21 years of LEI’s Leadership, Design, Implementation and Monitoring of Land Projects

LEI was established in 2001 with a goal of being inspirational in developing outcomes for its clients and stakeholders in the land sector, our motto being “sustainable development from the ground up”. We are proud that LEI has crossed a milestone in our history, celebrating 21 years of operation. We have maintained long relationships in countries where much of our work began: Indonesia, Philippines and in particular Lao PDR, where we continue to this day. Throughout the period we have encountered and grown alongside many counterparts, colleagues, and clients, learning, and evolving along the way.

For many Australians, Nauru is known only for its divisive history (and present) ‘hosting’ refugees that have made it to our shores. Others may recall a past that ransacked the nation’s ecology for its high-quality phosphate. Phosphate mining has stripped the elevated inland (‘Topside’) of its tropical forests to leave behind a pinnacled-desert, rendered largely uninhabitable. The nation’s 12,000+ people are left to live and work along the lower-lying thin strip of coastline around the island.

Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.

Recently, we virtually “met up” with Stella Rose Akutui, the Capacity Building and Networking Officer with LANDnet. Stella has been one of many amazing Ugandan women driving the women’s land rights agenda – we celebrate her achievements and the avenues around which Uganda is leading the thinking and action on land rights in Africa.

Earlier in 2020, Alex Wymarra, the Director of Treaty Council and First Nation Gudang-Yadhaykenu clan, approached Land Equity International (LEI) seeking technical assistance for the development of the Allodial Land Use Registry (ALUR), an Indigenous mapping and permit initiative for first nations people on the great southern land.

A pivotal case study conducted during Phase one of the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project was “Policy Influencing and Advocacy on the 2017 Vietnam Law on Forestry”. Implemented by the Forestland Coalition (FORLAND), the initiative demonstrated how to successfully influence the Forestry Law to improve the security of land rights for ethnic forest communities and traditional forest protectors.

The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held their second Regional Land Forum in Bangkok on 28-30 May 2018.

Here at LEI and Gret’s Mekong Region Land Governance project we are moving towards the end of Phase 1 in June. We expect a relatively seamless shift into the second phase, which is anticipated to start in July this year, for another four years.

At the age of 60, Ibrahim Ng’wala a husband of six wives with 17 children has lived his entire life in the village known as Nyange. This village is located nearby the famous Kilombero Sugar Company Limited in Kilombero district, Morogoro Region.

Tanzania’s Land Tenure Support Programme (LTSP) has again demonstrated that there is strong national and sectoral leadership and commitment to improved land service delivery and transparency in Tanzania. In any land project there is always a need for strong communication and coordination within and between government and non-government stakeholders. The LTSP has recently established a Multi Stakeholder Group (MSG) to best facilitate and improve inter-agency cooperation, in support of land tenure reform as envisioned under the Strategic Plan for Implementation of Land Laws (SPILL) 2013.