Addis Ababa — Geospatial stakeholders are meeting in Addis Ababa from April 20-22 at the Fourth High Level Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management.
The High Level Forum on United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management will provide member States and geospatial stakeholders with the unique opportunity to share and learn from each other, new ideas, methods and strategies to support local, regional and global land administration and management initiatives.
In collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Ethiopia, the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) will host a forum for 400 people at ECA in Addis Ababa, including government ministers, under the theme of "Good land governance for the 2030 Agenda" to discuss strengthening the use of geospatial information for good land governance.
The UNGGIM recognises that land information and its management are fundamental to successful land administration and the derived benefits to the economies, and overall sustainable development of nations. Geospatial information can help in creating crucial decision support systems. It touches on property rights, customary rights and security of tenure whilst also affecting decisions on the environment and economic and social well-being.
Established in 2011, the United Nations initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management sets the agenda for global geospatial information development and promotes the benefits of geospatial information for addressing national policy and key global challenges.
The fourth forum will also raise political awareness and highlight the importance to decision makers of the need for timely and fit-for-purpose land administration and management. It encourages collaboration between professional bodies and experts working in land governance, including United Nations bodies and other international organizations, to identify and address common issues of land management and governance in support of sustainable development.
Bringing all stakeholders together, this fourth Forum continues the discussion on sustainable development which formed a major part of the previous forum held in Beijing where member states also deliberated on climate change and sustainable cities, amongst many topics.
With discussions covering various topics such as technology and capacity development and land information for sustainable development, the Forum expects its delegates to pay particular attention to the geospatial information requirements for land administration and management with a special focus on the needs for Africa.
The conference program will feature keynote speeches delivered by high-level policy-makers and leading scholars, technical sessions with reports of the latest research outcomes, panel sessions on operational topics such as capacity development, SDI, land policy, land information, programmes and projects, as well as commercial exhibitions showing latest products and services in geospatial science and technology.
