LEI has been working in Tanzania since 2005 under various contracts to the World Bank to support land reform activities under the Private Sector Competitiveness Project (PSCP) and, more recently, to support the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania (GoT) to prepare the Strategic Plan for Implementation of Land Laws (SPILL, 2013). Most recently, LEI has established a team of advisers to support the major Land Tenure Support Programme (LTSP).
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In December 2015, LEI finalised contract negotiations to the value of USD4.2m for the second project in a series of sub-activities under the MCA-I Participatory Land Use Planning Activity (PLUP). The PLUP is one of four activities making up the Green Prosperity Project (see http://gp.mca-indonesia.go.id/en/). The PLUP activity focuses on investments in administrative boundary setting, updating and integrating land use inventories and enhancing spatial plans at the district and provincial levels.
In the November 2015 the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development – Working Group on Land, issued the following policy brief in support of the Land Indicators that have been included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are an important set of indicators that we all need to strive towards meeting in our commitments, actions and collaborative efforts.
On 13 March 2015, Vanuatu was hit by severe Cyclone Pam. The Category 5 storm caused considerable damage to infrastructure and livelihoods across the island group – particularly the southern islands. Despite the wide-spread destruction and some delays during the initial clean-up (to clear roads and reinstate services, such as power and telecommunications), the Vanuatu Land Program was able to continue on with its planned activities.
On 13 March 2015, the Governments of Switzerland (through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)) and Lao PDR signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement to launch the Mekong Regional Land Governance (MRLG) Project in Lao PDR. The Project will support land tenure security for family farmers, especially women and ethnic groups by progressively improving land and natural resource governance in policy and practice in the Mekong Region.
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.
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.
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).
The collection of land rent represents an important source of revenue for the Government of Vanuatu (GoV). The Vanuatu Land program is assisting the GoV with this task through the creation of valuation rolls for properties in the country’s two urban centres, Port Vila and Luganville.
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.
A team of consultants from LEI recently guided the revision of the Strategic Plan for the Implementation of Land Laws (SPILL) (2013), a roadmap for the development of the Land Sector in mainland Tanzania.
In the ‘International Year of Family Farming’, LEI with our partner GRET, look forward to commencing the SDC Mekong Region Land Governance Project.
In spirit of reconciliation, Land Equity International acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
