Improving gender equality and grassroots participation through good land governance

UN-Habitat/GLTN (Global Land Tool Network) in partnership with the AUC, ECA, AfDB and Land Policy Initiatives (LPI) has concluded a four-day training workshop on "Improving gender equality and grassroots participation through good land governance". The training took place at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 12 to 15 February 2013. There were forty participants drawn from all over Africa that attended the training. The objectives of the training were facilitating the understanding of the concept of land governance, showing the link between good land governance and gender equality as well as genuine grassroots participation and exploring, identifying and unpacking competencies that contribute to good land governance. The training also briefly introduced additional concepts, principles, tools and guidelines related to the African Land Policy Initiative (LPI), transparency in land administration, pro-poor land policy processes so as to facilitate a better understanding of the context within which the training program has been designed and implemented. The presentations and subsequent discussions on these themes once again emphasized how good governance could lead to improved land rights for both women and men and increased participation of grassroots communities in land matters. The workshop concluded with the development of individual and group action plans that would take the training agenda forward into the daily working activities of training participants.