Africa-Press – Liberia. The Civil Society Working Group on Land has called on the government, through the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), to fast-track processes leading to the formalization of customary land in the country so that rural communities can have official and legitimate title deeds to their ancestral lands.
At the launch of a land reform policy brief in Monrovia on Thursday, December 8, the group said that the LLA should prioritize registering customary land and ensure that communities who have completed the requirements are issued with validated customary land deeds.
“This requires clear procedures for surveying and issuing deeds to communities,” Titus Zeorgar, who read the recommendation component of the policy brief, said. Zeorgar, who comes from the Community Rights Support Facility (CRSF), also said that the Land Authority must establish clear regulations and guidelines to validate tribal certificates (TCs).
“TCs are semi-formal documents that allow individuals and communities to privatize public land,” he said. “Collaboration with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can help resolve conflicts, protect customary land rights, and assist communities in resolving boundary disputes.”
Zeogar, however, urged the LLA to consider decentralizing services to local communities by setting up local offices and county land boards to implement the Land Rights Law effectively.
It is no secret that the coming into being of the Land Rights Law (LRL) in 2018 marked a significant moment in Liberia’s history, recognizing and protecting community lands and resources that have long been vulnerable to the state, wealthy individuals, and corporations. However, the law faces significant obstacles, including poor stakeholder coordination, low capacity, and abuse of authority.
Many believe that stakeholders, especially the government, must focus their efforts and resources on completing the formalization of customary lands, monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the law, addressing land grabbing and related abuses, and promoting equity.
This was the focus of Thursday’s policy brief launch as the event highlighted the achievements and challenges of implementing the Land Rights Law (LRL).
Making recommendations to CSOs that are working in the land reform process, Zeogar said that their role is crucial to the successful implementation of land rights legislation—and to ensure that the law is effective and impartial, CSOs must work with government agencies, international partners, and private stakeholders to monitor implementation activities.
“CSOs’ Efforts should prioritize supporting communities in implementing the law and building the capacity of local leaders, particularly CLDMCs, to effectively manage their community land and resources,” he said. “Larger and more established CSOs need to join forces to support smaller CSOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) in expanding the scope and scale of customary land protection, particularly the land rights of vulnerable groups such as women and youth.”
He added that the CSO Working Group and other land rights coalitions need to work with networks such as the media and CBOs to strengthen coordination, monitoring, and advocacy efforts. “CSOs should monitor the role of the LLA, international institutions, companies, and local leaders in the implementation of the LRL,” he added.
The CSO Working Group also noted that donors and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) should streamline resources and technical support to government institutions and local partners to complete the formalization of customary lands.
Zeogar disclosed that the LLA needs technical and institutional support to validate and survey communities that have formalized their customary lands, and that CSOs and CBOs also need resources to work with local communities in land governance, especially to train women, youth, and local land managers such as CLDMCs, chiefs, and forest management committees in managing customary lands.
To implement the Land Rights Law, the LLA has been urged to continue to work with civil society organizations, communities, and partners to develop additional and appropriate regulations, raise awareness, and improve stakeholder coordination.
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