FIG Cooperation with UN-HABITAT and the Global Land Tool Network - President Enemark at the GLTN International Advisory Board MeetingNairobi, Kenya, 29-30 October 2010
FIG President Stig Enemark attended the Meeting of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) International Advisory Board (IAB) held 29 October 2010 at the UN-HABITAT Headquarters in Nairobi, and followed by discussions 30 October on future co-operation and partnership between GLTN and FIG.
The GLTN International Advisory Board (IAB) is established to provide
objective advice on issues related to the GLTN policies, operational
strategies and projects. The IAB meets once or twice a year to discuss
current progress and future strategies. The full IAB is available at:
The key issue of the IAB meeting included a comprehensive evaluation of the overall GLTN activities and achievements for the period January-August 2010 based on the semi-annual progress and financial report, September 2010. The presentation and discussions revealed that GLTN has been very successful in achieving their goals and also that the GLTN partners are very committed in their support. A range of pro-poor land tools has been developed that are now being tested at country level and at scale. Also a number of publications have been published in cooperation with partners to provide guidelines on pro-poor land policy implementation. The Social Tenure Domain Model has a high priority at the GLTN agenda. This work is undertaken in cooperation between GLTN, FIG, ITC and the World Bank, and with Chrit Lemmen (Chair of FIG WG 7.1) as a key driver. The STDM is seen as critical for recording a wide range of informal land rights and claims. Without such alternatives to the conventional cadastral systems, pro-poor land policies will remain virtually impossible to implement. The STDM concept and the prototype have received enormous support and positive feedback from various stakeholders. Next step is to improve and customise the prototype for possible use in informal settlements and develop further to a fully functional system. Moreover, some software developers are now pursuing the development of simple and cheap software following the same principles behind the development of STDM. The STDM was launched at the FIG Congress in Sydney through FIG Publication no 52, see: http://www.fig.net/pub/figpub/pub52/figpub52.htm GLTN has also developed with partners (FIG, Huairou Commission and University of East London) a Gender Evaluation Criteria land tool that assesses whether a large-scale land tool or programme is responsive to both women and men's needs. The evaluation criteria were pilot-tested in three countries Brazil, Nepal and Ghana by Diane Dumashie, Chair of FIG Commission 8, and the results were highlighted in a Roundtable discussion at the World Urban Forum V in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010. Training activities around these criteria are planned to take place in a range of countries to facilitate implementation and use for government, professionals and grass root organisations. The gender Evaluation criteria are available at: http://www.gltn.net/en/home/gender/gender-evaluation-brochure/details.html A full GLTN Midterm Assessment Report for the period 2007-2009 is
available at: The IAB also discussed on the future strategies for taking the GLTN agenda forward in a close cooperation with partners. This also relates to the ongoing transition in administration of UN-HABITAT (see below) as well as possible changes in the funding streams for the GLTN activities. Next IAB meeting will be held during the 23rd Session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT in April 2011.
Recent publications published by UN_HABITAT, Global Land Tool Network. Note the publication on Informal Urban Development in Europe produced in cooperation with FIG and with Chryssy Potsiou, incoming FIG Vice-President, as the key author. All publications are available online at GLTN website: http://www.gltn.net The following day on Saturday 31 October President Enemark had meetings with Clarissa Augustinus, Head of GLTN and Chief UN-HABITAT Land, Tenure and Property Administration Section, and the key staff of GLTN, Danilo Antonio, Remy Sietchping, and Solomon Haile. Discussions were around future cooperation and activities in relation to pursuing the GLTN agenda as well as the objectives of FIG. Capacity Building for good governance and implementation of pro-poor land policies will be key issues. President Enemark conveyed the best regards from the incoming President Chee Hai Teo and ensured that continuous strong commitment of FIG in support of the GLTN agenda will be part of the council work plan for the period 2011-14. Change of Executive Director of UN-HABITAT UN-HABITAT is currently in a state of transition due to the change
the Executive Director. Dr. Joan Clos, the former Mayor of
Barcelona, Spain, is succeeding Dr. Anna Tibaijuka who has headed
UN-HABITAT since it was formed in 2001 to replace the UN Centre for
Human Settlements (UNCHS). Dr. Anna Tibaijuka is also well known to FIG
as a keynote speaker – latest at the FIG Working Week in Stockholm, June
2008. Dr. Joan Clos started his tenure as Executive Director 18 October
2010 for a period of four year. He is known as a committed advocate of
the urban agenda, and as Mayor of Barcelona he became world famous for
the way he turned around the fortunes of the city. Read more:
19 November 2010 |
