Government of Netherlands Contributes US$20.4 Million
to Global Land Tool Network Programme

On 3 October 2013, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation has signed an agreement with IFAD and UN-Habitat for a contribution totalling US$20.4 million in support of Phase 2 of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) programme particularly on scaling up and advancing country-level engagement and promoting good land governance through a comprehensive set of demand-driven and pro-poor land tools and approaches.

“This financial boost from the Government of the Netherlands is indeed a vote of confidence for the hard work you, as a GLTN Partner, have invested into the GLTN agenda and will further allow the Network to advance with you its work programme in GLTN Phase 2” said Dr. Clarissa Augustinus, Unit Leader: Land and Global Land Tool Network, Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch at UN-Habitat. FIG is a GLTN Partner from GLTN’s inception.

The commitment to the GLTN basket over a period of five years (from 2013 to 2017), is part of the Government of the Netherlands’ on-going support to advancing food security, regional and global land initiatives geared to promote the application of the Voluntary Guidelines of the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests.

GLTN Phase 2 (2012-2017)

GLTN’s first five years were full of momentum, successes and lessons - all of which continue to be build upon. Since 2006, the Global Land Tool Network has grown to include 60 partners comprised of land professional bodies, civil society organizations, research and capacity development institutions and bilateral and multilateral institutions. With financial support of the Government of Norway and SIDA, and with the multi-sector approach to technical collaboration, the Network has advanced land tool development processes in key areas promoting pro-poor and gender sensitive approaches that can be implemented at scale.

Phase 2, therefore, focuses on accelerating tool development and implementation at country level, improving knowledge management, supporting land policy reform and donor coordination, strengthening capacity development processes. Based on the previous experience of the network, these five thematic areas are critical entry points in land sector reform. The total budget for GLTN phase 2 is 40 million USD, wherein the Netherlands have given an important financial contribution of about 50% of the total funding requirement through IFAD. The Network also recognizes and appreciates the continued partnerships and financial contribution of The Government of Norway, Sweden’s SIDA, Cities Alliance, African Union, African Union/UN Economic Commission for Africa/Land Policy Initiative, African Development Bank, UN-Habitat and IFAD in implementing targeted programs.

Continuum of Land Rights:
Reviewing the Concept and Investigating the evidence in selected sites in Southern Africa.

Based on the premise that there is a growing acceptance of the legitimacy of a range of land rights and alternative forms of secure tenure, GLTN is undertaking an initiative to explore the evidence of the continuum in practice. The first stage of the process was to research and described the historical, conceptual and methodological underpinnings, as well as the context and importance of the GLTN Continuum of Land Rights.

GLTN in close partnership with Urban LandMark, a GLTN partner organization working in Southern Africa convened a consultation in Johannesburg on October 9 – 11, 2013 amongst GLTN Secretariat, GLTN Partners including FIG, international and local experts and implementers to review the continuum of land rights and explore the continuum in practice.

This initiative will describe, understand and learn from the paradigm shifts in practical terms with a view to consolidating and extending the range of land rights and tenure security. An important element of the initiative is to respond to GLTN’s approach to land tool capacity development.

Modernising Land Agencies Budgetary Approach

GLTN in collaboration with the FIG together with Kadaster International (The Netherlands) and Lantmäteriet (Sweden), key partners and stakeholders have embarked on a process to develop a tool that can assist policy makers and those responsible for land administration to adopt appropriate technologies and methodologies that will provide and sustain land administration services most efficiently, cost effectively and with options most appropriately tailored for incorporating varying tenure types. We recognize the challenges, as this tool will grapple with finding optimal solutions to accommodate these new realities and multiple trends with a view to making land agencies relevant to the time and the public they serve.

The tool will guide decision makers through appropriate and incremental processes towards improving efficiencies and effectiveness but without compromising the quality of services provided nor limiting access to services, especially for the poor and vulnerable.

GLTN, FIG and its partners are convening a validation workshop that aims to bring together global experiences of land administration reform professionals to consider and review the tool as proposed by the activity consultant. The two-day Validation Workshop will be held in Gävle, Sweden on October 14 - 15, 2013 hosted by Lantmäteriet, Sweden.

CheeHai TEO
October 2013

11 October 2013