Building Capacity to Address Land-Related Conflcits and Vulnerability in Afghanistan The purpose of the proposed grant is to build the capacity of the recently established Land Commission of Afghanistan to formulate policies and adopt practices that address land-related conflict and vulnerability.  Through analytic work, learning by doing, and participatory consultations, the following proposed activities funded under this grant will support the Land Commission to identify land-related issues and disputes preventing tenure security, test tools for local level dispute resolution, and identify adequate policy options for preventing increased polarization and vulnerability as a basis for sustainable peace and strengthening of local governance. A.  Analytic Work/ Learning by Doing: 1.  Land disputes and the continuation of conflict Using a case-study methodology, this desk-study review will provide a typology of different land-based conflicts in Afghanistan, evaluate the impact of deliberate and forced land policies on past and present conflict, and highlight policy loopholes and legislative shortcomings.  This work will be carried out in close partnership with the Afghan NGOs working with land-related conflicts. 2.  Pilots in community adjudication and dispute resolution Building upon the above analytic work, three to five communities will be selected for piloting community-based responses to addressing/resolving land disputes. The pilot communities will be located throughout the country and will be representative of the spectrum of land tenure disputes, including those that are linked with conflict over water use as well as disputes between pastoral nomads and settled farmers over pasture land.  The specific strategies and implementation modalities of the piloted approaches will be identified through the above-mentioned analytic work as well as consultations with relevant stakeholders including the concerned communities. The pilots are expected to generate knowledge and trust at the community level to handle dispute resolution in a fair and balanced manner and valuable information, guidelines (and may be proposals for legal reforms) and training material to build the capacity of the Land Commission and other government agencies (e.g. Ministry of Justice), in addressing disputes hampering land rights in Afghanistan. 3.  Lack of access to land and rural poverty/vulnerability Again building on the analytic work on land disputes and the continuation of conflict, as well as relevant findings from the community pilots, this analytic investigation will address the linkage of vulnerability with land and conflict and will examine the effects of lack of access to land, deteriorating tenancy, sharecropping contracts, and homelessness. B.  Policy Dialogue The results from the analytic work and community pilots described above will inform policy dialogue regarding the development of local strategies for the prevention and mitigation of land-related disputes and rural poverty and vulnerability. A series of participatory stakeholder workshops and focus groups at local and national levels will serve as a venue for this dialogue, and to help promote consensus on actions to be taken relating to land dispute settlement/land titling and registration which are locally-owned, equitable and sustainable. C.  Knowledge, Outreach, and Dissemination The proposed project will include a Capacity Enhancement Strategy (including a CE M&E framework)  to support the Land Commission to develop a detailed strategy and action plan to coordinate the policy workshops; participate on and evaluate the pilots; as well as share the Project's progress and results with stakeholders throughout Afghanistan. The CE strategy will also include capacity building for the Land Commission and other local institutions to participate in and utilize the policy dialogue, including skills such as consensus building and knowledge sharing on international good practices on land, conflict and social vulnerability. Outcomes:  The proposed activities will have the following outcomes: 1.   Enhanced knowledge and capacity of the Land Commission which will be better informed about effective policy options and key issues surrounding land, conflict, and vulnerability, and therefore better equipped to take informed and effective decisions. 2.   The Land Commission will have available locally-owned models that have been identified, designed, and piloted by communities, and which can be scaled-up to effectively solve local land disputes. It will have knowledge of areas which need to be strengthened/ supported to facilitate local ownership of fair and balanced dispute resolution at the national level in the future. 3.   An open and inclusive land policy dialogue is in place, involving all relevant institutions, which embraces appropriate local processes and mechanisms relating to land dispute settlement and land rights recognition and registration. 4.   In pilot communities: locally mediated settlement of a number of outstanding land conflicts, decreased level of local conflict potential, enhanced knowledge and capacity to apply land conflict resolution approaches, and increased confidence in central government's responsiveness to local-level decision making. The purpose of the Grant is to build the capacity of communities and the Land Commission to formulate policies and adopt practices that address land-related conflict and vulnerability.