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The Multi-Actors Platform on Land Governance and Responsible Agricultural Investment in Liberia (MAP Liberia Land Platform) in collaboration with the Government of Liberia through the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and relevant state actors working in the land and agriculture sectors has launched the second National Land Conference (NLC) on land rights and land reform in Liberia.
The conference which will be convened in Ganta, Nimba County from 23rd to 27th September 2024 in Ganta, Nimba will review the progress made thus far since the hosting of the first national land conference in March 2022 in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
According to the organizers, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is expected to lead a high-powered government delegation to the conference to officially launch it.
Organized under the theme: “Looking backward, looking forward after the first national land conference”, the second land conference will provide a forum for all stakeholders to review the implementation of the land reforms and land-based investment concerning livelihood and food security. The gathering will identify progress, emerging challenges, and opportunities for advancing and fast-tracking the land reform process in Liberia.
The Executive Director of the Liberia Land Authority Stanley Toe who launched the conference on behalf of the Chairman of the LLA, Att. J. Adam Manobah said that the conference is important because, since the conduct of the first one, the LLA has been instrumental in making sure that the land rights law is implemented based on the conference mandate.
He said that much has been accomplished in terms of implementing the regulation and ensuring land formalization for communities.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Toe stated that there is a need for stakeholders to thoroughly review the implementation of the land acts to find a way forward to some of the challenges.
Over 200 delegates representing various institutions including government agencies, CSOs Working Group on Land Rights Reform, academia and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Community Land Development Management Committee (CLDMC), national and international organizations as well as donor partners are expected to be in attendance.
Key topics that will be covered during the conference include Customary Land Formalization, land rights of women, youth, and people with disabilities, land administration and registration, conflict around land using the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approach, decentralization of land services, linkage of land rights to responsible agricultural investment with emphasis on livelihood and food security, among others.
The conference will also identify improvements in policies and practices in agricultural investment linked to land, agriculture, and food security, identify and analyze challenges, and plan the way forward in generating concrete commitments and practical recommendations for fast-tracking implementation of the Land Rights Act of Liberia.
Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Liberia His. Excellency Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai is the conference will devote an entire day to Women Land Rights Day, in which several organizations including national and rural women organizations and their international partners will combine efforts to review the status of women’s land rights and define a road map. The Women’s Land Rights Day will be held under the theme: Collaborative solutions: “Partnership for Advancing Women’s Land Rights”.
The Conference Organizers are eager to work with the media institutions to ensure full coverage of the conference deliberations and the resultant communique will be signed by delegates, for advancing land reform and responsible agricultural investment in Liberia.
The organizers are thankful for those institutions who have so far pledged their commitment to support the conference and encouraging others who have not done so to make good their intentions, as time is of the essence.
Meanwhile, the conference organizers would like to announce that the Conference will be attended only by Delegates who will receive an official invitation.
