Housing, Land, and Property Rights

Across the MENA region, we are witnessing:  

-  Rapidly growing population across the region;  

-  Rapid sprawling urbanization – significant informality;

-  Significant displacement – notably as a result of conflict and, looking ahead, increasingly climate-induced displacement;

-  Rising levels of absolute poverty in a number of countries across the region.

Each of these occurrences are often drivers for increased tenure insecurity.

Collectively, or alongside each other, levels of vulnerability with regards to tenure security spike. Reflecting on some data:  

-  In Lebanon, 25% of Syrian families surveyed as part of the most recent Lebanon Crisis Response Plan had been evicted since October 201911.  

-  In some areas in Iraq, an increase of 100 to 150% in rental costs were reported in the last year. Instances of unequal access to housing due to ethnic, tribal or religious disputes, discrimination or inadequate community and welfare support continue to driven prices up.[i]  

-  As documented in Yemen, and experienced more broadly across the region, women and members of historically marginalized populations often face obstacles related to Housing, Land and Property (HLP), with socio-cultural limitations restricting their opportunity (capacity/prospects/ability) to favorably resolve disputes [ii].  

-  In Jordan, the overwhelming majority (99%) of Syrian refugees in host communities are renting, among which 7% report being evicted at least once in the past year.This session intends to shine a light on the state of play of HLP across the region. Identifying broad/overarching barriers to achieving tenure security and bringing country level focus in the context of Lebanon.

[i] OCHA, 2021, Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview

[ii] OCHA, 2021, Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview