Keith Clifford Bell EASER December 15, 2010 pm MC2-800 ; 12:30-2:30
The context and challenges. Interventions in Aceh land sector. RALAS. Study Gender Impacts of Land Titling in Aceh. Considerations for Haiti. Final Remarks Broader Policy Considerations.
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Before tsunami After tsunami
Tsunami-affected Geographical Area (Early World Bank Assessment)
Devastation to >1,000 communities along > 800 kilometers of the northern coastal areas of the major island of Sumatra and smaller offshore islands in the provinces of Aceh & North Sumatra. 130,730 people killed & 500,000 people displaced. 250,000 homes destroyed or damaged. 300,000 land parcels directly affected (approx). 53,795 land parcels permanently destroyed through erosion & submersion. National Land Agency (BPN): Close to 1/3 of staff killed; 6 of the 9 BPN offices destroyed or severely damaged. High proportion of the legal, physical & human evidence of land ownership & property rights destroyed/lost.
Three decades of civil war & political turmoil. Tsunami devastation. High Risk of Land Grabbing (& land alienation). Cumulative impacts of tsunami & civil strife on social development reduced social cohesion, high levels of male absence; heavy burdens on women to bear family, social & financial responsibilities. Aceh : Strong Islamic identity (95%) meshed with an older customary system of social governance called adat. Nias Island: Predominantly Christian community. Civil & Islamic/Shariah law & court systems ; also adat (customary) traditions & practices. Prevalence of corruption & related governance issues.
Restoring & securing land rights. Resolution of land disputes. Application of responsible land use planning & disaster risk reduction. Securing inheritance of land rights. Protecting women s & orphans access & ownership rights. Facilitating acquisition of land for infrastructure and resettlement of survivors & former GAM members. Information collection & dissemination related to reconstruction & policy issues. Confirmation of existing mortgages (mainly in the urban areas). Uncoordinated housing reconstruction efforts, with incorrect land parcel demarcation & ownership claims.
MDF through World Bank: RALAS Project (US$28.5 million). MDF: RALAS Monitoring Team (mid 2006-late 2009). MDF: Project Implementation & Beneficiary Assessment (US$80k). GAP: Study on Gender Impacts of Land Titling In Post-Tsunami Aceh (US$100,000). + other contributions (in-kind & voluntary) UNDP: Training of NGO/CSO facilitators, Public Awareness Raising. Japan: Restoration of Land Records (100 tonnes). Australia: Support for producing large proportion of Community Land Maps (in about 400 communities). European Union: Satellite imagery & Technical Assistance ( 500,000 ). Large number of CSOs and NGOs: Supported Community Land Mapping & Advocacy on Land Rights. GOI: Land allocation program (both for housing tsunami affected population & others).
Former US President, Mr. Bill Clinton UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery May 23, 2005, on his first visit to Aceh: I can think of nothing that will generate more income over the long run for average families in this region than actually having title to the land they own. Then, they will be able to borrow money & build a much more diversified, much more modern economy. July 14, 2005, Former President s Report the UN-ECOSOC, New York Those of you familiar with the work of Mr. (Hernando) de Soto around the world & similar projects know that the world s poor people have roughly 5 trillion dollars in assets that are totally unusable for economic growth because they don t have title to them so they can t get credit using what they own as collateral. This is going to be done through the WB grant in Aceh. It is very forward thinking on both the part of the WB & Indonesia but I hope that the other countries affected will do that and in its pursuit of the MDG, I hope that you, Mr. President & ECOSOC, can have an influence in urging this sort of project to be done in other countries outside the tsunami affected areas.
Emphasis on protecting pre-tsunami rights Solutions: (i) Do not delay reconstruction by waiting on official land titling; (ii) Promoting Community Driven Adjudication bottom-up approach; (iii) High level of civil society engagement and oversight. Design Factors: RALAS Manual covered perspectives from Land/Agrarian law, Shariah law, customary laws (adat) Promote high level of civil society engagement & oversight of the land registration/certification process. Enhanced levels of information dissemination to land holders. Safeguards to protect vulnerable & disadvantaged groups (e.g., minors on guardianship; surviving women to claim their rights).
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317,170 land parcels were mapped by CLM. 275,945 land parcels officially surveyed & adjudicated. 238,758 land parcels registered. 222,628 titles distributed to owners (survivors or heirs). 63,181 titles distributed to women or joint owners. 120,000 houses built on land parcels mapped by CLM. Village-level conflict resolution was very effective. Enhanced information dissemination & public awareness. Trained six Provincial court officials and 50 Shariah court judges on inheritance & guardianship. Land grabbing & alienation averted. Joint titling introduced. RALAS served as a coordination hub for land sector.
1. PIBA (2008) 2. Gender Study (2009-10)
BEFORE < 50,000 Titles held by owners 222,000+ titles held AFTER <50,000 land parcels registered 275,000+ land parcels registered Gender not recorded in register No Joint titling Low-level of awareness of formal land rights Gender recorded Joint Titling High-level of awareness 5,000 mortgages # mortgages (impacts to be measured in longer term) Weak institutional capacity Strengthened institutional capacity
The overall objective: to review the gender impacts of land titling in post-tsunami & post-conflict Aceh. Specifically, the study would: review experiences in the restoration of land & property rights, particularly gender concerns & ensuring women s access to land rights; analyze the extent to which such activities & results are sustainable &/or replicable; provide recommendations for further study & future action.
Desktop review of available literature. Review of RALAS PIBA findings. Individual interviews were conducted in 41 villages. FGDs were conducted with beneficiaries in 37 villages where titles were issued. 393 individual interviews. 23 FGDs with 340 participants. 1,185 secondary informants. Total of 1,949 respondents participated in this study (individual interviews, FGD participants, local authorities, NGO representatives, & other informants).
Social Changes Post-tsunami & Post-conflict Photos courtesy Mehdi Chebil, The Diplomat Aug. 22, 2007 Photos courtesy Mehdi Chebil, The Diplomat Aug. 22, 2007 34
Human Rights Watch, Dec 2, 2010 http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/12/01/policing-morality-0
The protection of rights to land, property & resources is a pre-condition for sustainable recovery in a post-disaster & post-conflict context. Fair & equitable access to land & resources lies at the heart of physical, economic, social, & political development & long-term stability. Reforms for land & property rights cannot be conducted in isolation from broader efforts to secure access to justice for vulnerable groups
Photographs were from US Defense Dept, public domain website (www.militaryphotos.net), BBC, AP and The Diplomat. All other photographs were from the World Bank archives & RALAS Monitoring Team. Detailed photo credits are provided in the final version of the Study on Gender Impacts of Land Titling in Aceh (2010)