The last several decades have seen a change in the legal landscape relating to land in Puntland and Somaliland. Traditionally, both regions have consisted primarily of large swaths of rural and agricultural land, owned in common by clans and subclans in accordance with customary law. While the customary system is also capable of recognizing individual rights and grievances of members of the community in question, it remains primarily accessible to male members of the majority clan.

Though women from both minority and majority clans report that the customary system is often inaccessible to or biased against them, the community at large perceives it as more trustworthy and less prone to undue influence than the courts.

Decisions made through the customary system also tend to be fast and efficient. This report discusses the Land Dispute Tribunals in Somaliland and the Land Dispute Resolution Committees in Puntland. The LDTs are intended to be hybrid institutions capable of harnessing benefits from both the formal and the customary system.

Throughout the world, violence, delinquency and fear undermine the basic right of individuals to live in peace and fully benefit from a healthy and sustainable community. These elements make no real distinction between prosperous and poor cities, and impose aconsiderable cost on the population, particularly through the decline of communities, the increase in health and security expenditures and the deterioration of investments. Violence and fear directly threaten life in society, good governance and the sustainable development of the world’s communities and neighbourhoods.

The lack of recognition of the right of self-determination and the large-scale dispossession and degradation of their lands, resources and territories has had a devastating effect on indigenous peoples’ livelihoods, cultures and overall socio-economic conditions. Widespread poverty and destitution flowing from this has had a significant impact on their housing. Indigenous peoples often lack security of tenure and live constantly with the threat of forced eviction from their homes and/or lands. In some countries, indigenous peoples are often found in over-crowded houses that are in poor condition and that often have neither schools nor hospitals nearby. Indigenous women and men face discrimination in most aspects of housing. Housing and development policies and programmes either discriminate against indigenous peoples directly or have discriminatory effects. The loss of traditional lands andhousing contributes to the increased migration of indigenous peoples to urban centres, where barriers to adequate housing (such as unemployment/poverty, discrimination, and lack of affordable and adequate housing) are particularly acute.

Indigenous women in particular often bear the brunt of these inadequate conditions. At the same time, they experience gender-specific problems, such as domestic violence, together with discrimination and inequality as a result of institutional and cultural factors. These often curtail or prohibit women’s access to, control over and the right to inherit land, property and housing. Indigenous peoples with disabilities, youth and children, elders and sexual minorities also experience greater adverse conditions in housing.

El mundo es desde 2008 mayormente urbano, estimandose que las ciudades adquieran ademas cada vez mayor protagonismo. En terminos globales, el proceso de urbanizacion ha venido de la mano de una ampliacion del desarrollo humano. Al igual que en los paises, la crisis economica se asoma, sin embargo, en las ciudades.

Si los esfuerzos pendientes eran copiosos y los retos en todas las areas notables, debiendo atender los primeros y proseguir abordando los segundos, la crisis invita, en logica contraciclica, a aumentar los recursos publicose invertirlos de manera eficaz y eficiente. Este libro se ocupa en este marco de las consecuencias demograficas, economicas, sociales, ambientales y poltticas de la urbanizacion, senalando sus ventajas y desafios e intentando ofrecer sobre todo algunas claves para su gestion.

The overall objective of this Handbook is to outline the new, innovative techniques and to explain how they have been applied to address crime problems in low- and middle-income countries. The various programmes, policies and approaches described here can provide law enforcement policymakers, front-line officers, urban planners and other city authorities as well as civil society organizations with basic information about an array of strategies and good governance practices to control crime in rapidly growing cities in low- and middleincome countries.

Esta publicación está destinada a los legisladores y a las autoridades públicas. Es para los que trabajan en la gestión y desarrollo del suelo y buscan las mejores maneras de garantizar los derechos y satisfacer la creciente demanda por suelo. Enfatiza la necesidad por políticas que faciliten el acceso al suelo para todas las secciones de sus poblaciones actuales y futuras- especialmente, para las que tienen ingresos bajos o irregulares. Esta publicación actualiza y revisa la publicación de UN–HABITAT de 2004 “Suelo urbano para todos (“Urban Land for All” en inglés). Se centra en asuntos del suelo urbano, rural y del perímetro urbano.

Los derechos seguros al suelo y la forma de ofrecerlos son importantes para el desarrollo y la reducción de la pobreza. Más que una guía completa y extensa para asuntos más amplio de políticas, gestión y reforma del suelo, este trabajo explica cómo derechos seguros al suelo e instituciones equitativas y eficaces pueden apoyar la buena gobernanza del suelo.

This report presents the outcomes of UN-HABITAT 's International Conference on Decentralization, Local Governance and Service Delivery: Sharing Experience and Sustaining Progress in Urban Iraq, which took place in Amman, Jordan from 8-10 May 2011.

The objective of the conference was to provide an opportunity for Iraqi Local Government Association representatives to learn, experience and benefit from the process of decentralization and development of local governments in other selected countries. The conference provided a focused practical perspective on how decentralization in urban areas promotes local government as an effective tool for service delivery

The guidelines outline the main principles underlying the democratic, constitutional/legal and administrative aspects of local governance and decentralization. At the same time they must be applied to specific conditions of State form (federal, regionalized or unitary), with different State traditions (for example, Napoleonic, Germanic or Anglo-Saxon, as well as traditions found in Asia, or in the Arab world).

For that reason they do not provide a uniform and rigid blueprint applicable to all Member States of the United Nations. They may be subject to national adaptations. Their main objective, however, is to support and guide legislative reform where necessary and appropriate.

Since the year 2000 the City of Toronto, Canada's most populous municipality, has mounted a sustained, high-profile campaign to ensure the devolution of more powers and resources from its provincial and federal counterparts. This campaign for a 'New Deal' is unique in Canada in terms of its scope and its achievements to date, which include new sources of finance and new legislation that expands the City's powers.

The objective of this paper is to explain the origins and achievements of Toronto's campaign. Even though the Toronto area is one of Canada's most globally integrated city-regions, the paper argues that the pressures of globalization play only a supporting role in Toronto's New Deal campaign.

Now more than ever, local governments are at the forefront of responding to growing social, economic and environmental challenges. In response to this changing context, local elected officials need to be knowledgeable about an increasingly complex set of interrelated issues. They must also develop competencies including decision making, communication, enabling, facilitating, overseeing and empowering, to effectively perform their political leadership and representation roles. Capable local leaders can greatly contribute to improved local governance

The Local Elected Leadership (LEL) series presents two roles and ten competencies essential for every elected official to effectively perform their job when serving local communities. The series contains many training exercises and tools that can be used as practical on-the-job guide long after the leadership training workshop has ended.