Case: Burundi
TENURE TYPE: IDP Ownership/Collective Land
INTERVENTION: Semi-Permanent Shelter Construction
TENURE DURATION: Long-term
Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains have displaced thousands of Burundians, contributing to land scarcity and inter-communal conflicts. Lack of government capacity to resolve disputes and manage land has placed many in precarious HLP situations, especially rural communities with communal land rights. Through community-based methods, the shelter project validated 159 plots to ensure security of tenure for semi-permanent shelter construction.
Key actions
Ongoing Information Sharing:
Focus groups were regularly carried out to build HLP awareness, including encouraging women to register as heads of household, and understand HLP needs and concerns. Community focal points were established early on to ensure timely response to HLP issues.
Door-to-Door DRR and Validation:
To ensure shelter construction could proceed with certainty, the project team (including shelter actors, engineers and lawyers) visited each plot of land to receive community verification of tenure and provide community validation documents. This was combined with technical assessments to evaluate risk of landslides. The ministry ultimately approved these documents as proof of landownership and records were kept to prevent future disputes.