SE29 A Achieving SDGs in Africa through partnerships for inclusive land governance

As part of its agenda of “leaving no one behind”, and in line with the AU F&G and the VGGT,
the International Land Coalition (ILC) and several other organizations recognize the centrality
of national multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) or National Land coalitions (NLCs) to
accelerate the recognition of land tenure rights in their countries and are promoting these.
These MSPs engage decision-makers and citizens into a dynamic space of interaction where
policies are consulted and informed, obstacles to their implementation removed and those
policies are used to inform innovative and people-centred legislation. With peoples’
organisations at their centre, MSPs challenge power asymmetries, enable more inclusive
decision-making and provoke action.
MSPs/NLCs work around effective land governance institutions and administration reforms,
as well as the monitoring and evaluation of inclusive land governance. For instance, around
10 MSPs in Africa are rolling out the Global Land Governance Index (LANDex), a peoplecentred tool
for land monitoring that generates data from people, third party and official data
to increase and improve transparency and accountability in land investments. These platforms
are also engaging with their respective governmental land institutions to foster collaboration,
capacity building and peer-to-peer learning. The preservation of Africa’s heritage and culture
is also at the heart of ILC members and partners initiatives. A decade of fights and intense
lobbying by different actors in Cameroon led to the preservation of Ebo Forest, a blessing to
more than 40 communities, numerous threatened species and the planet. Under the
Participatory Rangelands Management Project (PRM), ILC members and partners in Kenya
and Tanzania are facilitating the infusion of indigenous and traditional knowledge in
rangelands management to navigate persistent or even emerging challenges that threaten the
future of pastoralism.