From 2015 to 2016, USAID has chaired the Global Donor Working Group on Land, which is comprised of donors and development agencies committed to improving coordination around development programs that focus on land governance. The group, established to coordinate activities among donors and development agencies, strives to improve access to secure land tenure and property rights for people all over the world, with an emphasis on vulnerable groups, including women and indigenous people. USAID led one of the group’s first initiatives, developing a comprehensive database of 14 member organizations’ 230+ active land governance programs, being implemented in more than 100 countries, with a total value of over $2 billion.
The Global Donor Working Group on Land is hosted by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. It was launched in April, 2013 to support efforts of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies focused on implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and, more broadly, efforts to strengthen land governance and property rights in the developing world.
Key focus areas for the Global Donor Working Group on Land include: improving information sharing, coordination and collaboration on land-related programming and interventions among the member organizations; working closely with country partners to improve land governance and transparency; engaging with and supporting the private sector to improve land governance by strengthening core business procedures (such as due diligence related to land-based investing); and, providing a hub for information related to land governance.
Visit the Global Donor Working Group on Land’s website.