Best wishes for the New Year 2020 from the Secretariat

Dear GLTN Partners and Members,

The year 2019 has been very productive for GLTN as we continue supporting countries to deliver on the SDGs. This has been the first full year of implementing the GLTN phase 3 programme. We continue to support land reforms and institutionalization of our tools at country level with the increasing ownership of national and local governments, as guided by the GLTN Strategy 2018-2030 and the new GLTN Partnership Charter.

This year, we also fully applied our new Governance Structure that seeks to support a vibrant and effective Network. We now have in place an inclusive Steering Committee supported by the Secretariat. This is indeed a big step in the right direction for our Network.

GLTN builds knowledge on land tenure and broader development outcomes and develops the capacity of land actors to apply our innovative approaches. To this end, we are proud to announce the completion of our e-learning platform. This open-source mobile device-friendly platform gives access to courses and learning resources designed to help our partners understand and use a selection of the GLTN land tools. Additional courses will be added in due course and the platform will be launched and progressively rolled out in 2020.

We have contributed to addressing the global land challenges through the research on 'Land Tenure and Climate Vulnerability' which examines the inter-relationships between land tenure and climate vulnerability, and the 'UN Secretary General's Guidance Note on Land and Conflict' which was developed to help the UN System be more fit for purpose in addressing land and conflict issues. The two publications strengthen GLTN's collaboration with the UN family towards addressing these significant global challenges.

The GLTN Phase 3 programme was developed through the human rights-based approach to programming and the gender lens was consciously applied throughout the process. It is in this spirit that the GLTN Gender Strategy (2019-2030) was launched in November 2019. This strategy will consolidate GLTN’s efforts to secure women’s and girls’ land and property rights by mobilizing resources and leveraging partnerships to implement activities and monitor progress. At country level, GLTN also supported the development of Uganda’s Gender Strategy for National Land Policy Implementation,  officially launched in October 2019. The strategy will guide gender responsive implementation of the Uganda National Land Policy.

At regional level, a two-year road map for the Arab Land initiative has been adopted and we are now building partnerships with land institutions in the Arab region through research, capacity development, knowledge exchanges in themes such as: land and conflict; monitoring land governance and land tenure security; land, women empowerment and socio-economic development; capacity and knowledge development; fit-for-purpose land administration; land, natural resources and climate change; land professionals; land related legal frameworks; civil society; and, the private sector. GLTN Partners interested in supporting this work were also invited through their respective cluster leads.

7th GLTN Partners meeting, 24-26 April 2018

In 2020 we will continue the implementation of GLTN Phase 3 programme with even more energy and determination and carry on with the roll out of our relevant tools at country level to support efforts by Member States towards achieving the SDGs and sustainable urbanization. We would like to appreciate our donors: the Governments of the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Norway, and our development partners: IFAD, UNECA, GIZ, NORAD and UN Women, for their continued investment and support to the GLTN agenda since our humble beginnings in 2006.

I look forward to the upcoming GLTN Steering Committee meeting in January 2020 in Oslo, Norway; this will be an opportunity to take stock of our challenges and contributions to the global land agenda. We are grateful to the Government of Norway for accepting to host this important meeting.

I am honoured to be working with a robust, diverse and dynamic network such as GLTN. Let’s together pursue our work to achieve a world where everyone enjoys secure land rights.

I wish you all, dear GLTN Partners and Members, Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Oumar Sylla – Leader, GLTN