Land Watch

Asia - Land Watch Asia (LWA) is a regional campaign coordinated by ANGOC and currently active in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. ILC has been supporting Land Watch Asia so as to increase CSO capacity to monitor access to land policy formulation and implementation. After having developed land country reports, Land Watch Asia has moved into the regional process of developing land indicators piloted in Bangladesh, Indonesia and The Philippines by ALRD, SAINS and  PhilDHRRA.

ANGOC, as coordinator of Land Watch Asia (http://landwatchasia.wordpress.com/) distributes land watch information to CSO partners, research institutions, intergovernmental, multilateral and bilateral institutions, media and government officials in the Asian region.  Land Watch Asia produced a series of issue briefs on regional entities (including SAARC, ASEAN, and CIRDAP) and designed a project to increase the capacities of CSOs to monitor landlessness, land conflicts, and the implementation of land-related policies and programmes in selected countries. The knowledge generated has been used in several countries to promote national dialogue processes.

Latin America – Land Observatories (“Observatorios de tierra”) have been implemented in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia with the objective of gathering evidence on the impact of the national and regional political economical and legal frameworks on the rural poor land tenancy rights.

In Peru, CEPES is coordinating Tierra y Derechos: un observatorio de los derechos sobre la tierra http://www.observatoriotierras.info) to track and analyse changes in land-related legal and constitutional rights. This has proved a highly fruitful experience for stimulating national dialogue on the impact of recent legislative changes on land trends.

In Bolivia, Fundación Tierra is coordinating the Observatorio de la Tierra (http://www.ftierra.org) to monitor the advancement of the national land reform process. The objective is to be a neutral source of reliable information and enable well-informed public to better participate in political discussions.

In Guatemala and Nicaragua CONGCOOP and NITLAPAN have worked on monitoring the implementation of agrarian policies and the impacts of free trade agreements on peasant agriculture and land concentration.  (http://americalatina.landcoalition.org/)

Africa – Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development - RISD is coordinating the regional development of a common Scorecard methodology bywhich civil society can monitor and promote the implementation of the AU, UNECA and AfDB initiated Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy in Africa. An expert meeting held in October 2010 provided guidance on the objectives, basic methodology, key thematic areas and possible indicators.

In Kenya, Kenya Land Alliance is coordinating the Land Sector Non-State Actors to develop a national land observatory. The project was conceived within the framework of the ILC’s Land Alliances for National Development Partnerships to promote engagement with community groups through different local institutions and networks to ensure they remain vigilant and vibrant in their participation in the implementation of the national land policy process.
The project gears towards facilitating the Land Sector Non State Actors (LSNSA) in Kenya to monitor and assess the implementation of the National Land Policy with a view to promote equitable and secure land tenure for all Kenyans. Land Watch Kenya aims at: 1. building the capacity of NSA to engage in implementation of legislative, Land Information and Management Systems (LIMS) and institutional framework; 2.  Put in place ongoing monitoring framework system for implementation of LIMS, Legislative and Institutional Framework for land governance; and 3. Influence NLP implementation processes to better meet the needs of land users.