The USAID/Rwanda Conflict Management and Mitigation Project, otherwise known as the “Land Dispute Management Project,” worked to prevent, manage, and help resolve ongoing land conflicts and conflicts created through the land registration project. The project maintained micro- and macro-level peace and security and promoted reconciliation during the potentially destabilizing activities, which resulted from the implementation of the land law, provided training for land conflict resolution and helped the GoR implement land rights registration under its land reform program through participatory processes.
The project worked to establish tenure security, through appropriate legislation and socially-inclusive land rights formalization, backed by effective mechanisms for land adjudication and dispute resolution, to provide for reconciliation and further prevention of conflict.
Objectives
The objectives of the project were twofold:
- Support and strengthen capacity in two GoR priority pilot areas to resolve land disputes in a fair and efficient manner; and
- Increase public awareness about the law governing land rights and avenues for seeking peaceful resolution of land-related disputes and conflicts.
The project contributed directly toward the following objectives of USAID/Rwanda:
- Strategic objectives (SO) of Improved Governance through Increased Citizen Participation (SO5) contributing to Program Component (PC) 1: mitigate conflict and support peace; and
- Operational Plan relating to “Governing Justly & Democratically” (Program Area 3 “Political Competition and Consensus-Building”).
The Project also intended to contribute indirectly to the Expanded Economic Opportunities SO by facilitating land tenure security, laying the foundation for improved agricultural and business practices.