Case: Central African Republic
TENURE TYPE: Collective
INTERVENTION: Rebuild and Rehabilitation
TENURE DURATION: Long-term
Less than one percent of the population in CAR have documentation for their shelter or property. Lack of documentation extends to personal identification and state-level land management. Conflicts often arise when opposing parities claim rights to property or rebuild on abandoned land parcels, which is exacerbated by community and ethnic tensions. The shelter project needed to confirm community access to land to provide shelter support for homes and community spaces.
Key actions
Community consultation and Verification Process:
ICLA, shelter, implementing partners and government actors consulted with community members and representatives who serve as “witnesses” to prior use/residence of affected communities’ tenure. Once confirmed, “Witness/testimony certificates” including GPS coordinates for the parcels were issued and signed by the witnesses, affected community members and local authorities. The CAR government officially recognized these certificates as proof of property tenure.
Map and Track HLP Conflicts:
Throughout the consultation and verification process ICLA and shelter actors mapped HLP conflicts and created a database with community and local authority support. This helped target dispute resolution support, inform project recipient selection and prevent future conflicts.