Tuesday, December 13, 2011

LandNet Rwanda Chapter input on the Land Sub-Sector EDPRS Self Assessment

LandNet Rwanda Chapter was consulted by the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) to give comments and observations to the draft version of the Land Sub-Sector EDPRS Self Assessment of the Land Thematic Working Group lead by Department of Lands and Mapping and DFID. Views from members were collected and joint feedback of the network was send to Didier  G. Sagashya (Deputy Director General Rwanda Natural Resources Authority, Lands and Mapping Department & Office of the Registrar of Land Titles).
First of all LandNet Rwanda Chapter welcomed the important mentioning of the Africa Land Policy framework and Guidelines (ALPFG) as one of the four strategic objectives in the Land sub-Sector Strategic Plan in the self assessment as well as the clear emphasize on the importance of including and involving all partners in the development of strategies and priorities towards sustainability and ownership.

But the network also stressed the special importance of civil society involvement in policy preparation, implementation and monitoring and reminded the Land Thematic Working Group that there is still room for effective engagement with partners, which is related to general capacity issues which have to be addressed.

LandNet Rwanda Chapter also requested more detailed information and questioned the idea of “monitoring CSO’s and NGO’s”  because of the “need to smoothen coordination of civil society activities” under MINICOFIN. LandNet Rwanda Chapter does not see the need to monitor civil society activities and questioned if MINICOFIN has the responsibility and the capacity to coordinate and monitor the work of civil society.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Closure of EEEGL and phasing out of activities

The project Enterprise, Environment, and Equity in the Virunga Landscape of the Great Lakes (EEEGL), funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and implemented by CARE International and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) in Rwanda and Uganda, is reaching its natural conclusion on 31/12/11.

This happens after five years of intense work, where the project has availed of a tremendous level of collaboration and cooperation from various partners, stakeholders and counterparts, drawn from NGOs, local government, central government agencies, community organizations and private sector.

Many stakeholders were involved in an evaluation carried out by the funder of this project last May. In addition, many have also been engaged in the external Final Evaluation carried out few weeks ago. The results of this evaluation will be disseminated early next year.

EEGL teams has approached and discussed with their partners and stakeholders the consolidation and phasing out of specific activities and spent considerable effort during the last phase to ensure that these activities have a vision for sustainability. Specifically the project Technical Advisory Committees in Rwanda and Uganda has been consulted to achieve that.

Both CARE and IGCP, consistently with their missions and resources, will continue remaining involved with the beneficiaries and the partners, as part of their long term commitment to the conservation and development agenda in the two countries. Moreover, EEEGL’s contribution to the development of the transboundary collaboration around the Virungas has benefitted from tangible progress under the leadership of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration and the support from IGCP, which will remain in place.

Information and reports produced by the project are available at www.virunga.net. Final reports will be posted there.

LandNet Rwanda Chapter in the Organic Land Law Review

LandNet Rwanda Chapter members were invited to a technical consultation workshop on the amendment of the Organic Land Law (OLL) which took take place on Wednesday, 19th October 2011 from 8.30 am to 5.00pm at La Palisse Hotel-Nyandungu.