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From 21-23 June 2016, Hanoi, Viet Nam hosted the first international land governance event in the Mekong Region: the Regional Land Forum. This highly participatory and regionally representative forum enabled debates and discussions to occur about customary land rights and large scale land concessions in the context of ASEAN Economic Integration.
Our Managing Director, Tony Burns, spent two weeks in Palestine during July/August together with two local consultants, Hiba Husseini and Mohammad Awwad, to assist the Prime Minister’s Office to prepare a comprehensive road map for the Palestinian Land Sector.
Ethiopia is one of the most rapidly urbanising countries in the world and is in a unique position to capitalise on the economic opportunities of this transformation.
This year’s International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Working Week in Christchurch, New Zealand, focused on “Recovery from Disaster”. Having experienced significant earthquakes in recent years, the city was well placed to host this event and showcase how the local population has innovated and adapted in the face of so much destruction.
In May 2016, LEI finalised contract negotiations for PMaP3 – funded by MCA-I. As is the case with PMaP2, this project is part of the Participatory Land Use Planning Activity (PLUP) under the Green Prosperity Project (see http://gp.mca-indonesia.go.id/en/). PLUP implementation focuses on investments in administrative boundary setting, updating and integrating land-use inventories and enhancing spatial plans and capacity building at the district and provincial levels.
On PMaP2 we are fortunate to have a great team in place, but it is not something we take for granted.
PMaP2 commenced its formal training program with a four-week intensive geographic information system (GIS) training course held in Bogor. Thirty local government staff attended (including nine women) from the nine project districts. Participants came from district Bappeda and other local government agencies. For most of them, this training was an introduction to GIS, but the program also catered for advanced users.
The final report for the Development of Implementation/Action Plans to Enhance Mobility of ASEAN Professionals on Surveying Servicesproject has been completed and is awaiting final sign-off. This project was funded by the ASEAN-Australian Development Cooperation Program Phase II and undertaken with the ASEAN Surveying Working Group.
Towards the end of 2015, LEI completed the five-year DFAT-funded Vanuatu Land Program. The Program was a long-term commitment by the Government of Vanuatu (GoV) in land sector reform initiatives that aimed to support the Land Sector Framework through improved decision making, making land transactions more transparent, and improving land management procedures and practices (and in doing so, minimise the potential for conflict over land matters).
The delegation was headed by the Hon. Minister Daudi Migereko and Permanent Secretary Musoke Gabindadde who were accompanied by Nadege Orlova of IGN International of France – the company responsible for the World Bank-funded Design Supply and Implementation of a Land Information System project.
The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project recently held its second round of stakeholder and consultation workshops with regional partners from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.
From the first quarter of 2016, LEI will provide technical support to DAI on this project. The project is part of the FTF initiative which sits under a five-year umbrella contract referred to as: Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR).
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.
