Abstract:
This study was conducted by the Centre for Poverty Analysis
(CEPA) and looked at land related vulnerabilities in the Northern Province:
Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu. Land is a highly contested issue in
post-war Sri Lanka, and for communities made vulnerable by the war,
inability to access land resources adds another layer of vulnerability. There
are many factors that influence the character of relationships that surround
land and land transactions in the North: the multiple displacements, the
complexity of the legal/policy framework, the institutions and state
structures weakened by conflict; the entrenched cultural roots. Within this
context, CEPA’s study aimed to find out how clear and transparent,
community oriented property rights/claims processes could be developed
to include vulnerable groups such as women-headed households, orphans
and the elderly. The study was informed by an initial scoping visit to the
field, and the findings were based on secondary sources and primary data
comprising a review of relevant literature, applicable policy and laws and,
field research conducted in selected Divisional Secretariat divisions of the
three selected districts, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu in the
Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The work was carried out from May to
December 2011.
