Addis Ababa, 26-28 July, 2016 — Senior leadership drawn from sixteen African universities and institutions of higher learning endorsed key recommendations to review land governance curricula, with a view to ensuring land professions better respond to Africa’s realities. Participants, who also included representatives of RECs, Member States, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector, were attending a three-day validation workshop, organized by the Land Policy Initiative (LPI).

In his closing remarks, Mr. Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division, thanked participants for their invaluable inputs, which led to a successful validation of theAssessment report on the needs and gaps of curricula on land governance in Africa. He noted that the key recommendations for curricula development will form a useful basis for the development of guidelines that will ensure that curricula and training programs respond to the needs of society and ‘industry’ in the land sector.

Noting the need to build the capacity of universities which train Africa’s land governance professionals, Mr. Karingi thanked the German government for financial support, and participants for endorsing inaugural members and regional nodes for NELGA. NELGA forms part of a German-funded project on Strengthening Capacity for Land Governance in Africa (SLGA) implemented jointly by the LPI together with GIZ and the World Bank. The network is conceptualized as a partnership of African Universities and tertiary/research institutions that have proven leadership and track record in training and research in one or more aspects of land governance.

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On behalf of the ECA, Mr. Karingi pledged to support the implementation of the roadmap to guide the establishment of NELGA as recommended. He also noted that the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) would heed the call to facilitate the development of guidelines for development/review of land governance curricula, and facilitate their operationalization.

Noting the importance of relevant curricula on land governance as well as enhanced capacity of institutions of higher learning, Ms. Janet Edeme, Acting Director, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA), African Union Commission undertook to explore modalities for endorsement of key outcomes of the workshop in the context of AU policy organs.  Ms. Edeme was speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace.