2008 – 2010 — Land remains a highly complex and contentious issue, involving economic, social, political, cultural and often religious systems. As spelled out in Article 75 of the Habitat Agenda, there is a strong link between land and poverty, stating “legal access to land is a strategic prerequisite for the provision of adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements affecting both urban and rural areas. The failure to adopt, at all levels, appropriate rural and urban land policies and land management practices remains a primary case of inequity and poverty.” Land administration is thus a critical element in the wider development agenda.
Transparency is a critical component of a functioning land administration, in particular in view of the scarcity of clear and credible information on land availability and transactions, and the poor dissemination of public information on land rights and policies. The risk of corruption and inequalities are very real in land allocation and management. The consequences to the poor often takes the form of difficult access to land assets, unawareness of land policies and legal frameworks, ignorance about land transactions and prices, misallocation of land rights, land grabbing and abuse. When in place, transparency can encourage civic engagement and stakeholders’ accountability by rendering the public decision making arena more accessible. This in turn strengthens confidence in governments and public agencies, and has a positive economic impact, also on GDP. Many of the general governance principles related to transparency thus appear highly relevant to the land administration field.
In the African context, as well as in many other developing regions, there is a vast demand for skills in the land administration area, including competencies to strengthen transparency. Developing tools in these areas, without simultaneously building capacity to implement them, is unlikely to create a sustainable impact. In view of the above, UN-HABITAT and ITC have agreed on a joint venture to enhance the capacity concerning transparency in land administration through the design and conduct of a training programme on this topic.
Materials:
Case Studies:
Land Use Change and Transparency
Providing Land for Planned Urban Development
Capacity Development for Transparent Administration of Land
Women Access to Land Property: Women of Diender Case
Curriculum and Agenda:
Expert Group Meeting:
Good Governance and Transparency in Land Administration
Capacity Development in Land Administration: Trends to Date
Babette Wehrmann – Land Administration
Transparency in Land Administration – A Capacity Building Agenda
Improving Land Management for Poverty Alleviation
Paul van der Molen – Capacity Development and Land Governance
Willi Zimmerman – Transparency and Land Administration
Wilbard J. Kombe – Capacity Development in Land Administration in East Africa
Sue Mbaya – Capacity for Land Administration
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies 1
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies
Presentations:
Introduction to the 3-Day Programme
Good Governance and Transparency in Land Administration
Session 3: Assessing Transparency in Land Administration
Access to Information and Public Participation
Professional Ethics and Integrity
Institutional and Organisational Reforms
Capacity Building: Transparency in Land Administration
Highlights of the Swedesurvey Course on Urban Land Administration
Sessions Outlines:
Curriculum for Training Programme
Ethical Decision-Making Model – Case Study
Session 1: Land Governance and Transparency
Session 2: Case Studies 1 and Participants’ Reflections
Session 3: Understanding and Assessing Transparency in Land Administration
Session 4: Access to Information and Public Participation
Session 5: Professional Ethics & Integrity
Session 6 – Institutional and Organizational Reforms
Session 7: Case Studies II – Group Work