Donors’ data from land surveys to support methodology for 1.4.2
In June, the Friends of the Custodians (FoC) Committee collected data sets from land surveys conducted by donors agencies and shared them with the Custodians. The data comprised past evaluations and other surveys that have household/individual/parcel information, information about upcoming evaluations and countries where donors have close relations with the statistical agency or land/agricultural ministry to help advocate reporting on indicator 1.4.2. This info will help in the preparation of the methodology report to be submitted to the Inter-Agency Expert Group (IAEG) on SDG Indicators by 2 October 2017.
Highlights of July meetings
In July the Custodians held three important meetings:
3rd Expert Group Meeting: Using Administrative Data to Monitor SDG land (Barcelona, 6-7 July)
The focus of this EGM was on the indicator component “legally recognized documentation” which will be measured using administrative data produced by the land agencies in the different countries. Other components of the indicator will be measured using household survey data. Particularly, the objectives of this EGM were to: (1) agree on a methodology to monitor the part of indicator 1.4.2 pertaining to legally documented rights using administrative data, (2) assess availability of existing data and explore ways of institutionalizing reporting at country and regional level, and (3) explore options for building on administrative data to advocate and measure progress of land policy reforms. A readout from this EGM will be shared soon by the custodian agencies. The FoC had access to at least one presentation – by Klaus Deininger (WB) – on strategies for compiling administrative data – see the PPT here.
Expert Group Meeting on Women Land Rights (NY, 8-9 July)
This EGM examined land indicators in the SDGs, seeking for meaningful and more harmonised approaches to monitor women’s land rights in a coordinated manner at all levels. This EGM was convened by Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII) in partnership with Oxfam. This EGM was particularly relevant for indicators 5.a.1 and 5.a.2 addressing women’s land rights, but also important to raise political support for 1.4.2. See the readout from this EGM here.
HLPF side event on Progress on Monitoring Tenure Security in SDGs – where are we? (NY, 10 July)
At this well-attended side-event, custodian agencies and partner organisations aimed at raising political support by UN Member States and other groups to globally monitor land governance through the SDG indicator 1.4.2.
Speakers included H.E. Ambassador Dessima Williams, Special Advisor to the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Implementation of the SDGs, Heath Cosgrove, Director of the Land and Urban Department at USAID, Yongyi Min, Chief of Sustainable Development Goal Unit-IAEG, amongst others. They underscored the importance of securing land tenure to fight poverty and provided an update on the progress made in developing the methodology on indicator 1.4.2.
Amongst the participants’ recommendations for the ongoing process of developing a global methodology on indicator 1.4.2, are to support public education and raise awareness at the country level to the importance of monitoring tenure security and to promote capacity building for Land agencies and National Statistical Offices in new data production methods including surveys/earth observation.
Upcoming Meetings
- 12 September, online: German NGO Welhungerhilfe will host a video conference to raise awareness of the German multi-stakeholder forum on land about the SDG land indicators. This multi-stakeholder forum comprises german government officials (Ministry of Development Cooperation, Ministry of Food and Agriculture), GIZ, NGOs and academia. Invited experts, such as Sven Kaumanns of the German Statistical commission (tbd) and Luca Miggiano from Oxfam-Novib, will inform about the importance of land tenure in the SDG context and share updates on the various land indicators – particularly the need to reclassify indicator 1.4.2 from Tier III to Tier II. Participation is by-invitation only. More info with Marion.Aberle@welthungerhilfe.de
- 9-13 October, Rome, Italy: 44th Committee on World Food Security (CFS). This year the CFS is organizing a special plenary session on the SDGs. Countries will have the opportunity to share and discuss how they are implementing the Agenda 2030 and to reflect on the outcomes of the High-Level Political Forum 2017 to further implementation of the SDGs.
- 11-14 November, Manama, Bahrain: 6th Meeting of the IAEG-SDGs, hosted by Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT). You can view the provisional agenda here, as well as further information here. The first two days (11 – 12 November) will be an exclusive IAEG-SDGs members meeting, while the final two days (13 – 14 November) are a plenary session, where countries non-members of the IAEG, international organizations and other stakeholders are welcome to attend.