Africa Land Forum 2020

Delivering on the African Union Agenda 2063 by Promoting People-Centred Land Governance in Africa

In partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the 2020 Africa Land Forum will be held online from 15-17 September . The Forum will bring together 300-500 participants from around the continent and beyond. It aims to give concrete appraisal to “AU’s Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges” at the regional and national levels, assist governments and international institutions in tracking progress towards land governance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and facilitate discussions on land and livelihood in the time of COVID-19.

Effective land governance is essential to achieving Agenda 2063. Across the continent, there are ongoing processes and initiatives toward mainstreaming land governance in the African Union (AU), and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which strengthen the capacities of Member States to undertake land reforms at national and community levels, and prioritise the allocation of resources to land policy development and implementation. These initiatives and processes, supported and driven with a multi-stakeholder’ approach, can create further opportunities to connect, mobilise and influence the peoples of the continent toward secure and equal land tenure rights, for a prosperous Africa.

Alongside the AUC, IGAD and the International Land Coalition (ILC) are committed to ensuring the effective implementation of AU’s Agenda 2063 with effective land governance. Through initiatives such as IGAD’s Land Governance Project and the ILC’s National Engagement Strategies and Commitment Based Initiatives, both institutions have been working to enforce people-centred land governance in the continent.

To harness all these efforts and deliver on the AU Agenda 2063, the Programme for the 2020 Land Forum will prioritize five areas:

1. REFLECTION: How assessing the status of the implementation of the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa (at the regional and national Levels) can further advance its progress.
   
2. INCLUSION AND GENDER EQUALITY: How meeting the targets set in the Agenda 2063 Implementation Plan (2013-2023) is instrumental to forging greater inclusion and gender equality in Africa, post COVID-19.
   
3. SOCIAL PEACE: How land plays a key role in rebuilding Africa, fighting hunger and achieving the SDGs through family farming.
   
4. ECOLOGY: How to restore landscapes and rangelands, and through them fight against land degradation and climate crisis in Africa.
   
5. INVESTMENT: How land can become a key driver of the African economy through responsible investments, benefiting the rural communities.

Register here to join the Forum and the Regional Assembly.