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Researcher : Dr. Akhter Sobhan Khan
The livelihood of the majority of the poor in rural
Bangladesh depends in one way or other on land. Most
village-level quarrels, conflict, and factional politics
arise from land related disputes. The poor usually encounter
two types of land related problems: the first is related
to land laws and the second to land dispute resolution.
The existing land-laws are anti-poor because they are
complex, very time consuming for dispute resolution,
and often abused by the privileged classes to exploit
the poor. Research and program experience on land related
alternative dispute resolution reveal that it is not
the poor but the influential that benefit most from
such resolutions. A lot of activities and research on
land have been undertaken but none has focused on pro-poor
land-laws and pro-women land related dispute resolution.
Dispute resolutions facilitated by two major organizations,
Samata and Madaripur Legal Aid Association, working
on land issues will be observed in this research so
as to assess the extent of are their pro-poor focus
and the level of women's participation. A major objective
of this research is to identify elements of existing
land-laws and land administration that discriminates
the poor and constrain poverty alleviation process and
efforts. The research also attempts to identify and
recommend strategy and mechanism for alternative dispute
resolution that will safeguard the land rights of the
poor, especially poor women and ensure their participation
in the process. The research takes into account charland,
khasland, mortgaged land and land owned by the indigenous
community of the four (former) administrative Divisions
of Bangladesh.
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