According to this New York Times article, one police officer was killed and dozens of people were injured on February 26 when villagers protesting land seizures clashed with security forces in Maubin, Burma. The protesters claim they were never compensated when their land was confiscated and sold to a wealthy businessman 17 years ago. According to Lt. Col. Tot Shwe of the police, “it is an old problem, but now it has exploded.”

U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in RomeOctober 19, 2011 ROME – The United States government commends the United Nations Committee on Food Security (CFS) for the extraordinary work that it has done on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Lands, Fisheries and Forests, achieving consensus on approximately seventy percent of the document during the July and October negotiations. The U.S.

Guest commentary by Robert Oberndorf, Resource Law Specialist, Tenure and Global Climate Change Project.

On June 18, the 2013 G8, under UK leadership, announced bold steps to strengthen land governance and improve transparency in land transactions. G8 leaders expressed support for and announced a series of concrete steps to accelerate implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security and the African Union Land Policy Initiative (LPI).

Recent stories in the Globe and Mail, the Telegraph, BBC and the International Herald Tribune all highlight the significant tensions in Burma between various stakeholders over land, mineral, and other resource rights as the country undergoes significant political reforms. Though the reported details vary, communities in the Sagaing region are resisting attempts by the government to relocate them to allow expansion of mining operations by Wanbao Mining, a Chinese company. An estimated 7,800 acres of land were due to be expropriated for the expansion, requiring extensive forced evictions.

USAID is pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Governments of Ethiopia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany to improve rural land governance. Building on existing programs and the seven land country partnerships announced at this year’s G8 Open for Growth Summit, this new partnership will support greater transparency in rural land governance, promote responsible agricultural investment, and improve Ethiopia’s legal framework and practices related to rural land administration and land use.

On March 14, the Haiti Property Law Working Group released Haiti Land Transaction Manual, Vol. 1: A how-to guide for the legal sale of property in Haiti. This manual is an important step in the reconstruction efforts in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake, which have been greatly impeded by weak land administration systems and the resulting disputes over land and property. The new manual will help Haitians, international donors, and civil society navigate the country’s complex bureaucratic legal system.

In a recent New York Times op-ed Roy Prosterman and Darryl Vhugen of the U.S. NGO Landesa highlight some of what Myanmar’s government will need to do to promote sustainable growth in the country. It certainly needs to attract investment and at first blush things look very encouraging: a variety of investors are interested in a number of projects – particularly building out infrastructure.

Last week, we shared an example of an innovative participatory project design in Kenya. This week, our example of an innovative participatory project design comes from Kosovo.

In June, Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture Ato Sileshi Getahun joined USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Dennis Weller, to officially launch the Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) project. The LAND project builds on the success of two previous USAID projects that supported the certification of rural land rights, the reform of federal and regional laws governing land administration and land use, and the strengthening of government capacity to administer these rights.

According to AllAfrica.com, Liberia’s Inquirer newspaper recently honored Philomena Bloh Sayeh as 2012 Director General of the Year. Ms. Sayeh is the Director General of Liberia’s Center for National Documents and Records Agency (CNDRA) and is a key partner in USAID’s Land Policy and Institutional Support (LPIS) project. This award recognizes the ambitious reform efforts that Ms. Sayeh, with the support of USAID, has overseen at CNDRA during the past year.

A guest post by Dr. Daniel Monchuk, Agricultural Economist, Cloudburst Group; Dr. Cynthia M. Caron, Assistant Professor of International Development and Social Change, Clark University; and Stephanie Fenner, IDCE Fellow, Clark University