As part of its efforts to promote secure land tenure in Africa, three Programmes of German Development Cooperation joined hands and brought together 120 land experts from 17 countries to discuss Responsible Land Governance Systems in Somone, Senegal on 7-11 October 2024. This was the second such workshop after the Knowledge Exchange Workshop in June 2022 in Uganda, entitled "Secure Land Rights – Learning, Collaboration and Practice", and was intended to deepen exchanges as well as share lessons learned.

We are excited to announce the launch of the Open Data Champions Initiative, an effort to celebrate and elevate leaders worldwide who champion open data in the land sector. This initiative shines a spotlight on the incredible individuals dedicated to advancing data transparency and access, especially within the Global South. These champions are at the forefront of transformative change, harnessing the power of data to address critical land governance challenges.

Two comprehensive State of Land Information (SOLI) reports have been released, providing in-depth assessments of the land data and information ecosystems in Botswana and Zambia. These reports examine the availability of land information and evaluate its compliance with open data standards. The findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each country's land information management practices and offer insights for targeted interventions.

After almost six years, the Global Programme Responsible Land Policy completed its activities in Peru in late 2021. Thanks to the hard work of the ProTierras Comunales project team and partners, we can look back on interesting lessons learned and several good practices ready for replication (here you can find the final publication).

In August 2021, a newsletter covering various land governance programmes of GIZ was launched. This newsletter is available for everybody who is interested and informs about current development within GIZ land governance and beyond. The three main programmes responsible for the newsletter are: 

The Global Programme Responsible Land Policy,

The Land Portal Foundation and Open Data Charter intend to implement the Open Up Guide for Land Governance in the period 2021 - 2024. As part of this project, we seek to develop State of Land Information (SOLI) reports for 10-12 countries in Africa and Latin America. The SOLI reports will provide an overview of publicly available data and information on key land issues from government and other stakeholders in targeted countries.

A major project reform in Lebanon at the cadastre and land register department level has started with the support and cooperation of the French development agency and the expertise of France, via the FEXTE project that funds technical cooperation programmes and project-preparation studies in developing countries.

Despite the current situation given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Order of Surveyors and Topographers of Lebanon insists on monitoring its activities within the general framework of the profession, especially at the level of national and international partnership.