Land issues, particularly its access, ownership and use, are often central to understanding the dynamics of conflict and post-conflict settings, particularly in contexts of large scale displacement. The issues affect both the choice to return and the prospects for recovery, yet an understanding of these issues is minimal amongst the humanitarian community. Although there is a growing recognition of the importance of addressing land issues, assistance and programming rarely incorporate sufficient analysis of local land relations, instead focussing on the return and restitution despite the fact that these interventions are often inappropriate for the type of land issues involved.

Through the expertise of longstanding academics and practitioners, this edited volume by the Humanitarian Policy Group attempts to bridge the humanitarian and land tenure divide to highlight their mutually important relationship and instigate a process that seeks to understand how Housing, Land and Property (HLP) issues can and should be practically incorporated into humanitarian responses in conflict and post-conflict situations. The book is divided into three parts: it explores the theoretical nexus between land, conflict and humanitarianism, discusses the architectural challenges for a more integrated response and presents the findings from selected case studies undertaken during the research project. These include Angola, Colombia, the Great Lakes Region, Rwanda and Sudan.

The book was launched by the editor of the volume, Dr. Sara Pantuliano (Overseas Development Institute). Dr. Liz Alden Wily, an international expert on state-people land relations and author of one of the book chapters, then gave concrete examples from Afghanistan and other war-torn states to show how failure to address land issues in post-conflict contexts can help restart or extend war.