Wrap up Decision makers meeting on good administration of land Windhoek Namibia, 7+8 December 2006

Conceptual Framework  Political Objectives: what a society wants to achieve for its citizens (such as less poverty, social stability, social equity, food security, housing, economic growth, environmental sustainability)

Role of land and policy  Observation: access to land and land related benefits plays a certain role, sometimes crucial.  Land policy: the legal and social prescriptions on how land and the benefits of land are to be allocated

Land policy: the ‘what’ question  Formulation of role of land in achieving these political objectives  Vision, objectives and principles/framework  ‘Land governance’ to best use of land  What forms of land tenure and on access to land (incl. foreigners, women, youth, companies, bonafide and lawful occupants)  Strategy/investment priorities (‘strategic road map’)

Land policy: the ‘how’ question  Legal framework (from constitution to by- laws)  Responsibilities of public, private and customary parties  Structure public and customary administration, driven by subsidiarity principles  Efficient and effective, transparency

Land policy: the process  Country opted for a fully consultative and participatory process which involved:  Structures that would enhance interaction between public, private, civil society and development partners  Clearly defined values for the process  Realistic timeframe and effective facilitation  Clear outputs at each stage  Political goodwill  Donor Coordination  Maintaining awareness  Risk Assessment

Instruments for implementation  Providing security of tenure in a pluriform situation, to facilitate social fairness and to encourage capitalization  Intervention in the real estate market, to gain social fairness and to avoid negative results of free market forces (incl. speculation control procedures)  Land use planning, development and control, incl. eminent domain, to have control over development in order to optimize use land (incl. land delivery for control informality and land banking to smoothen land delivery processes)

Instruments for implementation (cont.)  land taxation for generating income, share benefits of land, and optimal use of land  management of natural resources for safeguarding water, soil, nature, minerals  land and land tenure reform for creating equality, better land use and for accommodating other than freehold (incl. conflict resolution procedures and post settlement assistance)

Required tools and procedures  land information systems (survey and mapping, statistical functions)  land registration system  cadastre systems  land valuation systems  land use systems

Required tools and mechanisms (cont.) Requirements for tools and procedures  building capacity  ICT policy  cost efficiency

The objectives of society The instruments to implement the policy Policy on what to do with land The tools and procedures needed to make the instruments work Conceptual framework

Conclusions  access to land is crucial in all participants’ countries  all countries faces substantial challenges in land management  all countries are active in developing land policy, to cope with problems  it is reported that land policy requires an comprehensive approach  Africa is the only continent showing innovative developments on land tenure, while taking into account evolutionary approaches  it is experienced that the implementation of land policy requires the improvement of integrated instruments  it is recognised that instruments require appropriate tools and procedures  evaluation reveals that present instruments tends to insufficiently facilitate good land management, which is related to complicated, expensive and time-taking tools and procedures.

It is recommended that….:  ….political objectives, policy, instruments, and tools are soundly interrelated in order to gain efficiency and effectivity  ….land policy might be 1 document, or a set of documents through time  ….effective policy might be enhanced by participatory processes and donor coordination  ….the implementation might profit from subsidiarity principles, while considering the role of traditional authorities  ….land administration is a crucial tool for land management, and might be based on the principles ‘as little as possible, as much as necessary’.  ….that Africa continues to have an innovative approach to land tenure arrangements  ….that every attempt is made to enhance the performance of land administration systems  ….the application of technology is considered to enhance performance and transparency  ….that an African council of Ministers of Land might be considered to be facilitated by UN/ECA

Wrap up Session Decision Makers Meeting Many thanks for participating and good luck with all your activities and personal life, I thank the LOC