FIG President Stig Enemark attends Private Sector Consultation meeting: Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources

RICS Headquarters, London, United Kingdom, 25-26 January 2008

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Clarissa Augustinus, Chief of UN-HABITAT Land Tenure and Property Administration Section; Stig Enemark, FIG President; and Paul Munro Favre, Chief of the FAO Land Tenure and Management Unit, at the RICS Headquarters, London.

FIG President Stig Enemark attended the Private Sector Consultation meeting: Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources.
RICS Headquarters, London, United Kingdom, 25-26 January 2008.

FAO and its partners such as World Bank, UN-Habitat, IFAD (International Federation of Agricultural development), and FIG have been working since 2005 on governance of land administration to raise awareness and produce guidelines. A good example of this is the publication FAO Land Tenure Studies no. 9 on Good governance in land tenure and administration, available on line at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1179e/a1179e00.pdf

FAO and its partners are now preparing Voluntary Guidelines to improve the governance of tenure and other natural resources. Such voluntary guidelines are to assist States, civil society and the private sector in improving the governance of tenure, and thus contribute to alleviation of hunger and poverty, empowering the poor and vulnerable, enhancing the environment, supporting national and local economic development, and reforming public administration. The meeting in London was a key part of the consultation process in this regard. A discussion paper was prepared to facilitate discussions: Towards Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure and Land and other Natural resources.
Welcome address was given by Max Crofts, RICS President and Paul Munro-Faure, FAO. Keynote presentation was given by Prof. Malcolm Grant, president/provost, University College, London.

The meeting included a group of around 70 international experts representing mainly the private sector. Working group sessions included themes such as: land administration and registration (moderated by President Enemark), urban development, large scale rural investments (moderated by Dr. Diane Dumashie, Chair of FIG Com 8), community development, business promotion and services, and professional standards, ethics and codes of conduct (moderated by Dr. Frances Plimmer, (Chair-elect of FIG Com 9).

The meeting was very productive in addressing the key issues. The outcome will be available at the FAO Voluntary Guidelines website (see below) and considered as a key contribution to preparing the final guidelines.

Further regional consultation meetings will be held around the world through 2010. The meetings will assess regional priorities of the voluntary guidelines and review specific features of governance of tenure in each region. The objective is to reach a common understanding between stakeholders. Once drafted the voluntary guidelines will be submitted for FAO member country approval. Upon adoption, FAO and its partners will support their implementation through national action plans and through FAO´s extensive partnership networks and related project activities.

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The RICS Headquarters (left) is overlooking Parliament Square in central London with the famous Big Ben Clock Tower (right).

10 February 2010