TANZANIA TO HOST THE FOURTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON LAND RIGHTS

HAIKA KIMARO

mtwarapressclub@gmail.com

Dar es Salaam. The Ministry of Land, Housing and Human Settlements Development is expected to host the fourth regional conference of National Land Institutions for Community Rights in Africa to be held in Arusha in September.

Initiated by Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and co-organized with the Tanzania Land Alliance (TALA) and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) in collaboration with the Ministry, the ALIN Conference will take place from Sept 12 to 14 at Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha.

The conference will bring together ministers, senior government officials, and civil society representatives from 18 African countries to deliberate and share ideas on implementing legal reforms to enforce indigenous and community land rights across the region.

RRI’s Africa Program Director, Patrick Kipalu, told mtwarapressblog that he met with the Minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Dr Angeline Mabula and several other key stakeholders in the sector in May this year, to discuss preparations for the conference.

He said the main objective of the conference is to discuss strategies to expand community land rights, reflect the roles and functions as well as obstacles and opportunities of national land institutions in the implementation of reforms from now until 2030.

“The conference will also have specific discussions on issues of access to land for youth and conservation because you know, with the climate change struggle and the biodiversity crisis, this becomes important. So, conservation is a big priority for the continent and this is directly linked to land management,” he noted.

He also said that the idea is to get all national land institutions from different countries in one room so that they can share their experiences, learn from each other and get inspired about what they are doing, what is not working, what they can learn from other countries.

“So, during the conference of 2023 we will also have sessions of discussions on access to land for youth and conservation. We are also expecting to have representatives of other international organizations from all over the world. Representatives from around 18 countries will attend this conference in Tanzania,” he noted.

He said although African countries have land laws but implementation of the laws was lacking because of different reasons including lack of technical and financial resources and lack of opportunities form peer to peer learning.

“We noticed more and more African governments but also regional institutions in Africa are recognizing land tenure security for the community as a major element, a major driver for social peace, but also sustainable development. This has been developed with the idea of accompanying African communities in the land reforms that will provide land tenure security for communities and push communities to strengthen their livelihoods and to live in peace,” he said.

He said due to those reasons during the last conference that happened in Togo in 2021 they made 10 recommendations that countries should work on including urging governments and key stakeholders, including communities and their representatives, technical and financial partners, to work together for success in the ongoing land reform processes. Resolution was also made to support them in the implementation of land laws and policies.

He mentioned other recommendations as countries should take responsibility for and ensure funding of the development and implementation of participatory land policies and laws that take into account community land rights by states.

“We also recommended revitalization of the African Land Institutions Network for Community Rights (ALIN) through monitoring, learning and peer accountability and encouraging coordination and collaboration between land governance actors through multi-stakeholder platforms. So, in this conference we are going to discuss what we have achieved,” he said.

Commenting on the conference, Dr.  Mabula said the meeting will provide an opportunity for Tanzanians to gain knowledge about various issues related to land, including the importance of land in economic development.

He also said that through the meeting they will learn how to resolve land disputes based on the country’s laws, since most people in the country do not know where to start when they face land challenges.

“Many don’t know where to start when they go through such a challenge, sometimes people look for a minister for small issues that can be resolved at the ward level,” she said.

She said it is also an opportunity for land rights activists from the country to exchange ideas with colleagues from other countries regarding issues of land rights and its security.