March 2014: Participants at the 15th annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty discussed best practices in land governance and the role of land tenure and property rights in the post-2015 development agenda.

The Conference, which convened from 24-27 March, in Washington, DC, took place under the theme, ‘Integrating Land Governance into the Post-2015 Agenda: Harnessing Synergies for Implementation and Monitoring Impact.’ It aimed to share best practices and facilitate dialogue on seven thematic areas: securing and protecting land rights from a gender perspective; managing urban landscapes; attracting responsible land-based investment for local benefits and common resource management; maximizing benefits from spatial data; strengthening country-level institutions; fostering transparency in land ownership, use and administration; and research on land governance. A concluding plenary on ‘Integrating land governance in the post-2015 framework’ discussed issues related to land governance, private investment and transparency.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Working Party on Land Administration (WPLA) used the meeting to present preliminary outcomes from WPLA studies on land administration institutions from Azerbaijan, Greece, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom at conference sessions. Virginia Cram-Martos, Director of the UNECE Economic Cooperation, Trade, and Land Management Division, highlighted factors contributing to WPLA’s success, including governments’ political commitment to robust, transparent land administration policies and inter-sectoral cooperation at international, regional and local levels. Participants highlighted the WPLA as a unique model for intergovernmental cooperation on a regional level and discussed the applicability of WPLA guidelines and indicators to regions such as Africa. [Conference Website] [Conference Presentations] [UNECE Press Release] [USAID Website on Conference]