Increased attention and visibility of land rights issues is a testimony of their critical role for achieving economic growth in an inclusive and sustainable manner. On Friday, April 21, 2017, a panel of policymakers and representatives from development partners, civil society, and academia came together to discuss the importance of secure land rights as the basic building block for other development actions.

Land is a complex issue to manage because it cuts across so many different elements of the sustainable development agenda. Throughout the discussion panelists emphasized the importance of securing land and property rights for improving food security, reducing forced displacement, protecting landscapes, reducing carbon emissions, and empowering women.

The panelists shared the view that a lot more needs to be done if we want to improve the security of land rights on a mass scale and achieve the land-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.  It was noted that new technologies provide additional mechanisms for reaching these goals, but a thorough consideration to political economy issues is critical for success. South-South dialogues and a strong focus on capacity building were identified as key strategies to formulate simplified, innovative solutions, especially for Africa. While political will is essential, governments and the development community should partner more with the private sector in promoting awareness at the community level about the importance of secure land rights for development.

Finally, the panelists recognized that the World Bank is playing a critical role in promoting secure land rights and welcomed the proposal of creating a new global partnership – the Land 2030 Global Partnership. The Partnership seeks to raise the profile of land and poverty issues and give a boost to unblock land and property rights for the majority of the world’s population.

Learn more about the World Bank's work on land here as well as by following @WBG_Cities.  Click here to learn more about other events on building sustainable communities during the 2017 World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings.

This blog was originally posted on the World Bank blog.