In 2017, the fifth anniversary of the landmark Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) highlighted successful integration of VGGT principles into national law and decision-making processes across several countries.

FIG Working Week is an exciting week-long conference that brings the international community of surveying and spatial professionals together to discuss key challenges of our time within the surveying profession with fellow peers. With the theme

LAND GOVERNANCE IN TRANSITION: 

How to support transformations that work for people and nature?

Large-scale acquisition of land in the global South has received a great deal of interest in the last few years. Especially following the food crisis, and stimulated by the growing demand for biofuels, pressure on land continues to increase.

Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation

The 3^rd edition of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa was organised by the African Land Policy Centre which is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank.   The Conference is a policy and learning event whose goal is to deepen capacity for land policy in Africa through improved access to knowledge and information on land policy development and implementation.  This Conference follows the second Conference held in November 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was attended by close to 450 participants. 

Conference Theme: Partnership for enhanced Inclusion and Impact

Availability of accurate and up to date data and information on land rights, tenures and administration as well as on different land use, such as agriculture, forestry, mining, wildlife, water, housing and infrastructure, is critical to effective land governance and crucial for planning and managing the use of land and land-based resources.

There is no doubt the Global Data Revolution has reached the land sector. Government data portals, open access academic journals, community mapping initiatives and other citizen-generated data - there is a palpable positive drive across the world that allows processes such as data collection to be more inclusive and open.

Post-war societies not only have to deal with continuing unpeaceful relations but also land-related conflict legacies, farmland and forest degradation, heavily exploited natural resources, land mines, a destroyed infrastructure, as well as returning refugees and ex-combatants. In the aftermath of war, access to and control of land often remains a sensitive issue which may precipitate tensions and lead to a renewed destabilization of volatile post-conflict situations.

Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

With elections taking place in more than 20 African countries in 2019, the world’s youngest continent is facing a new era. While significant progress has been made on the political and economic front, the continent continues to face significant challenges.