The 2014 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty will take place at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on March 24 - 27, 2014. The theme of the 15th annual conference is "Integrating Land Governance into the Post-2015 Agenda: Harnessing Synergies for Implementation and Monitoring Impact.”

This newly-revised research paper from USAID discusses the key issues, opportunities, and recommendations for strengthening the land and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples (IP). Despite occupying 20 percent of the world’s territory, IP often have weak claims on land and resource rights – which are frequently challenged by rising demand for land, increasing population pressure, and global climate change - and are among the most vulnerable groups in the world. IP comprise one-third of the world’s poor and live an average of 20 years less than the nonindigenous population.

USAID's property rights project in Timor Leste plays a key role in helping settle land disputes on the small island in Southeast Asia. A recent article written by IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, describes the history of conflict surrounding land by highlighting one woman's story and outlining current progress to establishing land rights.
To read the full article, click here.

If you cannot view, click here.Guest commentary by Christopher Seeley, Chief of Party of the USAID Honduras ProParque project.
One of the most vexing challenges in biodiversity conservation in developing countries is reconciling land tenure and land use issues that emerge when previously unprotected or unregulated ecosystems are placed under state control as part of a national protected areas system.

From Latin America to Southeast Asia, land rights and resource governance are at the center of many conflicts around the globe. In Colombia, land and rural development are the first agenda items in the ongoing peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In Burma, the world's longest-running civil war has left over 450,000 people internally displaced, with approximately 215,000 more in refugee camps along the Thai border.

In early December 2012, the Government of the Central African Republic officially launched a land tenure reform process. This process commenced with a multi-stakeholder workshop where two inter-ministerial committees were launched by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister indicated the government’s intent to lead a public consultation process that results in the formulation of a consolidated vision for land governance, taking into consideration international principals such as the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests.

Guest commentary by Dr. Cynthia M. Caron, Assistant Professor of International Development and Social Change, Clark University.

As the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Land and Poverty convened this week, the World Bank Group released a statement recognizing the importance of secure land rights for a variety of development objectives and reiterating the World Bank’s commitment to improving land governance and promote environmentally and socially sustainable agriculture investments. According Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, “securing access to land is critical for millions of poor people.

In a USAID IMPACTblog post last week, Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and Environment Assistant Administrator Eric Postel shared his observations from a recent trip to South America. While in Cartegena, he heard about the Government of Colombia’s efforts – with the support of USAID’s technical assistance programs - to restitute land, formalize property and implement rural development as the country emerges from a long-running internal conflict.

A U.S. Agency for International Development team member helps remove rubble form a damaged building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 30, 2010. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Robert J. Fluegel/Released)

A guest post by Ashok Sircar, India Program Director of Landesa, a USAID partner and global organization that partners with governments to help secure land rights of the poor. Follow them @Landesa_Global
There is growing recognition that India cannot solve many of its critical development challenges if it doesn’t help the 20 million landless rural families and the millions more who lack legal rights to the land they till.

As the USAID Land Reform Project in Tajikistan comes to a close this month, there has been an increase in publicity for its achievements. An article highlighting a recent event to celebrate the project’s accomplishments and the work of the Tajik government in advancing land reform was featured in local media and a Feed the Future press release. Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.