Land and Conflict in the Arab Region Report Launch

The session will launch and discuss the report “Land and Conflict in the Arab Region”, a comprehensive study that consists of a main analytical body and twelve in-depth case studies from conflict-affected contexts. The report highlights two main articulations of the land–conflict nexus: (1) land-related challenges driving conflict, as root causes, proximate factors, or triggers; and (2) conflicts heavily impacting land use, land quality, land administration, and tenure security. The analysis of the case studies’ commonalities also provides the basis for a set of recommended actions, aimed at effective conflict prevention, mitigation, resolution, and recovery. These actionable policy and practice recommendations aim to advance land and housing security for impacted communities. The session will present key findings from the report, share lessons from selected case studies, and facilitate a dialogue on practical, rights-based approaches to land governance, land use management, housing recovery, conflict prevention and response interventions in conflict settings. It will bring together researchers, practitioners, and policy actors to reflect on how secure land and housing rights can become entry points for rebuilding cities and communities, and promoting peace and accountability. The session offers a timely, evidence-based contribution to global urban discourse on tenure, resilience, and recovery in fragile and conflict-affected settings. It is grounded in original regional research and concrete case studies that are rarely centered in global urban policy spaces. While international academic attention to the land–conflict nexus is growing, locally documented experiences grounded in deep contextual understanding remain scarce. This report helps fill this gap through the perspectives of regional, national, and local experts and practitioners who documented and analyzed twelve case studies from Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. It brings forward how conflict reshapes land governance systems, fuels housing insecurity, and reproduces structural inequalities. It also contributes to peacebuilding and resilience agendas. By framing land and housing security as peacebuilding tools, the session positions land governance as an instrument for conflict prevention, social cohesion, and accountability.