CoFLAS presented at the 2014 Inaugural Conference on Land Policy in Africa

Following its validation at an Expert Group Meeting in Bangkok in October, the Global Land Tool Network Costing and Financing of Land Administration Services (CoFLAS) Tool for Developing Countries was presented at the 2014 Inaugural Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA). Held from 11th – 14th November in Addis Ababa, the CLPA provided an opportunity to promote CoFLAS more widely and to commence discussions on the two proposed CoFLAS pilots in Lesotho and Tanzania.

The Mekong Region Land Governance Project, funded by SDC and implemented by LEI and Gret, is in full swing heading into the last quarter of the Inception Phase (Year 1). During the past 9 months our team across the four countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) has been working strategically to bring reform actors from civil society, private sector, government and academia into discussions on developing effective pathways for collaboration on land governance. We are currently reviewing learning and advocacy initiatives that have been developed by multi-stakeholder focus groups in support of the promotion of improve tenure security for small holder farmer, fisheries and forestry. The topics where the demand for support has been most readily requested across the 4 countries include: land dispute mechanisms, private sector engagement, customary and communal rights and recognition, and evidence based research for policy dialogue.

Tony Burns, Kate Fairlie and Brian Garcia (Mekong Region Land Governance project) will all be at this year’s World Bank Land and Poverty Conference from 23rd – 27th March.

After extensive research, review and consultation, a revised Strategic Plan for the Implementation of Land Laws (SPILL) (2013) as a roadmap for the development of the Land Sector in mainland Tanzania has been developed under the guidance of a team of consultants from LEI. Working closely with the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Human Settlements Development (MLHHSD), the 2005 strategic plan was reviewed and updated in the light of the commitment of national and land sector leadership to improving land service delivery and transparency.

Tangible progress has been made over the last 12 months on the Vanuatu Land Program, largely as a result of the support provided by the new Minister for Lands. A recent re-focusing of activities means the project can now better support land administration initiatives identified by the Minister of Lands as being critical to the development of Vanuatu. The Program will focus on supporting land administration activities which will also support future infrastructure development around Port Vila and Luganville as well as other economic development initiatives across the country through the provision of improved land administration practice and procedures in the areas of land registration, surveying and valuation.

The Modernisation of Land Services and Institutional Strengthening Project, a component of the 2007 Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of Lesotho ‘Compact,’ was executed by LEI over a 40 month period – October 2009 and February 2013. LEI thank all our counterparts who contributed to making this project a success and wish the staff of the LAA all the best for a successful future.

The United Nations 2009 Global Report on Disaster Risk Reduction ranked the Philippines as the third most-disaster-prone country globally, as witnessed during two typhoons in 2009 which caused $1 billion of infrastructure damage in Metro Manila and loss of life.

LEI’s Managing Director recently visited Romania as an adviser on the World Bank Implementation Support Mission of the CESAR Project and it looked more like a holiday destination?! Hidden among the beauty of Saxon fortified churches, treasured villages, and lush green pastures of Romania, lies the CESAR project with cadastral, public awareness and notary public issues hindering the completion of 0.7 million hectares of systematic registration.

LEI are currently working with the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment (MNRE) in Samoa through World Bank funding to implement the 2009 Unit Titles Act. The Unit Titles Act, the first of its kind in Samoa, was introduced to promote investment in property development in Samoa. LEI are providing a small consultancy team to establish clear and comprehensive administrative mechanisms and regulations to support the enacted legislation.

More than 1.5 billion people live in Asian cities and by 2030 at current urban growth rates, an additional 1.2 billion people will be living in cities in the region. The region is facing growing problems of access to safe drinking water, rapid population growth, reduced access to land for growing food, and climate change related problems of natural disasters and rising sea levels.