FIG President Stig Enemark attends Private Sector
Consultation meeting: Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of
tenure of land and other natural resources
RICS Headquarters, London, United Kingdom, 25-26 January
2008
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Clarissa Augustinus,
Chief of UN-HABITAT Land Tenure and
Property Administration Section; Stig Enemark, FIG
President; and Paul Munro Favre, Chief of the FAO Land Tenure
and Management Unit, at the RICS Headquarters, London. |
FIG President Stig Enemark attended the Private Sector
Consultation meeting: Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of
tenure of land and other natural resources.
RICS Headquarters, London, United Kingdom, 25-26 January 2008.
FAO and its partners such as World Bank, UN-Habitat, IFAD (International
Federation of Agricultural development), and FIG have been working since
2005 on governance of land administration to raise awareness and produce
guidelines. A good example of this is the publication FAO Land Tenure
Studies no. 9 on Good governance in land tenure and administration,
available on line at:
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1179e/a1179e00.pdf
FAO and its partners are now preparing Voluntary Guidelines to improve
the governance of tenure and other natural resources. Such voluntary
guidelines are to assist States, civil society and the private sector in
improving the governance of tenure, and thus contribute to alleviation of
hunger and poverty, empowering the poor and vulnerable, enhancing the
environment, supporting national and local economic development, and
reforming public administration. The meeting in London was a key part of the
consultation process in this regard. A discussion paper was prepared to
facilitate discussions: Towards Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible
Governance of Tenure and Land and other Natural resources.
Welcome address was given by
Max Crofts, RICS President and Paul
Munro-Faure, FAO. Keynote presentation was given by Prof. Malcolm
Grant, president/provost, University College, London.
The meeting included a group of around 70 international experts
representing mainly the private sector. Working group sessions included
themes such as: land administration and registration (moderated by President Enemark), urban development, large scale rural investments
(moderated by Dr. Diane Dumashie, Chair of FIG Com 8), community
development, business promotion and services, and professional standards,
ethics and codes of conduct (moderated by Dr. Frances Plimmer,
(Chair-elect of FIG Com 9).
The meeting was very productive in addressing the key issues. The outcome
will be available at the FAO Voluntary Guidelines website (see below) and
considered as a key contribution to preparing the final guidelines.
Further regional consultation meetings will be held around the world
through 2010. The meetings will assess regional priorities of the voluntary
guidelines and review specific features of governance of tenure in each
region. The objective is to reach a common understanding between
stakeholders. Once drafted the voluntary guidelines will be submitted for
FAO member country approval. Upon adoption, FAO and its partners will
support their implementation through national action plans and through FAO´s
extensive partnership networks and related project activities.
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| The RICS Headquarters (left) is overlooking Parliament Square in
central London with the famous Big Ben Clock Tower (right). |
10 February 2010
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