Leading with Data: Why Data Collaboration is Key to Securing Global Land Rights

Editorial — In every region of the world, from flood-prone deltas to conflict-scarred villages, people are fighting daily for the right to stay, to return, to rebuild — or simply to be counted as rightful stewards of the land they live on.

On the sidelines of the 2025 World Bank Land Conference, participants discuss how reliable, inclusive data is driving land policy reform and global development priorities. (Photo: World Bank Group)

At LPN Global, we are building a bold, action-oriented platform to elevate local and grassroots land tenure initiatives — especially in countries and regions most severely affected by insecurity, displacement, climate vulnerability, and historical injustice. Our mission is clear: connect local actors with global partners, mobilize resources, and grow capacity to secure housing, land, and property rights for all.

But to do this right, we must begin with a truth too often overlooked: without data, there can be no direction.

We are often asked how LPN Global will approach data in our work. Our answer is simple: we do not seek to reinvent the wheel. We seek to drive it forward — together. That’s why one of our foundational commitments is to collaborate with existing data platforms like PRINDEX, which have pioneered global, people-centered approaches to measuring perceived tenure security.

Below, are five reasons why partnerships with data platforms like PRINDEX are indispensable to any global programme of action on tenure security — including ours.

1. Visibility for the Invisible

Official land registries and cadastral records often exclude vast segments of the world’s population—those living in informal settlements, rural customary areas, or displacement camps. The result? Policymakers and donors operate with partial views of the problem, and solutions fail to reach the most vulnerable.

PRINDEX, through its groundbreaking surveys of over 140,000 people across 100+ countries, has made invisible tenure insecurity visible. It tells us not just what rights people have on paper, but how secure — or insecure — they actually feel. These insights are invaluable to LPN Global’s mission to identify and elevate grassroots solutions in high-risk contexts.

2. Benchmarking Progress

We live in a world that prizes metrics. Yet when it comes to land and property rights, global benchmarks have long been fragmented, outdated, or overly legalistic. PRINDEX introduced a standardised, comparative way to assess tenure security based on perception — an essential complement to legal or technical indicators.

As LPN Global rolls out our interactive platform to surface local initiatives and match them with resources, such data allows us to prioritise where needs are greatest, monitor regional trends, and track whether interventions are truly shifting the dial on security over time.

3. Making the Case for Investment

Funders — whether philanthropic, corporate, bilateral, or multilateral — respond to evidence. They need to understand the scope, scale, and urgency of tenure insecurity to justify investment.

The data provided by PRINDEX and similar platforms helps make that case. For example, we now know that nearly 1 in 4 people worldwide fear losing their home or land within the next five years. In sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia and Latin America, those numbers are even higher. These aren’t just statistics; they’re calls to action. And they give LPN Global the tools to mobilize resources at scale and with precision.

4. Grounding Innovation in Reality

There is growing momentum to modernize land administration through blockchain, drones, digital twins, AI, and mobile apps. Yet too often, these innovations are developed in isolation from those they aim to serve.

PRINDEX-style data helps innovators understand real-world user experience — where fear of eviction is highest, what types of tenure arrangements exist, how gender and displacement affect security. This alignment between innovation and lived experience is central to LPN Global’s approach as we curate and amplify effective, context-appropriate solutions across our platform.

5. Accountability and Equity

Land tenure insecurity is never neutral. It disproportionately affects women, youth, Indigenous peoples, refugees, informal settlers, and the poor. Without data disaggregated by gender, age, tenure type, and displacement status, global action risks leaving the most marginalized behind.

By embedding equity-focused data from platforms like PRINDEX into our platform’s architecture, LPN Global can ensure that inclusion isn’t a box we check — it is the backbone of our work. It also holds partners — whether governments, NGOs, or private actors — accountable for closing gaps and empowering local leadership.

Looking Ahead: Co-creation, Not Duplication

We see LPN Global’s role as a convener, amplifier, and connector — not a competitor. As we build out our digital infrastructure, we are committed to integrating and aligning with platforms like PRINDEX, LANDex, Land Portal, and others that offer open-access, people-centered, and regionally relevant data.

We are also building strategic alliances to ensure our forthcoming digital projects not only document who is doing what, where, and how — but also uses data smartly to better serve the land community.

The journey to secure land rights for all is long, but data — particularly data grounded in perception, inclusion, and accessibility — can light the way.

If you are part of an organisation generating or using tenure data — or want to support locally-led land solutions informed by it — get in touch. Let’s co-create a more secure and equitable future, together.