As part of its Management of Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (MLARR) Program in South Asia, the World Bank has launched two national centers and one regional center of excellence.
Located, respectively, at the BRAC Development Institute in Bangladesh, at the University of Punjab in Pakistan, and at the Administrative Staff College of India, the centers aim to foster sustainability in infrastructure development and socioeconomic growth across South Asia.
8 April 2013: As part of its Management of Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (MLARR) Program in South Asia, the World Bank has launched two national centers and one regional center of excellence. Located, respectively, at the BRAC Development Institute in Bangladesh, at the University of Punjab in Pakistan, and at the Administrative Staff College of India, the centers aim to foster sustainability in infrastructure development and socioeconomic growth across South Asia.
Funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the objective of the initiative is to address the challenges related to the problem of delay in land acquisition and resettlement and the rehabilitation of displaced communities in South Asia. The overarching goal is to support local capacity building through regional knowledge sharing, course development and training.
A fourth national center is currently under development at the Tribhuvan University in Nepal. The MLARR Program intends to: expand while focusing on improvement of its capacity building efforts; expand offerings of courses online; create a MLARR professional network; promote South-South dialogue; and increase the exchange of experiences across the region.
This initiative was launched in 2009 and has been successfully expanding to other regions, including Africa and East Asia. [World Bank Press Release]