I recently had the opportunity to take part in two trainings to help me develop my leadership skills. It was time very well spent.

One of the hallmarks of this year’s Annual General Meeting was the full-day Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training for the Land Portal team and board of directors. Facilitated by Project 23, an organization that helps clients create diverse and inclusive cultures, the training workshop helped us explore privilege and circles of control.

As I addressed the Fourth International Conference on Youth and Land Governance in Africa (CIGOFA4), I reflected on the critical issue of youth and land access in Africa, which remains a significant barrier to sustainable development. Land is more than an economic asset; it is the foundation of our cultural heritage, our identity, and the key to our future. However, across sub-Saharan Africa, land access continues to pose challenges, especially for our youth. These challenges, if left unaddressed, will hinder Africa's growth.

As we gather to discuss one of the most crucial topics for Africa’s future—strategic land use planning—the importance of youth land rights cannot be overstated. Based on my reflections and experiences that I prepared for the Fourth International Conference on Youth and Land Governance in Africa (CIGOFA4), I’d like to highlight why securing land rights for young Africans is essential for our continent’s progress.

The webinar Inclusive Land Governance and Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration: Whose Purpose?, which took place on 19 September, 2024, explored how a people-centered and holistic approach can transform Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA) and ensure that land administration truly serves the needs of communities.  The webinar, which was moderated by Imke Greven of the LAND-at-Scale Program Advisor at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) gathered over 275 people. 

On September 23, 2024, a powerful hybrid event titled "From Commitment to Action: Enabling Direct Funding for Indigenous Peoples in Multilateral Climate and Biodiversity Initiatives" was hosted at the Ford Foundation headquarters in New York City as part of Climate Week. The event gathered Indigenous leaders, activists, multilateral fund representatives, and climate finance experts to address a critical question: Can multilateral mechanisms, with their sprawling bureaucracy, meet the urgent need for direct, fit-for-purpose funding for Indigenous Peoples on the frontlines of climate and biodiversity challenges?

Current global developments in the land and human rights spheres show a progressive shift to focus on previously ‘unpopular’ subjects like corruption. The most recent milestone in this regard was the adoption of a General Comment on land and economic, social, and cultural rights (E/C.12/GC/26) by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (UN CESCR) in December 2022.

The Land Dialogues nurture a community of trust with Indigenous peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendent peoples by producing webinars that bring unlikely voices and perspectives together.

Inclusive land governance at the local level allows for the community’s broader governance ‘muscle’ to be exercised in a constructive and practical way. This can reduce conflict and spark transformative social change.

The objective of this blog is to highlight the importance of inclusive land governance in fostering sustainable development, emphasizing how fair land administration practices, recognition and protection of land rights can significantly contribute to the realization of the SDGs.

The recent series of ALIGN articles shed light on how civil society, impacted communities and rights defenders across the world have used strategies such as legal action, publishing of mining contracts and stakeholder dialogues to change approaches to land-based investment governance.