their original homes, lands
and properties. Displacement Solutions seeks forcefully to ensure that the
Pinheiro Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Displaced Persons
is implemented in full for all of the world’s displaced people.
We work with people who have been displaced not only by conflict, forced
eviction or other human rights abuses, but also natural disaster, climate change
or other circumstances beyond their control. When return and restitution are
not materially possible, we try to assist in identifying alternative solutions such
as resettlement or compensation.
Above all, we attempt in each case to provide fresh, innovative and practical
perspectives that can result in actually resolving outstanding cases of
displacement. - person by person and community by community.
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Methodology
Unlike many human rights organisations, Displacement Solutions does not focus primarily on advocacy work that places blame on governments responsible for
human rights abuses; there are already enough excellent organisations who are more than capable of exposing violations of basic rights. Rather, DS strives to
take human rights work one-step further by devising practical plans to solve situations where forcibly displaced people have lost their homes. With innovative,
rights-based analysis and institutional design and remedial measures, DS believes that displaced persons everywhere can be practically assisted to return to
and reclaim their homes, receive adequate compensation or be resettled in ways consistent with their human rights.
Displacement Solution’s methodology has two key elements:
4 The Global Housing Land and Property Rights (HLP) Expert Registry; and
4 Country and Thematic HLP Projects.
The Global HLP Rights Expert Registry
The Global HLP Rights Expert Registry enables the organisation to deploy
more than 100 leading HLP rights experts at short notice to displacement
crises, particularly conflict, post-conflict, post-disaster and settings where
climate change is already causing displacement to help find viable and
creative HLP solutions. Our HLP rights teams work closely with peace and
post-disaster operations to provide the expertise required to ensure that
housing, land and property rights issues are properly addressed. The teams
drawn from the Registry are carefully tailored to fit the particular displacement
and HLP problems in the affected country. As we are able to compose these
teams at very short notice, this considerably improves the response of national
governments and the international community to these crises, and speeds
up the process of identifying long-term solutions. In chronological order,
deployments have thus far taken place to Timor Leste, Somalia, Maldives,
Georgia, Colombia, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand/Burma border and Burma. As
of early 2009, planning for future missions is currently underway for Darfur,
DR Congo, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea.
Country and Thematic HLP Projects
DS also carries out country and thematic projects aimed at improving the HLP
restitution and other human rights prospects of refugees and IDPs. Each of these
projects have been very carefully selected to achieve maximum global impact
and to be of the widest possible application. They seek to build on a range
of positive developments concerning HLP rights in post-conflict and disaster
settings in recent years. The projects entail both field-level HLP initiatives, as
well as policy guidance papers, training programmes and documentary films.
All are results-oriented and original in approach and methodology. The key
aim is to build the institutional, normative, and conceptual basis for further
action on resolving displacement situations around the world by focusing on
HLP problems. Examples include a project on climate change and lost land
in the Pacific, another involving the development of an HLP blueprint as part
of a future peace plan for Burma, and a project which provides guidance on
how to address HLP issues in peace negotiations.
In addition to the targeted forms of assistance that are provided to specific
groups of refugees and displaced persons through the work of the HLP Expert
Registry and the country and thematic projects, Displacement Solutions also
conducts work aimed at promoting greater attention to HLP issues by various
governmental and inter-governmental agencies involved in displacement and
peace-building efforts. The organisation maintains relations with national
governments, members of the judiciary and the legal profession, national
human rights organisations, research institutes, NGOs and others to highlight
the importance of HLP issues in resolving displacement crises. Displacement
Solutions has actively chosen to work on a series of exceptionally challenging
projects, often involving immense political and historical obstacles.
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Activities
Field Work - the Global HLP Rights
Expert Registry
The DS Global HLP Rights Expert Registry is the only one of its type
in the world. At any given time, DS can use the Registry to call on
many of the world’s leading HLP experts for both long-term and
short-term deployments to the field, to assist in finding workable
ways to end displacement linked to HLP problems. Through its
field deployments in 2007 and 2008, the Registry has already
begun to fill a large gap in national and international responses
to displacement.
The Registry brings together some 110 experts with diverse areas
of expertise. Registry experts represent some 23 nationalities and
speak more than a dozen languages. They have an extensive
range of HLP field experience throughout the world, including in
the following countries/territories: Afghanistan, Albania, Bhutan,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Burma
(Myanmar), Burundi, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican
Republic, DR Congo, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan,
Kosovo, Latvia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Rwanda,
Serbia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, South Ossetia
(Georgia), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Turkey, Uganda
and others.
Access to the Registry is available to national governments, the
UN and other international agencies, national and international
restitution bodies, national Human Rights Institutions, businesses,
academic institutions and civil society organisations.
Areas of expertise currently available from the Registry include:
Climate Change-Induced Displacement
Providing concrete, practical and rights-based policy options to assist forced
climate migrants to achieve the realisation of their housing, land and property
rights, including through internal relocation and/or international resettlement.
UN (and other) Peace Operations
Working in collaboration with existing peace operations, and assisting UN
agencies and Governments during the design of future peace operations, to
ensure that housing, land and property rights issues are addressed during the
peacebuilding process.
HLP Rights and Peace Negotiation and Mediation Processes
Working closely with peace negotiators to provide advice on how to most
effectively address the numerous (but often ignored) HLP rights challenges
facing countries in conflict and during the post-conflict period.
Post-Conflict HLP Legal Sector Reform and Policy Development
Providing detailed advice on legal sector reform, policy development and
dispute resolution measures in countries undergoing post-conflict reconstruction,
including legislative drafting and rights-based HLP policy planning.
HLP Restitution Programmes, Mechanisms and Institutional
and Legal Frameworks
Designing the legal and institutional frameworks required for the effective
functioning of HLP restitution processes and the exercise of restitution rights of
the displaced.
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Cadastre, Property Registration Systems and GIS Technology
Assisting local and national public bodies to develop, re-establish, update
and maintain appropriate methods of registering HLP rights in post-conflict
and post-disaster settings.
Post-Disaster HLP Rights Recovery and Renewal
Assisting local governments and the humanitarian community in developing
HLP action plans to facilitate the exercise of HLP rights following disasters and
applying rights-based approaches during the recovery process.
Disaster Planning and Risk Reduction
Identifying rights-based measures within the HLP sector designed to mitigate
the effects of disaster and reduce displacement within such contexts.
Corporate Responsibility and Displacement
Providing policy advice to large corporations and smaller companies seeking
to reduce or eliminate displacement from their development practices.
Compensation and Reparations
Assisting governments and affected communities and groups to develop just
and satisfactory compensation and reparation programmes designed to
redress the consequences of forced displacement.
National HLP Programming
Assisting local and national organisations and movements to develop
practical, viable and rights-based programming on HLP rights in post-conflict
and post-disaster settings.
Women’s Housing, Land and Property Rights Issues
Developing equitable policy and legal recommendations designed to ensure
equal treatment of women in the HLP sector, including in the area of inheritance
and succession rights.
Land Administration
Providing advice, assistance and best practice examples of land administration
in countries emerging from crisis.
Customary Law Governing Housing, Land and Property Issues
Offering insights and comparative experiences in the application of customary
law in post-conflict and post-disaster recovery settings and the often strained
relationship between these systems and formal legislation and practice.
HLP Rights Research and Analysis
Providing in-depth research and analysis on a wide range of displacement
issues.
HLP Rights Training
Providing user-friendly, individually-tailored practical training on a broad
cross-section of displacement issues for UN agencies, governmental officials,
NGOs and civil society organisations.
Media
Preparing accessible and creative documentary films and feature stories on
displacement cases and possible solutions designed to raise awareness of the
complexities and reality of displacement.
“It is my firm belief that Displacement
Solutions fills a major gap in the efforts of the
international community who seek the means
and methods for coping and recovering
from either human-made or natural crisis.”
– Dan Lewis (Chief, Disaster, Post-Conflict and
Safety Section, UN Habitat Programme)
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DS Field work 2007 - 2008
Field work by Registry members was carried out in and concerning a
number of countries during 2007 and 2008, including Australia, Burma,
Colombia, Georgia, Maldives, Nepal, Papua New Guinea (Bougainville),
Peru, Serbia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thai-Burma border and Timor-Leste:
Georgians displaced by the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the
early 1990s. In the following year, UN-Habitat then requested DS to assist in
the development of a post-conflict HLP restitution plan to take into account the
impact of renewed fighting in the summer of 2008.
Australia
In December 2008, DS hosted two international workshops on displacement
and climate change. The workshops, with participants from some of the
most heavily climate change-affected nations – including Tuvalu, Kiribati,
Maldives and Papua New Guinea – identified a range of policy measures
that would support the housing, land and property rights of forced climate
migrants. A series of follow-up activities are currently underway.
Burma
Throughout 2008, DS worked with local partners to lay the groundwork
to develop proposals designed to eventually reform the law in Burma as
it relates to HLP rights issues and to build capacity for enforcing these
rights for citizens of the country. This initial groundwork took the form of
a comprehensive compilation of all existing HLP law currently in force in
Burma today – some 57 Burmese laws.
Maldives
In March 2008, DS gave a series of speeches and training sessions on
human rights and climate change in the Maldives. This mission was followedup
in May 2008, when a member of the HLP Expert Registry was deployed
to the Maldives at the request of the National Human Rights Commission to
assist in the preparation of an in-depth Housing Assessment in the country.
The recommendations of the Housing Assessment were some of the first policy
documents implemented by the new Maldivian Government.
Nepal
In October 2008, DS was requested by the International Commission of
Jurists to draw up an extensive joint project to assist the new government in
Nepal in developing rights-based land-reform measures to help tackle rural
landlessness which is one of the most vexing problems confronting the country.
The project will be implemented in 2009.
Colombia
In July 2008, DS was requested by the government of Colombia and
partners to assist in designing a blueprint for a restitution programme for
some 3 million IDPs in the country. Members of the HLP registry have
made several field visits to the country to work on refining the blueprint
and legislation pending before the Colombian Congress, including to coordinate
a workshop in Bogota in October 2008 to finalise the plan.
Georgia
In 2007, at the request of UNHCR, DS provided a list of several of the
world’s leading HLP experts and jurists as possible candidates to work
as judges on the recently approved Georgian Restitution Commission. The
Commission was set up to adjudicate HLP claims by South Ossetians and
Papua New Guinea (Bougainville)
In December 2008, DS hosted a closed meeting on the planned resettlement
of 6,000 islanders from the Carteret and other atolls in Papua New Guinea
to Bougainville due to climate change. The meeting brought together
representatives of the communities to be resettled, the Government of
Bougainville and two large landowners on Bougainville to explore how to
best to ensure that this group of forced climate migrants be given adequate
possibilities of land use and livelihood. Intensive follow-up activities are
ongoing, including planned work with the world’s first advocacy organisation
for forced climate migrants, Tulele Peisa.
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Peru
In July 2008, DS deployed an HLP expert to Pisco, Peru to examine HLP
challenges that emerged in the aftermath of the 2007 earthquake that
devastated the area. This mission was carried out in connection with the HLP
Scoping Study prepared by DS for the International Federation of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent.
Somalia
In June 2008, DS sent a mission to Somalia at the request of UN Habitat and
UNHCR. In a country plagued by conflict, lack of governance, HLP abuses
and massive displacement, the DS expert was tasked with developing an
approach to the many HLP problems which contribute to ongoing displacement
and provide an obstacle to IDP and refugee return.
HLP Rights in Somalia
Displacement Solutions’ report Housing, Land and Property Rights in
South Central Somalia: Preliminary Assessment and Proposed Strategies
for Expanded Approaches elaborated a series of proposals to assist
in resolving HLP disputes in the difficult environment of Somalia.
The report – commissioned by the UN – identified some of the key
HLP issues prevalent in Somalia. These included: illegal confiscation
and allocation of land; tenure insecurity in rural areas; tenure insecurity
in urban areas; widespread use of forged ownership documentation;
lack of protection from forced eviction for IDPs occupying public
buildings; the need to resolve restitution claims in a fair and equitable
manner; overlapping statutory and other systems dealing with land
governance; and structural HLP rights vulnerabilities of women.
Sri Lanka
In July 2008, in conjunction with a project supported by the International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, DS sent an HLP
and post-disaster expert to analyse HLP issues that have remained unresolved
since the December 2004 Tsunami.
Timor-Leste
In July and September 2007, at the request of the UN country team, DS
fielded an HLP expert team to Timor-Leste, where some 10% of the entire
population had been displaced. The DS team joined up with a team from
UN-Habitat to conduct a review of HLP issues which form a key cause of the
country’s ongoing displacement crisis.
In 2009, field work is planned in Burma, Darfur, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Kiribati, Nepal, Papua New Guinea (including Bougainville and the
Carteret Islands) and the Thai-Burma border.
HLP Rights in Timor Leste
Excerpt from Housing Timor – An IDP-Plus Approach to Resolving
the Displacement Crisis in Timor Leste “…Following a three-month
process of investigation, including over 100 meetings focusing on
the challenge of resolving the IDP question, the joint Displacement
Solutions and UN-Habitat Mission has developed eight specific
recommendations which it believes will best assist in resolving the
IDP crisis in Timor Leste in the most rapid, reasonable and equitable
manner possible under present circumstances, consistent with Timor
Leste’s human rights obligations. These are:
Recommendation 1:
Generate Bi-partisan Political Support for Solving the IDP Crisis
Recommendation 2:
Establish the Housing Timor Office
Recommendation 3:
Expand and Clarify Solutions for IDPs
Recommendation 4:
Develop Mass Public Information Campaigns
Recommendation 5:
Augment the Human Rights Agenda
Recommendation 6:
Resolve Outstanding Land and Property Issues
Recommendation 7:
Begin Consideration of a National Integrated Housing Programme
Recommendation 8:
Introduce Enabling Measures to Support Housing Development
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HLP Policy Guidance
Work on HLP policy issues during 2007-2008 included a scoping study on
HLP rights issues for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, preparation of a Handbook on HLP Rights and Peace Negotiations
and ever expanding efforts in support of forced climate migrants. In addition,
DS organised and hosted a number of high-level workshops on country and
thematic issues in Bogota, Canberra and New York:
HLP Scoping Study for the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies
In 2008, the Shelter Programme of the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) requested DS to assist in the development
of a comprehensive scoping study on HLP issues in countries where it carries
out shelter sector activities in the immediate aftermath of large-scale natural
disasters. This project between DS and the IFRC will build the foundations for
improved policy responses when the next disasters strike.
HLP Rights and Peace Negotiations
In June 2008, DS and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) jointly
convened an expert workshop in New York on the intersection between
peace and HLP rights. The meeting brought together some twenty leading
figures in both the HLP and peace mediation fields to review how to expand
attention to HLP concerns during peace processes. A Handbook for Peace
Negotiators on these issues was prepared and will be published jointly by
USIP and DS in 2009.
UN Security Council Debate on HLP Issues
In late 2007, Displacement Solutions played an advisory role in the
preparation of the report of the UN Secretary-General on the protection of
civilians in armed conflict (S/2007/643). In response to that report, the UN
Security Council held an historic debate on HLP rights issues during its 5871st
session on 20 November 2007. Paragraphs 52-59 entitled ‘A more effective
response to housing, land and property issues’ represent one of the first times
the Security Council or the UN Secretary-General has specifically addressed
HLP issues within the context of conflict. A key recommendation of the report
was that “…56. The Council has long recognized the importance of safe and
unimpeded return for refugees and internally displaced persons … However,
for the reasons cited above, such recognition of the right to return must be
applied by the Council with more systematic regularity. It must, moreover, be
accompanied by increased attention to its practical implementation, including
the need for a more comprehensive, systematic and consistent United Nationswide
approach to housing, land and property issues in both conflict and
post-conflict settings.”
HLP Rights in Post-Conflict Situations: Course Materials
In April 2008, DS experts designed a post-graduate level academic course
on HLP Rights in Post-Conflict Situations which explores legal, political and
practical issues on these themes. The ten-hour course is designed to be taught
in various university law schools and international law academies and used
in training sessions for UN and Government officials.
Climate Change and Displacement in the Pacific
In December 2008, DS and UNHCR jointly convened a workshop on
displacement, human rights and climate change in the Pacific. While there are
many meetings on climate change, few are devoted to displacement-related
aspects of this increasingly pressing problem. The workshop was attended
by representatives of some of the hardest hit small islands and atolls in the
region, including Papua New Guinea, Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati, as well
as regional powers such as Australia and New Zealand with a view to
developing remedies for current and future displacement.
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UN-Habitat Symposium for the 2007 World Habitat Day
In October 2007, at the invitation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the DS Director gave one of the keynote speeches at the global
launch of 2007 World Habitat Day in the Hague, to an audience of over
300 HLP experts and invited guests from around the world.
Amnesty International’s Dignity Campaign
In July 2007, as part of Amnesty International’s “Dignity Campaign” and
related campaign on slums and human rights, the DS Director was invited to
speak at AI’s London headquarters, as well as its’ Swedish section, on how
AI can best address economic, social and cultural rights, including HLP rights.
DS is also assisting AI in the preparation of a book developing the Dignity
Campaign and in developing the Amnesty International policy on slums and
human rights.
Working in Partnership with the United Nations
Displacement Solutions works closely with various UN agencies
involved in post-conflict and post-disaster efforts, including UNHCR,
DPKO, OCHA, OHCHR and UN-Habitat in its capacity as the
UN focal point for housing, land and property issues under the
Protection Cluster of the UN’s Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC) Cluster system.
Displacement Solutions provides human resources, practical expertise
and years of experience on how HLP issues can best be addressed.
By working in close partnership and collaboration with UN agencies
and local and national Governments, Displacement Solutions seeks
to raise the profile of HLP issues in post-conflict and post-disaster
settings, and assist in long-term recovery and development trajectories
built upon an integrated and multi-sectoral operational platform.
Handbooks, Reports and Publications
DS has produced or otherwise assisted in a wide range of publications during
2007 and 2008. These include:
Handbook on Housing and Property Restitution Rights for Refugees and IDPs
In 2007, Upon the request of several UN agencies, DS prepared a Handbook
on the Implementation of the UN Principles on Housing and Property
Restitution Rights for Refugees and Displaced Persons. This Handbook, with
an initial print run of 10,000 copies, has been distributed widely throughout
UN humanitarian agencies and civil society groups. The Handbook was a
joint publication of OCHA, UNHCR, OHCHR, FAO and the Norwegian
Refugee Council.
Handbook on Peace Mediation and HLP rights
In 2008, DS and the US Institute for Peace jointly prepared a Handbook on
Peace Mediation and HLP Rights, outlining tips for peace mediators to deal
better with HLP challenges in peacebuilding exercises.
Handbook on Land Administration and Post-Conflict
In 2007, DS assisted in the preparation of a landmark publication by the
Post-Conflict and Safety Section of UN-Habitat outlining the precise land
administration issues arising in post-conflict settings, entitled Land Administration
and Conflict. The publication provides detailed and practical information for
workers in the field on how best to address these complex issues in the
context of the emergency and reconstruction phases following the end of wars
and violence.
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Natural Disaster Handbook
In 2008, the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) and
Displacement Solutions jointly published a Natural Disaster Handbook
designed to assist policy-makers and field practitioners in consistently applying
the human rights law normative framework in difficult situations following
disasters. The Handbook contains several chapters, including one on HLP
rights. Each chapter is accompanied by a Law Matrix which outlines the
precise legal norms and principles arising with each post-disaster issue.
Book on UN Peace Operations and HLP Rights
In 2008, a book edited by the DS Director - UN Peace Operations and
Housing, Land and Property Rights: A Comparative Survey and Proposals for
Reform - was published by Cambridge University Press. The book reviews
UN and other peace operation experiences in grappling with HLP rights in
some 12 countries, and provides a series of detailed recommendations to the
UN and States as to how to improve the growing involvement of the UN in
these matters within future peace operations.
Restitution Law Volume
In 2007, Cambridge University Press published a law book prepared by the
DS Director - Housing, Land and Property Restitution Rights for Refugees and
Displaced Persons: Laws, Cases and Materials - which provides an overview
of some 240 international standards, laws and case law addressing the right
to housing, land and property restitution.
Burma HLP Legal Code Book
In 2008, DS commenced work on a book which analyses and compiles, for
the first time, the complete legal code of Burma as it relates to the full spectrum
of HLP rights. The book is designed to provide a comprehensive overview
of the current HLP normative framework in Burma with a view to expanding
understanding of these issues and how they might best be reformed. The book
will be available in late-2009.
HLP Textbook
In 2008, DS began work on a comprehensive textbook on housing, land
and property rights and situations of conflict. The 15 chapter volume will
explore all of the major HLP issues that arise within the context of conflict and
provide an in-depth overview of how these issues have or have not been
addressed to date.
Special Edition of FMR on Climate Change and Displacement
In 2008, DS assisted the editors of Forced Migration Review in developing
the climate change edition of this leading displacement journal, published in
September 2008.
Security of Tenure as a Human Right
In 2008, the DS director published an academic article entitled ‘Transforming
Security of Tenure into an Enforceable Housing Right’ in the edited volume
Freedom from Poverty, published by UNESCO and Oxford University Press.
ODI Volume on Land, Conflict and Humanitarian Action
In 2008, the DS Director prepared a chapter for an upcoming book to be
published by the Overseas Development Institute in 2009 which explores
the institutional gap in addressing HLP issues in humanitarian action and
the international response to conflict. The article proposes possible ways of
developing policy and institutional responses to HLP issues arising in future
humanitarian undertakings.
Media
Displacement Solutions received media attention and provided interviews to a
range of media outlets in 2007 and 2008, including: BBC, Financial Times,
Australia Network, ABC Australia, Hindustan Times, Deutsche Welle, Ghetto
Radio and others.
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Global Update
With a view to keeping donors and the broader international displacement network fully
appraised of the work of Displacement Solutions, DS publishes a bi-annual newsletter -
Global Update - that is released each January and July.
www.displacementsolutions.org
The Displacement Solutions website can be found at www.displacementsolutions.org.
This easy to navigate site provides information on DS’s mission, activities and Advisory
Board. There is also a section on DS’s Global HLP Rights Expert Registry that outlines
the areas of expertise covered by the Registry and how to go about accessing the
Registry’s expert consultants. The new site will also soon provide a reference library
of displacement and restitution-related materials from around the globe, which will be
expanded over time.
Ursula Rakova of Tulele Peisa describing the relocation of Carteret
Islanders to Bougainville at the DS hosted Bougainville Resettlement
Initiative workshop, Dec 2008. Photo: Lailey Wallace
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When HLP rights are ignored, people call places like this
home, Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Scott Leckie
All refugees and displaced persons have the right to have restored to them any
housing, land and/or property of which they were arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived,
or to be compensated for any housing, land and/or property that is factually
impossible to restore as determined by an independent, impartial tribunal.
– Principle 2 of the UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons (“Pinheiro Principles”) (2005)
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Advisory Board
Displacement Solutions is honoured to be assisted by a prestigious Advisory Board consisting of Twelve leading experts on
human rights and displacement. Current Advisory Board members are:
Theo van Boven (Maastricht, Netherlands)
Fmr. Director of the UN Centre on Human Rights and
Fmr. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Reed Brody (Brussels, Belgium)
Legal Counsel and Spokesperson, Human Rights Watch
Andrew Clapham (Geneva, Switzerland)
Director of the Geneva Academy on Human Rights and
Humanitarian Law
Dennis McNamara (Geneva, Switzerland)
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Fmr. Head of International
Protection (UNHCR) and Fmr. UN Special Advisor on Internal
Displacement to the Emergency Relief Coordinator
Paal Nesse (Oslo, Norway)
Advisor, Norwegian Refugee Council
Roger Normand (Bangkok, Thailand)
Asia-Pacific Director, International Commission of Jurists
Anne Gallagher (Canberra, Australia)
Technical Director, Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project
and Head of Operations, Equity International
Walter Kälin (Berne, Switzerland)
Representative to the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights
of Internally Displaced Persons
Irene Khan (London, England)
Secretary-General, Amnesty International
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against
Children, Fmr. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma and
Fmr. UN Special Rapporteur on Housing and Property Restitution
Farouk Tebbal (Algiers, Algeria)
Fmr. Shelter Branch Chief (UN Habitat Programme) and
Fmr. National Minister of Housing for the Government of Algeria
Dan Lewis (Nairobi, Kenya)
Chief, Post-Conflict and Safety Section, UN-Habitat
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Finding and planning land for resettlement,
Athi River, Kenya. Photo: UN Habitat
“Although there is a growing awareness of the perils of
climate change, its likely impact on human displacement
and mobility has received too little attention.”
– António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
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“Displacement is the most significant humanitarian challenge that we face…
marked by suffering, deprivation and a daily fight for survival”.
-- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon (Nov 2007)
Demolished home, Hatfield Farm informal settlement
outside of Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Unknown
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2009 and Beyond
In 2009 and beyond, DS plans to build on activities already undertaken in
support of its mandate, with an emphasis on climate change and displacement,
disability and displacement, HLP capacity building in Burma and HLP Training.
In addition, DS will strive to expand the Global HLP Rights Expert Registry:
Climate Change and Displacement
While there are many organisations devoted to addressing climate change,
few focus on displacement-related aspects of the problem. For this reason, DS
sees an enormous gap in the international approach to this increasingly urgent
issue. As a result, DS plans to develop a Climate Change and Displacement
Unit which will focus on housing, land and property rights issues affecting
forced climate migrants. The initial focus of the Unit will be on Papua New
Guinea, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu, the Maldives and other countries that are
already experiencing climate change-induced displacement. This work will
require an annual budget of US$ 850,000.
Disability and Displacement
There are only very few organisations which are dedicated to addressing the
needs of disabled displaced persons. Given the particularly acute nature of
the problems confronting this group, DS believes extensive awareness raising
is necessary to improve the international and national responses to their plight.
DS will carry out a range of initiatives in support of the rights of disabled
displaced persons. Among others, a documentary film will be produced by
DS and Disabled People International (DPI) on Displacement and Disability.
The film will focus on disabled refugees/IDPs from Sudan, Burma and Iraq.
This work will require a budget of US$ 350,000.
Karen refugee camp, Thai-Burma border. Photo: Scott Leckie
HLP Capacity Building in Burma
DS seeks to carry out a two-year project on HLP Capacity Building and
Legislative Drafting in Burma, together with several partners, to assist in raising
the profile of HLP rights issues within movement for a democratic Burma,
through assistance in preparing draft HLP legislative blueprints. This work will
require a budget of US$ 325,000.
Expanding the Global HLP Rights Expert Registry
In 2009, DS will seek to expand the Global HLP Expert Registry to 150
experts, with enhanced management and coordination by DS. This work will
require a budget of US$ 350,000.
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Donor Support
Financial & Legal
DS has received financial contributions from governments, UN
agencies, private foundations and private individuals. In 2007 and
2008 donor support was provided by:
DS is committed to financial transparency and accountability to all its
stakeholders. The organisation abides by generally accepted accounting
practices and conforms to applicable laws and regulations.
Governments
Germany
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Sweden
Switzerland
Accounts are audited by Berdat & Cie SA in Geneva, Switzerland on an annual
basis. DS is registered as a non-profit association in Geneva, Switzerland,
and overseen by a Board of Directors which meets twice annually.
United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
UN Habitat Programme
Other Institutions
BodyShop Foundation
Human Rights Commission of the Maldives
International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent Societies
MIDAS Programme
Pictet Bank
US Institute for Peace
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DS Director Scott Leckie and Ursula Rakova of Tulele Peisa, the world's first
grassroots organisation dedicated to finding housing, land and property
solutions for forced climate migrants. Photo: Kirsten Young
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Displacement Solutions provides rights-based and innovative
strategies on restoring the housing, land and property rights of
the world’s growing displaced population.
Rue des Cordiers 14,
Geneva 1207, Switzerland
Telephone +61.400.388.345
Email info@displacementsolutions.org
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www.displacementsolutions.org
Cover:
One of many longer term ‘temporary’ solutions for internally displaced
persons in North Kivu, DR Congo (MONUC Camp). Photo: Florian Bruyas