The Arab region is undergoing a decade of profound change, where noticeable progress and positive transformation in some countries is clouded by the spiraling into social unrest and violent conflict of other countries. There is an increasing realization that the way land is accessed, used and controlled is a key element of sustainable social and economic development, peace and stability, and realization of human rights.

Good land governance is an important area of attention for the Arab region. The increase in armed conflicts and social unrest witnessed in the past decade is rooted in various issues, including land. Land administration in the Arab countries is still largely using conventional approaches hence the need to introduce the concept of Fit-for-purpose Land Administration in order to meet the needs of people and their relationship to land, to support security of tenure for all and to sustainably manage land use and natural resources.

Women in the Arab region (especially those affected by conflict, displacement and migration) are widely acknowledged to be lagging behind their access to land and property rights. Desertification, land degradation, drought, and water scarcity are historical land-based resources challenges in the region, now being made more severe because of climate change and increased population pressure. Following the global trends, large-scale land-based investments are an increasingly appearing issue on the land governance landscape of the region, leading to inequity in the distribution of benefits amongst all stakeholders, including the urban poor.

In the past two decades, urbanization and the rapid transformation of urban areas in the Asia- Pacific region have been the engine of economic growth and prosperity in most countries. Unfortunately, this economic success has come with social costs related to equity of access to land, and with environmental costs.

Despite the diversity of the region, there are six common key land tenure security issues for most countries and most regions.  Firstly, there are changing rural populations brought about by an aging farmer population and colonial and national land reforms that result in an uneven distribution of land, giving rise to a rural landless population with insecure tenure rights. Secondly, access to land for women varies under state laws and customary arrangements, and this is a common way in which poor rural women are disadvantaged. Thirdly, rapid urbanization impacts on urban land markets and land speculation and strains the provision of basic urban infrastructure and service delivery by local governments. Fourthly, the demand for land has resulted in encroachments onto marginal and forest areas, Indigenous Peoples’ territories and common property resources, and grabbing of Indigenous People’s land has continued due to economic and commercial pressures.

Furthermore, the region is among the most vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters such as glacial melt, sea-level rise, impacts on food and water security, and drought which all result in displacements. Lastly, despite Islamic tenure and principles being influential even where colonial reforms created new tenure types and formal approaches to land administration, there is a plurality of tenures in predominantly Islamic countries with formal, customary and Islamic tenures which results in land issues. Across the region, ineffective and unresponsive land administration and management are barriers to improved tenure security.

However, the region is progressively moving towards developing a shared vision for a regional platform. GLTN partners are already supporting a regional land tenure initiative in the region building on LPI and GLTN networking experience. In the coming two years, regional partners plan to steer a regional debate around land issues that may involve member states and bind them towards the establishment of a more formal regional platform led by UN-ESCAP.

Since the 1960s, Latin America has been considered one of the regions with the most inequality, both in terms of income distribution as well as other services. Historically, no single factor has contributed to this inequality as much as the unequal distribution of land. Notwithstanding the growing urbanization and the loss of political power suffered by the rural elites in many countries in the region, the problem of land distribution has not been resolved. This is the world’s most highly urbanized region, with 75 percent of the population living in cities in 2000. By 2030, 83 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean will be urban. Until recently, vulnerable segments of the population, such as indigenous people, blacks and women have been excluded from the direct benefits of agrarian reform programmes due to discriminatory regulations related to land distribution, titling, and inheritance.

GLTN partners engage in the region to address these issues by implementing pro-poor and gender appropriate land tools such as the Social Tenure Domain Model and participatory enumerations. The tools were piloted in St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in the Eastern Caribbean, within the context of family lands to provide increased tenure security to the local communities (see publication). GLTN has also engaged at a policy level, promoting cross-cutting issues, which contributed to an increased appreciation of these issues by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Member States. The support at this level resulted in the inclusion of the pro-poor and gender dimensions in national land policies in St Lucia and St Vincent. In addition, generic Land Policy Guidelines have been developed for OECS to ensure the smooth development of the land policies.

Currently, GLTN partners are finalizing a regional scoping study to identify key common regional challenges, opportunities and a way forward regarding land governance in the region, drawing on the same intervention in Asia and the Pacific.