The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in partnership with the Busoga region District Local Governments, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda, Civil Society Land Actors and other Non-State Actors is organizing the eighth Land Awareness Week to be in 10 Districts of Busoga region under the theme “Promoting land rights and land use for inclusiveness and sustainable development.”
State Minister for Lands Sam Mayanja says the main event shall be held in the districts of Iganga, Luuka, Kaliro, Kamuli, Bugweri, Bugiri, Mayuge, Namutumba, Namayingo and Jinja while other land related side engagements shall be held in the districts where respective CSOs/Land Actors have land related interventions to assist the citizens with land challenges.
“The Land Awareness Week will engage critical Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies that include among others the National Forestry Authority (NFA), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).” Mayanja said.
The Land Awareness Week is aimed at strengthening the capacity of local communities (women, men, youth, Persons with Disabilities-PWDs, and other vulnerable groups) and their organizations; Local Governments (LGs); formal and customary Land Management (LM) and Land Administration (LA) bodies/structures; the Civil Society Fraternity and other relevant State and Non state Land Actors for effective engagement in Land Governance (land administration and land management) and environmental conservation at local and national levels. This will be achieved through information dissemination of the policy and regulatory frameworks on land; awareness raising, consciousness building and dialogues on the regional and national specific issues impacting on land rights and environmental conservation.
“The Busoga Land Awareness week shall further provide strategic platform for documentation of issues to inform policy review relating to the National Land Policy, 2013, the Land Act CAP. 227, the Land Acquisition Act 1965 and the Real Estates management bill, among others.”Mayanja stressed.
Senior Communications Officer for lands Dennis Obbo said Specific components/delivery vehicles for the land Awareness week shall include; community dialogues, mobile legal aid clinics, radio and Television (TV) talk shows, debates and poems, social media engagements and tree planting among other innovations.
The Concept of Land Awareness Week (LAW) is an innovation of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban development (MLHUD) and the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on Land Rights.We have had over 7 land awareness weeks and implemented them with CSOs including PELUM Uganda, Oxfam, FRA, LANDnet, ActionAid, and ESAFF, among others.
According to Obbo they target to reach atleast population of 500 people per district with Mobile Legal Clinics set up at specific designated venues of community dialogues and specific hot spot villages for farmers to report cases on land and access legal advice, guidance and counselling on land, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, land acquisition, land compensation, succession among others. The clinics will be open to the general public to participate.
“We plan to hold radio talk shows in different regions to deliberate on topical issues.
As part of initiative to foster environmental conservation, there will be tree planting during the Land Awareness Week,” Obbo explained.
