GLTN Newsletter April 2011

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Newsletter

No. 01-11

April 2011

Land on Top of Agenda at UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council Another

interesting

side

event

is

“Land, Property and Housing: A focus on the Muslim World”, organized in collaboration with the University of East London. The event will feature an introduction to the “Training Package on Land, Property and Housing Rights in the Muslim World” by its principal author and also highlight how the package can be used in the field.

Finally,

the

GLTN

secretariat

is

participating in the pre-session meeting of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD), hosted by the Government of Kenya. The meeting will discuss the establishment of a permanent secretariat Ms. Sheela Patel, Chair of SDI will be a speaker at the Governing Council

Photo © SDI

and issues will be one of the key

L

tenure in Brazil, India and Tanzania by

topics to be discussed at UN-

grassroots organizations. The event will

HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council

showcase the work of SDI, and two of

(GC23), taking place in Nairobi from

the Huairou Commission’s affiliates,

11 – 15 April 2011. The dialogue on

MWEDO and Espaço Feminista.

“Sustainable

Development

through

Expanding Equitable Access to Land, Housing,

Basic

Infrastructure

and

Services” will be one of the highlights at GC23, featuring renowned experts such as Sheela Patel of SDI, a GLTN partner.

for AMCHUD and the implementation of the Bamako Plan of Action.

For a full list of land-related activities at UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council, see our time table on page three.

Contents 1. Land on Top of Agenda at UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council 2. Launch of Training Package on Land, Property and Housing Rights in the Muslim World 3. Key Events at UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council 4. High-level Delegation to Showcase Grassroots Participation in Land Regularization 5. GLTN Partners to Develop a Pro-poor Land Recordation System

GLTN partners are taking the lead in

5. GLTN welcomes three new partners

organizing several side events at the

6. African Land and Housing Ministries tackle Gender Equality and Grassroots Participation

Governing Council. One such event is

6. Capacity Development of the Land Sector in Kenya

“Not about Us without Us – Grassroots

7. Making the Village Land Act work for Maasai Women in Tanzania

Participation in Land”, which will

8. AMCHUD meets in Special Session at UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council

highlight ongoing efforts to secure

1

Network Partners

Launch of Training Package on Land, Property and Housing Rights in the Muslim World

1. Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) 2. Bill and Melanda Gates Foundation (BGMF) 3. Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE)

I

programme in Iraq. GLTN encourages

of East London, GLTN is launching

practitioners and academia to adopt

the new “Training Package on Land,

the training package and carry out

Property and Housing Rights in the

research to further strengthen the

Muslim World” at a side-event of the

understanding of Islamic dimensions

8. FIAN International

23 Governing Council of UN-HABITAT

of land.

9. GIZ

on Thursday 14 April 2011. The

10. Groupe d’Echange et de Recherche Technologiques (GRET)

training package is intended for policy

The training package is based on GLTN’s

11. Hakijamii Trust

makers, practitioners and students

previous work on Islamic dimensions,

12. Huairou Commission (HC)

who are looking to develop innovative

including the book on Land, Law and

13. Habitat International Coalition (HIC)

and

land

Islam: Property and Human Rights

14. Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) International

administration, urban planning and

in the Muslim World by Sait & Lim,

slum upgrading in the Muslim world.

published in 2006. This work was

4. Cities Alliance 5. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) 6. FAO 7. Federation des Geometres Francophone (FGF)

15. Alliance on Land Tenure and Administration (IALTA)

n collaboration with the University

rd

authentic

solutions

for

endorsed by leading non-Muslim and

16. International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)

The training package analyses the

Muslim stakeholders, including the

17. International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)

relevance of Islamic land tools and

seat of Islamic scholarship, the Al-

presents the basic features of Islamic

Azhar in Egypt.

18. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) 19. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) 20. International Institute for Geo-Information (ITC) 21. International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) 22. International Land Coalition (ILC) 23. International Research Group on Law and Urban Space (IRGLUS) 24. International Union for Land Value Taxation (IU)

law. Topics covered include Islamic human rights & land, Islamic land

In most Muslim countries, Islamic law,

tenures, inheritance laws, property

principles and practices are important

rights

waqf

factors in governing access to land. Over

philanthropy

20 percent of the world’s population is

of

Muslim

(endowment),

women,

Islamic

influenced to some degree by Islamic

and Islamic microfinance.

principles and practice, either through The

course

collaboration

was with

pilot-tested the

in

official systems or informal practices.

Islamic

Yet global approaches to secure tenure

25. International Union of Notaries (IUNL)

International University in Malaysia in

rarely acknowledge that Islamic land

26. Landesa

late 2009. The course will first be rolled

principles

27. Lantmateriat (National Land Survey of Sweden)

out by the UN-HABITAT programme

enhancing property rights.

28. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

for Somali, with interest also being

29. Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

expressed to implement a training

offer

opportunities

for

30. N-AERUS 31. Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 32. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS) 33. SIDA 34. Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) 35. Statens kartverk (Norwegian Mapping Authority) 36. Technical University Munich (TUM) 37. Terra Institute 38. UNECA 39. UNEP 40. UN-HABITAT 41. University of East London (UEL) 42. University of West Indies (UWI) 43. UN-WOMEN 44. World Bank 45. World Vision International

Architectural details from buildings in Muslim countries

2

GLTN aims to establish a continuum of land rights, rather than just focus on individual land titling.

Photo © UN-HABITAT

Key Events at UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council

Birds-eye view of the plenary at the Governing Council

DATE Sat 09 Apr

TIME 9:30 am – 5 pm

ROOM CR 3

EVENT

Photo © IISD

NOTES

Meeting of the Bureau of the African

By invitation only

Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD) 6 pm –

TBC

AMCHUD Cocktail hosted by Government

By invitation only

of Kenya Mon 11 Apr

10 am – 1 pm

CR 2

Opening of UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council

Tue 12 Apr

12.30 pm – 2pm

CR 12

“Not About Us Without Us: Grassroots Participation in Land” (side event)

Wed 13 Apr

9.30 am

CR 1

Dialogue

on

development – 6 pm

“Sustainable through

urban

expanding

equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure”

6.30 pm – 8 pm

UN Rec.

Cocktail on Renewing Commitment to

Centre

the Bamako Declaration and Action Plan, hosted by UN-HABITAT

Thu 14 Apr

12:30 pm – 2pm

CR 3

“Land, Property and Housing: A focus on the Muslim World” (side event)

Fri 15 Apr

10 am – 1 pm

CR 2

Closing of UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council

Sat 16 Apr

9am – 4 pm

TBC

GLTN

International

Advisory

Board

By invitation only

Meeting

GLTN aims to improve and develop pro-poor land management as well as land tenure tools.

33

High-Level Delegation to Showcase Grassroots Participation in Land Regularization While the Constitution ensures equal land rights for women and men, experience shows that women are often discriminated against in land regularization

processes.

Without

the participation of women in the regularization process in Recife, history is likely to repeat itself leaving women without titles to land and housing.

Women’s empowerment and gender equality is at the core of the land regularization process in Ponte do Maduro. The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) will document the use of the Residents of Ponte do Maduro informal settlement in Recife, Brazil

Photo © Malcolm Boorer / UN-Habitat

delegation from Brazil’s Pernam-

A

resolve disputes and ensure an inclusive

buco state and the local commu-

planning process.

present their experiences on grassroots

The Brazilian Constitution commits the

participation in land regularization at a

state to provide housing as a right to

GLTN side event at GC23. The applica-

the city. The City Statute of 2003 further

tion of gender evaluation criteria in the

recommends that public land is used

Recife land regularization process is a

for social purposes. Consolidation of

pioneering initiative and potentially an

existing informal settlements on public

inspiration to policy makers and grass-

land is thus one way for the government

roots organizations worldwide.

to meet housing needs.

nity of Ponte do Maduro in Recife will

Gender Evaluation Criteria and the land regularization in Ponte do Maduro to encourage replication in Brazil and the rest of the world.

The GLTN Gender Evaluation Criteria is an evaluation instrument for large scale land projects jointly developed by land professionals and grassroots organizations. The criteria were first piloted in Brazil, Ghana and Nepal in 2010.

Ponte do Maduro is one of the oldest informal settlements in Recife and home to 55,000 people. Residents had struggled for 45 years to gain secure tenure when the land regularization was announced at the World Urban Forum in March 2010. More than 8,000 lowincome families will gain ownership to the land they occupy through the first phase of land regularization.

A local committee in Recife will plan, monitor and evaluate the process of land regularization. The committee has a broad representation from the government, grassroots, community leaders, social researchers and civil society. The members will work to

4

GLTN aims to unblock existing initiatives.

A neighborhood in Ponte do Maduro that will be regularized

Photo © Malcolm Boorer / UN-Habitat

GLTN Partners to Develop a Pro-Poor Land Recordation System

Participants at the EGM on Pro-poor Land Recordation in Paris, France. 15 - 16 March 2011

Photo © UN-HABITAT

G

development

15 - 16 March 2011 to develop a

recordation system. While arriving at

land recordation at key global land

land recordation system that recognizes

a consensus on key entry points and

events in 2011.

the land rights of poor people. In

priorities, they acknowledged the need

his opening address at the meeting,

for further research into institutional

The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN)

Jean-Paul Decorps, the President of

arrangements, tools and country-level

organised the expert group meeting

the International Union of Notaries

application.

in cooperation with the International

LTN partners met in Paris, France on

land

advocacy efforts to promote pro-poor

of

a

pro-poor

Institute for Geo-Information Science and

(UINL), emphasized the importance of this initiative as current land record

Prof. Jaap Zevenbergen of ITC drafted

Earth Observation (ITC) of the University

management systems are not affordable

the background paper which guided

of Twente and the International Alliance

to the poor and therefore inappropriate

discussions at the meeting. Based on

on Land Tenure and Administration

for developing countries.

the deliberations at the meeting, GLTN

(IALTA). The International Union of

partners will revise the background

Notaries (UINL) and Conseil Supérieur

the

paper and prepare an article for

du Notariat (CSN) hosted the event.

elements,

publication in a scientific land journal.

requirements and priorities in the

Network partners will further carry out

The

GLTN

meeting

partners

identified

attending core

GLTN welcomes three new partners As a testimony to its success, the

“Joining the Global Land Tool Network

Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) saw

has given UINL access to a collection

three more partners join at the end of

of tools and lessons learned that can

2010: World Vision International, the

sharpen our awareness and improve our

International Alliance on Land Tenure

response to various land issues”, said

and Administration (IALTA) and the

Ztéphane Zecevic, Council Member of

International Union of Notaries (UINL).

UINL on the occasion of the organization

At the start of its fifth year of operation

joining the network.

the network has 45 partners, up from 33 partners at the end of 2008.

GLTN aims to work with partners to assist Governments in implementing land policies that are pro-poor, gender sensitive and at scale.

55

African Land and Housing Ministries tackle Gender Equality and Grassroots Participation “We

fully

support

this

training

program”, said the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development of the Government of Mali. He added that, “this training will contribute to the deliberations [of] AMCHUD [and] make our land related activities more gender responsive and participatory”.

The

GLTN

training

sensitized

the

participants to the theme of AMCHUD III - “Land in the Context of Sustainable Urbanization”. It resulted in gender African Government officials ready to tackle gender equality and grassroots participation Photo © UN-Habitat

S

Participation

through

and pro-poor measures being anchored in the Bamako Action Plan which was approved by African ministers and

enior officials from 11 African land

Grassroots

and housing ministries discussed

Good Land Governance” took place

women’s land rights and grassroots

from 19 to 21 November 2010. It

The

participation as key aspects of good

was organized in conjunction with

from Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya,

land governance at a recent GLTN

the 3rd African Ministerial Conference

Uganda, Tanzania, Togo, Swaziland,

training in Bamako, Mali. The training

on Housing and Urban Development

Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia and DRC.

on “Improving Gender Equality and

(AMCHUD III).

heads of delegations. training

attracted

participants

Capacity Development of the Land Sector in Kenya The independent consultants leading the research effort will assess the capacity required to implement land reform in Kenya as stipulated in the Constitution and the National Land Policy. As a part of the research exercise they will meet key actors in the land sector and visit a dozen districts across Kenya.

The

consultants will further develop a methodology for needs assessment that can also be used in other land reform initiatives.

Participants of workshop on building capacity in the Kenyan land sector

Photo © Peter Ngao / UN-HABITAT

6

6

ore than 40 Government, NGO

M

land sector in Kenya. The workshop

and donor representatives met

was organized by the Kenyan Ministry

in Nairobi on 04 March 2011 to discuss

of Land to discuss an inception report

the need for human capacity develop-

on the topic and guide further research

ment and a training program for the

into the matter.

UN-HABITAT

and

International

Development

the

Swedish Agency

(SIDA) are funding the needs assessment and development of a training program for the Kenyan land sector.

GLTN aims to assist in the development of gendered tools which are affordable and useful to the grassroots.

Making the Village Land Act work for Maasai Women in Tanzania

GLTN Upcoming Events UN-HABITAT 23rd Governing Council Location: Nairobi, Kenya.

April 11 th-15 th, 2011 Expert Group Meeting on Security of tenure: monitoring and indicators Location: Washington D.C., USA April 21 st, 2011 GLTN Write Shop

Location: Nairobi, Kenya.

November 8th - 12th, 2011 GLTN Partners’ Meeting

Location: Nairobi, Kenya.

November 14th - 16th, 2011 More at http://www.gltn.net/en/upcomVillage leader in Longido district, Tanzania

E

Photo © Asa Jonsson / UN-HABITAT

ducating women about their rights

to explore options for affordable pro-

has proved an effective way of

poor surveying. The project is one of 4

granting access to land for Maasai

initiatives supported by GLTN through

women in rural Tanzania, according to a

the Grassroots Mechanism.

ing-events-2.html

New Publications

recent review of a project supported by Tanzania’s Village Land Act of 1999 for

the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN).

the first time grants women access to 82 plots of land have so far been

land. It further authorizes the village

allocated to women groups in 9 villages

leadership to allocate land rights to

in Longido and Kiteto districts as a result

individuals and groups without approval

of the project, which is implemented

of the regional and central government.

by the Maasai Women’s Development

However, in impoverished rural villages

Organization (MWEDO). However, the

without a tradition of individual land

prohibitive cost of land surveying is a

ownership there is often a gap between

major obstacle preventing the women

the letter of the law and what is

from acquiring certificates documenting

happening on the ground.

their land rights.

As part of a mid-term evaluation, UNGLTN provides technical support to

HABITAT/GLTN staff visited MWEDO

MWEDO to educate men and women

from 24 - 26 November 2010. The

about their rights under the Village

evaluation included field visits to the

Land Act. We will continue to support

villages of Longido and Kimokouwa to

MWEDO

meet Maasai women benefiting from

to

up-scale

their

highly

successful education programme and

the project.

facilitate contact with land professionals

“If people see me wearing my clothes, they know the clothes are mine.

• A Training Package: Improving Gender Equality&Grassroots Participation through Good Land Governance • Financing Affordable Housing & Infrastructure in Cities: Towards Innovative Land & Property Taxation • Strategic Citywide spatial planning: A situational Analysis of Metropolitan Portau-Prince, Haiti

But for land this is not the same. We need to find a way so that people

“

More at

Village leader, Longido district, Tanzania.

http://www.gltn.net/e_library

also know who the land belongs to.

GLTN aims to improve global coordination on land.

77

AMCHUD meets in Special Session at UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council

Honourable Gakou Salamata Fofana, Minister of Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Mali Chair AMCHUD3

Photo © Traore / UN-HABITAT

OTHER EVENTS

special session of the African

A

2012. For example, African countries

Ms Gakou Salamata Fofana, Minister of

Ministerial Conference on Housing

committed to support the organization

Housing, Lands and Urban Development

and Urban Development (AMCHUD)

of an international conference to share

of Mali, was elected AMCHUD Chair for

will be organized on Saturday 9 April

experiences on slum upgrading, security

the next two years at the conference in

on the sidelines of the 23rd session of

of tenure and access to shelter for all.

November 2010. Ms Gakou hailed the

UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council. The

importance of the Bamako Declaration

special meeting will discuss the progress

Addressing AMCHUD 3 in November

and Plan of Action and stated that

of the Bamako Declaration and Plan

2010, The Executive Director of UN-

Africa could not succeed without good

of Action and review institutional and

HABITAT, Dr. Joan Clos, hailed the

urban land management.

financial arrangements, in particular the

Joint Land Policy for Africa which has

hosting of AMCHUD’s secretariat.

been developed by the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission

The Bamako Declaration and Plan of

for Africa and the African Development

Action were concluded at the third

Bank,

AMCHUD

Global Land Tool Network.

conference

which

took

supported

by

UN-HABITAT’s

place in Bamako, Mali, from 22-

8

24 November 2010. The Bamako

The Land Policy for Africa process

Declaration underscores the crucial role

started in 2006 and culminated in

of land in supporting housing delivery

the development of a Framework and

and

urban

Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa,

development. The Declaration further

which were endorsed by the African

encourages African governments to

Heads of State and Governments in

improve systems for land management

2009. African Governments attending

and provide secure access to land for all

the AMCHUD 3 conference adopted a

population segments.

series of actions on the Land Policy for

achieving

sustainable

Africa, agreeing to develop or overhaul The Bamako Plan of Action outlines

their land policies and land laws in

specific

line with the guidelines set out in the

land-related

activities

to

be undertaken between 2010 and

8

Contact Information For your comments, suggestions and further information, please contact us: GLTN Secretariat Land,

Tenure

and

Property

Administration Section Shelter Branch UN-HABITAT P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi 00100, Kenya Tel. +254 (0)20 762 5199 Fax. +254 (0)20 762 42 56 Email: gltn@unhabitat.org website: www.gltn.net

policy.

GLTN aims to improve the general dissemination of knowledge about how to improve security of tenure.