ILC Africa 2019 Regional Assembly and Land Forum

The 2019 Regional Assembly of the Africa Platform of International Land Coalition will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from 21 to 24 November 2019.

This year’s event is special because it happens just before the 3rd Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA), a continental event organised by the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), which provides an avenue for deeper engagements on land.

Another unique feature of this year’s gathering is the Land Forum, an event which brings together government representatives, businesses, civil society, think tanks, academia, and the media from across the continent to dialogue on land and natural resource questions.

The theme of this year’s Regional Assembly is “how transparency in land governance can support development efforts”. Under it, participants will lead open discussions about how transparency in land governance can impact gender justice, women land rights, and development. They will also examine the role of data, maps, multi-stakeholder platforms in promoting accountability and protecting community land rights.

While Africa has experienced strong economic growth in the last few decades, the continent is yet to fully meet its intended development targets. Standing in the way of development is often fragmented and confused tenure systems, which sometimes leads to unrests and conflicts. Because of the impact of this, policy makers are beginning to lay more emphasis on land governance.

In 2018, land reform processes ended with progressive laws in Liberia and Togo, while countries such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda continued consultations on their land policies. Madagascar and Malawi sustained monitoring of the implementation of new land codes voted between 2015-2017.

In South Africa and Senegal, the land question did not only dominate debates around public policy, but it also became a central topic for the 2019 presidential elections. All these processes happening in different countries demonstrate the issuing political will that the Civil Society must capitalise on to make them transparent, inclusive and people -centred.

Participants expected at this year’s gathering will generate specific policy recommendations that will inform the CLPA and other land policy fora.

For more information visit the ILC website here.