As part of its efforts to raise awareness among stakeholders, the GIZ-PILUP II (Participatory and Integrated Land Use Planning) project and the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) trained, to date, close to 100 experts in human rights-based approaches, and integrated land use planning processes and procedures.

Better balancing and integrating economic, environmental, social, and cultural goals into land use plans will promote inclusive, sustainable development, and poverty eradication. It will also protect the tenure rights of vulnerable people and better balance competing land-use goals. Particularly vulnerable and marginalised communities, civil society, minorities, women, young people, and indigenous people should not only be involved in the overall planning processes, but their interests and needs should also be actively consulted and incorporated.

Land use planning and decision-making processes are often not transparent, leaving certain interest groups worse off. Moreover, insufficient compensatory schemes lead to frustration among stakeholders, and planning and decision-making processes frequently fail to meet the needs of women and other vulnerable groups.

The training scheme is aimed at resolving such stumbling-blocks.