Addressing Housing, Land and Property Issues in the Central Sahel

In 2024, HLP issues in the Central Sahel led to significant property violations and exacerbated displacement challenges. Displaced individuals reported urgent shelter needs, and half of both displaced and host communities cited construction as their main need. There exists a critical requirement for effective land management and multilateral cooperation to address these urgent issues while facilitating community integration and support.

The situation surrounding housing, land, and property (HLP) issues in the Central Sahel, specifically in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Western Niger, continues to deteriorate as 2024 revealed significant monthly protection incidents regarding property violations. Such incidents foster intercommunity tensions and manifest in forms such as extortion, destruction, and unlawful seizures of property, significantly impacting civilians and triggering displacement. Consequently, displaced families face severe shelter shortages, reporting needs twice as high compared to host communities.

Furthermore, half of the surveyed displaced and host community members identified construction or rehabilitation as their primary housing requirement, underlining the structural aspects of HLP challenges. Forced displacement exacerbates existing HLP problems, intensifying tenure insecurity and increasing the risk of evictions driven by conflicting land norms. Thus, effective land management is fundamental to enabling any substantial aid and addressing urgent housing needs.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that 65% of land access in the Central Sahel occurs through donations. Communities surveyed indicated that favorable HLP conditions contribute positively to their inclination toward voluntary return or integration within host communities. The multifaceted nature of land rights, urgent shelter demands, and infrastructural deficits necessitates a collaborative approach among humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding entities.

In summary, the HLP issues in the Central Sahel, marked by severe disruptions due to forced displacement, present an urgent humanitarian crisis requiring immediate attention. The distinct needs for housing and secure land access underscore the necessity for strategic cooperation among various sectors to facilitate effective support and promote peace. Highlighting the community’s reliance on donations for land access signals a critical area for intervention to improve the living conditions in the region.

Original Source: reliefweb.int