MEDIA ADVISORY
Inception workshop to launch the Monitoring and Evaluation of Land in Africa (MELA) project – a pilot study to track progress in the implementation of the African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges. Accra, Ghana.
What: Workshop to launch the Monitoring and Evaluation of Land in Africa (MELA) project
Who: The Land Policy Initiative (LPI) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) and their partner the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
When: 20th July, 2017
Location: La-Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana.
Since 2006 the African Union has ensured that land issues are placed high on the development agenda as land is central to Africa’s development. A series of regional assessments across the continent’s five geographical regions revealed the trans-national nature of some of the major land challenges confronting the continent and the need to have a continental response, as well as the need to develop the capacity of member States in land policy formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
The assessment also emphasized, among other key considerations, the widespread use of customary arrangements to access land, deal with pastoral issues and also environmental sustainability. This led to the birth of the LPI to drive the continental land agenda. Through a rigorous roadmap of activities, including the regional assessments and consultations on land policy, the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy for Africa was adopted by African Ministers responsible for land in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in April 2009. They were further endorsed by AU Heads of State and Government, through the adoption of the Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa, during the 13th Assembly of the African Union in Sirte, Libya, in July 2009. The MELA project seeks to track progress in the implementation of that declaration in the selected African countries.
Media Contacts:
ECA: Sandra Nyaira, nyaira@uneca.org. Tel. +233 546 057 369
ECA: Sophia Denekew, denekews@uneca.org. Tel. +251 92 10 14 767