This webinar took stock of the emerging insights on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on land rights and discussed concerns about the expected mid-to-long term impacts on equitable and sustainable land governance.

The discussion built upon previous efforts of the broader land governance community, including the Quick-scan Survey on the COVID-19 crisis by LANDac and the LANDdialogue, insights from the LANDac Professional Learning Programme and the webinar and discussion series ‘Land Rights Implications of COVID-19’ by the Land Portal Foundation and its partners.

Issues surrounding customary land governance reforms remain at the forefront of policy reforms in many African countries because of concern over discriminatory rules of access, exchange, and inheritance, corruption, elite capture, and illegal land occupations, (Arko Adjei, 2009). The shortcomings in customary land governance extend to the unfettered authority of customary land trustees, usually, traditional leaders (chiefs and family heads) who retain autonomous control over land as defined by customary norms and practices.

This study was on mitigating land corruption through computerisation of land governance activities that include land use planning, cadastral surveying, servicing of land, land allocation, land registration and titling and land development. Using evidence from Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Kitwe (Zambia), the study used both primary and secondary data to conclude that despite computerisation of land governance activities in Tanzania and Zambia, corruption still persists.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has put an additional strain on Afghanistan’s weak healthcare system. Prior to the pandemic, the government and its allies had already problems in providing high quality health services for the people in Afghanistan because of inadequate facilities, insecurities, and ongoing conflicts. This year, COVID- 19 exacerbated the situation and overwhelmed the healthcare system even further. As predicted, an influx of migrants suspected of having COVID-19 contributed to community transmission and led to an increase of cases across the country.

This publication will demonstrate how the project was a catalyst leading to improvements in conditions in the Senegal River Basin, under which land is held or occupied in agriculture sectors. The VGGT addresses problems of weak governance of tenure and the growing pressure on natural resources, assisting countries to achieve food security for all. The project focused on four separate Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) located in Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.

Le président de la République, Macky Sall, a signé le 16 septembre 2020, le décret n°2020-1773 modifiant le décret n°72-1288 du 27 octobre 1972 relatif aux conditions d’affectation et de désaffectation des terres du domaine national. Désormais, le Conseil municipal n’a plus la prérogative d’affecter ou de désaffecter des terres sans l’approbation de l’autorité administrative locale.

Infographic | Land Ownership in Mexico, From the Colonial Era to the End of the 20th Century.

This article summarizes the evidence on youth land rights in Liberia from a literature review combined with primary research from two separate studies: (1) A qualitative assessment conducted as formative research to inform the design of the Land Rights and Sustainable Development (LRSD) project for Landesa and its partners’ community level interventions; and (2) a quantitative baseline survey of program beneficiaries as part of an evaluation of the LRSD project. The findings are presented using a Gender-Responsive Land Rights Framework that examines youth land rights through a gender lens.

An increasing number of African States are recognizing customary land tenure. Yet, there is a lack of research on how community rights are recognized in legal and policy frameworks, how they are implemented in practice, and how to include marginalized groups. In 2018–2019, we engaged in collaborative exploratory research on governing natural resources for food sovereignty with social movement networks, human rights lawyers and academics in West and East Africa.

The webinar Multifaceted Challenges of Land and Climate Change explored the interconnection of land rights and climate responses at micro, meso and macro level. The webinar aimed to explore the following question: What kind of land governance will foster adequate climate response actions? Oxfam and partners in many countries are confronted with this two-sided problem while dealing with both land and climate justice interventions. Oxfam is currently investing in deepening the analysis of land & climate nexus at both country and global level.

In the six months since the coronavirus began its global spread, more than 15 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 600,000 have perished, causing governments around the world to institute lockdowns and shut down businesses while entire industries have been devastated.

Azerbaijan has set the course for the economy to reduce its dependence on oil by promoting new drivers of growth. This publication emphasizes the need for diversification, particularly in the agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing sectors. By 2025, under the Strategic Roads Maps of the Government of Azerbaijan, a more diversified economy should take shape led by these three sectors. Bold reforms need to strengthen areas of the economy that could otherwise impede this transition, and policy makers must resolutely stay on the reform path.