LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY TECHNICAL REPORT FY20 Q2 JANUARY 1, 2020 – MARCH 31, 2020
PHOTO CREDIT: TETRA PHOTO TECH CREDIT: TETRA
APRIL 2020
This publicationLAND was GOVERNANC produced forE SUPPORT review ACTIVITYby the United FY20 QUARTERStates Agency 2 REPORT for (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) International Development. It was prepared by Tetra Tech.
This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development by Tetra Tech, through the Liberia Land Governance Support Activity, Contract No: AID-OAA-I-12-00032, Task Order No: AID-669-TO-15-00003.
This report was prepared by: Tetra Tech 159 Bank Street, Suite 300 Burlington, Vermont 05401 USA Telephone: (802) 495-0282 Fax: (802) 658-4247 Email: [email protected]
Tetra Tech Contacts:
Yohannes Gebremedhin, Chief of Party [email protected]
Lauren Dees-Erickson, Deputy Chief of Party [email protected]
Megan Huth, Project Manager [email protected]
David Felson, Deputy Project Manager [email protected]
ii LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020)
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY TECHNICAL REPORT FY20 Q2 JANUARY 1, 2020 – MARCH 31, 2020
DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...... 1 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS...... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION ...... 6 2.0 FY20 QUARTER 2 ACTIVITIES ...... 6 2.1 SUPPORTING THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY ...... 7 2.1.1 OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY ...... 7 2.1.2 DECENTRALIZATION OF THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY ...... 10 2.2 FINALIZE A METHODOLOGY FOR RECOGNITION OF CUSTOMARY LAND RIGHTS AND IMPLEMENT THE METHODOLOGY IN PILOT COMMUNITIES ...... 10 2.2.1 DEVELOP, FIELD TEST, AND REVISE PROCESSES FOR CUSTOMARY LAND RIGHTS IMPLEMENTATION ...... 10 2.2.2 CONDUCT CAPACITY BUILDING OF COMMUNITIES, LOCAL INSTITUTIONS, AND STAKEHOLDERS ...... 14 2.2.3 DEVELOP PHASED AND COSTED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ...... 14 2.3. STRENGTHEN CIVIL SOCIETY. PRIVATE SECTOR, AND CITIZEN ENGAGMENT IN LAND GOVERNANCE ...... 15 2.3.1 DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS ...... 15 2.3.2 DEVELOP AND MANAGE GUC SUPPORTING CIVIL SOCIETY AND PRIVATE SECTOR ...... 16 2.3.3 SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGMENT IN LAND GOVERNACE ...... 16 2.3.4 STRENGTHEN PRIVATE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF LAND PROFESSIONALS ...... 17 2.4 GENDER ACTIVITIES ...... 18 2.5 SUPPORT TO AUTHORIZED FOREST COMMUNITIES ...... 20 2.6 MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING ...... 23 ANNEX A: LGSA INDICATORS AND TARGETS ...... 25 ANNEX B: SUCCESS STORIES ...... 29
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 1 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution APLSUL Association of Public Land Surveyors of Liberia CA Community Assembly CFMB Community Forest Management Body CLDMC Community Land Development and Management Committee COP Chief of Party CSO Civil Society Organization EC Executive Committee FCI Foundation for Community Initiatives FTI Forestry Training Institute GEP Geomatics Education Program GIS Geographic Information System GOL Government of Liberia GUC Grants under Contract ICC Interim Coordinating Committee LAA Liberia Land Authority Act LARNET-L Land Reporters Network – Liberia LGSA Land Governance Support Activity LLA Liberia Land Authority LRA Land Rights Act LSA Liberia Strategic Analysis MAP Multi-Actor Partnership MOU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Nongovernmental Organization P3CL Tenure Facility’s Protecting Community Collective Customary Land SA Social Agreement SDI Sustainable Development Institute STARR Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights TOT Training of Trainers USAID United States Agency for International Development WLRTF Women’s Land Rights Task Force
2 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
USAID/Liberia contracted Tetra Tech as the Prime Contractor to implement the Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) Task Order under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) Indefinite Duration Indefinite Quantity Contract. LGSA supports the establishment of more effective land governance systems, ready to implement comprehensive reforms to improve equitable access to land and security of tenure, to facilitate inclusive sustained growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment. Tetra Tech and partners Landesa, CDR Associates, Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), and Parley form a collaborative team providing technical and organizational assistance to the Government of Liberia (GOL), civil society, and communities in their land rights reform process. During the reporting quarter LGSA accomplished important work that aimed to solidify the progress made over the last four years. At the same time, in spite of the funding and public health challenges, LGSA was able to successfully complete important work such as; completing the first set of pilots for the recognition of customary land, completing the support to forest communities in Nimba and the successful graduation of the first batch of survey technicians from the Geomatics Education Program (GEP). However, there were certain activities that were adversely affected by the COVID-19 situation. The first notable example is LGSA’s plan to provide training to relevant Liberia Land Authority (LLA) staff on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The scheduling of the planned training coincided with the Government’s announcement of restrictions on gathering, compelling the LLA and LGSA to put the activity on hold. LGSA’s planned activities with respect to two pilot communities in Nimba County and planned work with women land practitioners in Lofa County were also put on hold due to public health considerations and restrictions on travel and gathering. Even with these activities put on hold, and many challenges faced, the LGSA team was able to successfully complete activities as outlined in the Year 5 workplan. In line with LGSA’s standing practice, LGSA’s Chief of Party (COP), land administration technical advisers, Communication and Outreach Specialist and the Gender and Land Specialist continued providing advisory and technical support specific to; institutional development, capacity building, the land registration system, the legal framework and implementation of the Land Rights Act (LRA) and Liberia Land Authority Act (LAA). In so doing the LGSA COP and technical advisers continued working closely with the LLA Chairman, Commissioners, the Executive Director and other management and technical staff. The LGSA COP, supported by other technical advisers including the Gender and Land Specialist and the Communication and Outreach Specialist, continued to be embedded within the LLA to provide strategic and day-to-day technical assistance and mentoring. LGSA also continued providing support to the LLA in strengthening the legal and regulatory framework for the land sector. Specifically, LGSA worked with the LLA and Civil Society Organization (CSO) Working Group on Land to develop the revised first draft of the Regulation for Vetting and Validating Tribal Certificates. LGSA facilitated a series of consultations between the LLA Chairman and the representatives of the CSO Working Group, which resulted in an agreement on a modality of a reasonably rigorous consultative process. Subsequently, LGSA supported the conduct of the Working Group’s consultation session. Moreover, LGSA worked on developing a draft Regulation for Confirmatory Survey. With success comes challenges, including difficulty in meeting with resource and technical persons at the LLA in the last month of the quarter due to current public health restrictions. The inputs of technicians such as persons knowledgeable and/or involved with surveying at the LLA are necessary to inform the drafting of the Regulation for Confirmatory Survey. Therefore, the drafting work was delayed in the reporting period. During the reporting quarter, LGSA’s ten-month GEP and the separate two-month Licensed Surveyors training program culminated in the graduation of twenty survey technicians and the certification of eight registered/licensed Land Surveyors.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 3
Following-up on its previous quarter efforts, LGSA provided evidence-based advisory support to LLA senior management. This support focused on county land office functions, the equipment and skills needed to operate and maintain the county land offices and the provision of options for linking the functions of the national office and the county land administration offices. During this reporting period LGSA also completed the process of community self-identification, development of community by-laws, establishment of Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs) and boundary data collection in the first seven pilot communities; Fissebu Town, Valvalah and Palama in Lofa County, Kpatawee and Kporyorquelleh in Bong County, and Dubuzon and Gayea in Nimba County. This experience informed LGSA’s draft Methodology for the Recognition of Customary Land, which supports the GOL, CSO and community efforts to statutorily recognize customary lands. Building on experience and lessons learned from Phase 1, LGSA began work on the customary land recognition process in five of the seven identified new communities in Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties. LGSA’s approach is to directly work with the identified communities to increase awareness of their rights under the LRA, including the process for self-identification and community land governance. Specifically, the objectives of the pilot activities in the second set of seven pilots were to: 1) provide community-wide education to strengthen social mechanisms for the protection of customary land rights; 2) strengthen equitable community involvement in customary land governance through community mobilization and public education efforts; 3) demonstrate the possibility of more independent and active community participation in the implementation of the LRA; and 4) prevent decline in tenure security and social friction that can potentially arise from improper validation of Tribal Certificates and to lay the foundation for community-driven formal recognition of customary land rights in the target communities. LGSA continued to inform the public regarding the LRA and the land governance system and their land rights and obligations. In spite of budgetary challenges, using effective tools, LGSA was able to reach out to members of various communities, expedite its activities and deliver important services to target communities. In the reporting quarter, LGSA’s COP continued to provide advisory support and mentoring to key representatives of CSOs engaged in the land sector on issues regarding the implementation of the LRA, protection of customary land rights and CSO engagement in the development of laws and regulations pertaining to land. Aside from capacity building, the objective of the advisory support and mentoring has been to encourage and facilitate a partnership between the LLA and CSOs in implementing the LRA, as well as to encourage appropriate participation of the CSO in land governance matters. LGSA also continued its efforts for establishing professional associations engaged in the land sector. Notably, LGSA continued to support the Land Reporters Network – LARNET to complete its legal registration with the Government of Liberia to enable the Network to operate as a legal entity. Through LGSA’s support, LARNET has been certified by the Liberia Business Registry and has become operational. LARNET has also begun recruiting members into the network and created awareness activities focused on land and natural resources management issues by way of community radio stations and print media. The network has reported that they now have active members from Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Grand Bassa and Grand Gedeh Counties. LGSA, in partnership with Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI), completed the provision of support to 16 Authorized Forest Communities located in Kparblee District, Nimba County. LGSA’s initiative assisted 16 affected Authorized Forest Communities in Nimba County, and their respective Community Forest Management Body, Executive Committee and Community Assembly membership. The work focused on the provision of training, information and legal advice with respect to negotiating Commercial Use Contracts or Social Agreements, guidance on entering into agreements with timber companies where community development projects are clearly identified
4 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) and implementation is time bound and enforcement of legal rights associated with contract or agreement monitoring. In this quarter, LGSA strengthened the capacity of the LLA Gender Unit, finalized the LLA’s Gender Integration Strategy and established the Women’s Land Rights Task Force (WLRTF) in Bong and Nimba Counties. LGSA’s Gender and Land Specialist continued to provide mentoring and coaching support to the LLA Gender Unit and to members of the WLRTF.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) activities are a continuation of USAID’s engagement in the land sector in Liberia, beginning with the Millennium Challenge Corporation funded Land Policy and Institutional Support project and the Land Conflict Resolution Project which ended in 2013 and 2014 respectively. These preliminary efforts assisted the Government of Liberia (GOL) in the development of a Land Rights Policy, the evolution of the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), and a Land Administration Policy. LGSA continues this engagement through support to the LLA in its establishment and implementation of the Land Authority Act (LAA) and Land Rights Act (LRA). While LGSA is structured with four project components (see below text box) the focal points of LGSA are the establishment and operationalization of the LLA, the development of a methodology for the implementation of the provisions of the Land Rights Policy and LRA and raising awareness on access to gender equitable land tenure.
LGSA Components Component 1: Strengthening the policy, legal and regulatory framework for land governance • Provide advisory support and recommendations for land policy and legal and regulatory reform, • Develop and disseminate public information on proposed reforms, and • Conduct and disseminate policy research. Component 2: Improvement of human and institutional capacity for land governance • Support institutional transition to the Liberia Land Authority, • Support decentralized management and institutional capacity development, and awareness of GOL land governance institutions, • Support training in land governance, and • Public outreach and awareness campaigns Component 3: Conduct action research to support provisions of the land rights policy and land rights law • Develop a learning agenda followed by the development and field testing of processes for customary land rights implementation, and • Facilitate community-led processes to strengthen community land governance, including capacity building of communities, local institutions, and stakeholders. Component 4: Strengthen civil society, private sector, and citizen engagement in land governance • Develop and manage grants under contract supporting civil society and private sector entities engaged in land governance activities, and • Strengthen private professional organizations and public-private partnerships in activities surrounding land administration.
6 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 2.0 FY20 QUARTER 2 ACTIVITIES
LGSA Year 5 Quarter 2 project activities focused on: 1. Supporting the LLA in land governance areas where the chances for producing concrete results that will have direct bearing on improving service delivery and tenure security are good; 2. Completing the testing of a methodology for the recognition of customary tenure in the first set of seven pilot communities; 3. Implementing the second set of pilot communities with respect to community-based processes to strengthen community land governance structures, capacity building of communities, local institutions, and protection of customary land; 4. Improving the legislative/regulatory framework for land administration; 5. Improving the LLA’s operating procedures and systems; 6. Developing and disseminating information to build public awareness on land; 7. Completing support to authorized forest communities in Kparblee District, Nimba County; and 8. Building institutional capacity for the promotion and protection of women’s lands rights. Almost all activities conducted during the reporting quarter aimed at solidifying and ensuring the continuity and sustainability of the progresses made in the land sector with the support of LGSA.
2.1 SUPPORTING THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY LGSA’s Chief of Party (COP), land administration technical advisers, Communication and Outreach Specialist and the Gender and Land Specialist continued providing advisory and technical support specific to institutional development, capacity building, strengthening of the legal framework and implementation of the LRA and LAA. In so doing the LGSA COP and technical advisers continued working closely with the LLA Chairman, Commissioners, the Executive Director and other LLA management and technical staff. The LGSA COP, supported by other technical advisers including the Gender and Land Specialist, the Communication and Outreach Specialist continued to be embedded within the LLA to provide strategic and day-to-day technical assistance and mentoring.
2.1.1 OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY OF LLA. LGSA provided advisory and technical assistance to the LLA in several respects. LGSA’s COP provided daily advisory support to the LLA Chairman and Vice Chairwoman, and technical assistance with respect to the land registration system. The COP provided advisory support to the Chairman in conceptualizing and developing a draft outline for developing a land registration law. LGSA’s COP also provided advisory support to the recently confirmed Vice Chair of the LLA regarding reforming the existing registration system. The advisory support focused on prioritization and sequencing of step-by-step measures that are required to reform the current land registration system in Liberia. The LLA is looking for additional funding to complete the organization and indexing of the current paper deed archives at the Center for National Documents and Records Agency (CNDRA) and to preserve these deeds through digital backup archives and reform the system in accordance with the recommendations that LGSA has made. LGSA worked closely with the LLA senior management to provide persistent advisory support with respect to the recognition of customary land. In particular, the LGSA COP provided advisory support to the LLA concerning ongoing discussions on the process of recognizing customary land rights for the Fissebu community and resolving outstanding boundary issues that the Vavala
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 7 community has with its adjacent communities. In collaboration with the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), LGSA facilitated remote discussions between the Fissebu CLDMC and the LLA Chairman, and between the Vavala community leadership and the LLA Chairman. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. LGSA continued providing support to the LLA in strengthening the legal and regulatory framework for the land sector. In Quarter 2 of Year 5, LGSA’s support in strengthening the legal/regulatory framework for land governance continued to aim at building upon the progress made in Year 4 with respect to the proper implementation of the LRA. Accordingly, LGSA continued to provide technical assistance to supplement the provisions of the draft Customary Land Governance Regulation. Regulation for Determining the Validity of Tribal Certificates. The LLA, in collaboration with communities, is mandated to determine the validity of Tribal Certificates. According to the LRA, Tribal Certificates are recognized as a legitimate basis for claiming ownership of land. Nonetheless, recognizing the complexity of Tribal Certificate-based claims of land ownership, the LRA envisages “a rigid validation process” by which to determine the validity of Tribal Certificates. In this regard, LGSA’s advisory and technical assistance focused on the process of development as well as the substance of the validation process. During this reporting quarter, LGSAs Legal Adviser, in consultation with the COP, revised the initial draft Regulation for Vetting and Validating Tribal Certificates. The revision considered initial comments and suggestions provided by representatives of the CSO Working Group on Land and the LLA. The COP shared the revised first draft regulation with the representatives of the CSO Working Group on Land and the LLA. The LGSA COP then facilitated a series of consultations between the LLA Chairman and the representatives of the CSO Working Group on the next course of action, which resulted in an agreement on a modality of a rigorous consultative process. In view of the developments with the COVID-19 situation, LGSA’s COP held a series of discussions with the representatives of the CSO Working Group to adjust the original format for conducting the consultations on the first draft Regulation for Vetting and Validating Tribal Certificates. Consequently, LGSA and the Working Group agreed to distribute the draft regulation for member organization feedback and subsequently have a representative small group of five to seven members of the Working Group review those inputs. LGSA supported the conduct of the Working Group’s consultation session in an appropriate venue where the small group of participants were able to ensure physical distancing. The consultation session was very interactive and productive, and the participants were able to make valuable suggestions. LGSA will support a second and final consultation session of the CSO Working Group in the second week of the next quarter. LGSA plans to finalize the draft Tribal Certificate Regulations after receiving the feedback from the CSO Working Group on Land. Regulation to Guide the Conduct of Confirmatory Survey. The LRA provides that a nationwide confirmatory survey will be done by or under the auspices of the LLA prior to granting statutory deed to claimants of customary land ownership. Considering the need for a regulation to guide the conduct of confirmatory survey, it is to be recalled that LGSA planned to assist the LLA in the development of the regulation for the conduct of a nationwide confirmatory survey. Although the LGSA Legal Adviser has started developing a draft Regulation for Confirmatory Survey, there have been challenges in meeting with resource and technical persons at the LLA due to current public health restrictions. The inputs of technicians such as persons knowledgeable and/or involved with surveying at the LLA are necessary to inform the drafting; therefore, the drafting work has been delayed. SURVEY STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING. Over the last several years, LGSA had worked towards producing new survey technicians through a certificate offering surveyors’ curriculum as well as provided skill upgrading training for existing surveyors. During the reporting quarter, LGSA’s Geomatics Education Program (GEP) and the last skill upgrading training program
8 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) implemented for the benefit of licensed surveyors culminated in the graduation of twenty new survey technicians and the certification of eight registered/licensed land surveyors respectively. Implementing a Geomatics Education Program. In Quarter 2 of Year 5, LGSA, in partnership with the Forestry Training Institute (FTI), successfully completed the one-year Geomatics Education Program by graduating twenty students. The GEP produced Survey Technicians who are expected to be recruited by the LLA and Forest Development Authority (FDA). LGSA’s COP and Land Administration Specialist attended the ninth FTI graduation ceremony on February 28, 2020, held at the FTI campus in Tubmanburg, Bomi County. Students from four departments including twenty from the USAID LGSA funded GEP, thirty-three from the Forest Rangers Department and eleven from the Confiscation In-Service Program comprised the ceremony. The commencement event was well attended by high level government officials, local non- governmental organizations (NGOs), local authorities, development partners, and parents, families and friends of graduates. During the event, LGSA was positively recognized by several speakers for the successful, creation and implementation of the GEP USAID- funded Geomatics Education Program students at the graduation ceremony program. held on the Forestry Training Institute campus. LGSA also continued working to link the GEP with the LLA to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the program. Moreover, LGSA engaged other stakeholders to explore possibilities for funding the second year of the program. LANTMÄTERIET, the Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority, has expressed interest in trying to ensure the continuity of the Program by working in collaboration with the World Bank. Skill Upgrading Surveying Training. The LLA and LGSA held a certification ceremony for registered and licensed surveyors that were recently trained by LGSA in the use of modern land surveying technologies. The certification ceremony was held in the conference room of the LLA offices on January 23, 2020. The certification program was a two- month training created and implemented by LGSA to update current surveyors’ knowledge of the profession and skills in modern surveyor technology and equipment. The certification program brought together key stakeholders in the land sector including the LLA, USAID, LGSA, other donors, CSOs, other land professionals. The training was created as a Training of Trainers, and participants obtained the skills necessary to pass on information to other Liberian Licensed Surveyors. During the graduation ceremony, participants from the training highlighted what they learned, including the processes of data acquisition when implementing topo and cadastral surveys with the use of GNSS Trimble R10 DGPS and a C5 Trimble Access Total Station, manual computation and plotting of field data acquired using MicroSurvey CAD software, the analysis of data, and the presentation of the data via attachments in the form of a surveyors technical report, surveyor’s site plan and Traverse computation methods using Microsoft suite. During the certification program, the Executive Director of the LLA, Surveyor Training of Trainer certificate recipients and key attendees from LLA LGSA Land Administration leadership and partner organization SDI. Specialist, LGSA COP, USAID Democracy, Rights and Governance Adviser, representatives of the Association of
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 9 Professional Land Surveyors of Liberia (APLSUL) and the LLA Chairman all gave remarks emphasising the importance of such training programs as there are no other current continuing education programs for Liberian Surveyors. In his remark, the Executive Director of the LLA, Mr. Stanley Toe remarked that, “the LLA applauds the efforts of USAID through the LGSA program for the support she has been giving to the Land Authority.” He recalled the long-standing support of USAID to the institutional development of land sector and training of Liberians in several land disciplines. He further noted that LGSA “has continued this capacity building that was initiated through USAID as we speak.” He further remarked that the LLA “appreciates the COP and the project’s support to our capacity building initiatives. In fact, last night, I received almost the final draft of our five-years capacity building plan under the World Bank project.” He continued to say that, “one of the key recommendations that is emanating from that particular training strategy that has been developed but still in the draft form is that LLA should endeavor as much as possible to sustain the programs that LGSA has started.”
2.1.2 DECENTRALIZATION OF THE LIBERIA LAND AUTHORITY The LLA county land offices are inadequately organized and resourced to implement and operate modern land governance systems. They do not have adequate human resources, equipment and facilities to deliver efficient land governance services. It is to be recalled that in the previous quarter LGSA conducted a series of field work activities in Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount and Bomi Counties. During their visits, the LGSA staff assessed the institutional situation of the LLA’s county land offices. They held discussions with various county land office staff and other county and city officials regarding options for consolidating the scattered county land functions. In addition, the LGSA staffers presented workflows and operating processes to county land officials in the four counties. The county land office officials were receptive of the idea of introducing the workflows and operating procedures to improve their service delivery in the future. In the reporting quarter, following on the previous efforts, LGSA provided evidence-based advisory support to the LLA senior management with respect to the county land offices functions, the equipment and skills needed to operate and maintain the county land offices and options for linking the functions of the national office and the county land administration offices. Moreover, following up on LGSA’s interaction with the county land offices in Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Bomi and Grand Bassa Counties, as indicated in more detail in section 2.3.1. below, LGSA assisted land officials in these counties to reach out to the public using community radio stations to explain the LLA’s functions including the services that they are mandated to deliver to their customers and the public at large.
2.2 FINALIZE A METHODOLOGY FOR RECOGNITION OF CUSTOMARY LAND RIGHTS AND IMPLEMENT THE METHODOLOGY IN PILOT COMMUNITIES In the reporting quarter, LGSA completed the process of community self-identification, development of community by-laws, establishment of Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs) and community boundary data collection in the first seven pilot communities (Fissebu Town, Valvalah and Palama in Lofa County, Kpatawee and Kporyorquelleh in Bong County, and Dubuzon and Gayea in Nimba County). Building on these experiences and lessons learned LGSA began work in seven new communities in Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties. All these experiences informed LGSA’s draft Methodology for the Recognition of Customary Land, which supports the GOL, CSO and community efforts to statutorily recognize customary lands.
2.2.1 DEVELOP, FIELD TEST, AND REVISE PROCESSES FOR CUSTOMARY LAND RIGHTS IMPLEMENTATION LGSA finalized the community boundary maps for its seven pilot communities in Bong, Nimba and Lofa with support from SDI, Parley, Tetra Tech home office GIS support and a local GIS consultant.
10 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) Where there remains conflicts around boundary points, LGSA informed the LLA and requested that they intervene where appropriate. As part of customary land formalization in the project communities, each community went through participatory mapping exercises involving a range of stakeholders so that the community clearly identifies their land claim areas. As part of this process, the community sketched a map identifying the confines of their communities, pinpointing common boundaries with neighbors, living quarters, farm land, forest areas, grazing land, and disputed land areas (or hot spots). These features are of primary importance in determining how community boundaries are identified and harmonized, and are used as a basis for the data points then collected along the boundaries. During the reporting quarter, all three pilot communities in Lofa, i.e. Fissebu, Vavalah and Palama were supported by the project to successfully identify their common boundaries and “hotspots,”1 select a committee to harmonize these boundaries, and agree on rules of engagement with neighboring communities. Consequently, the Fissebu community fully harmonized, demarcated and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) on all identified boundary points. The MOUs, which describe the boundary points and markers, are signed by and between two communities sharing common boundary points. LGSA, with support from SDI, facilitated a trip by members of the LLA senior management to Fissebu, Lofa County to verify the work that the Fissebu community has undertaken towards the recognition of their customary land rights. LGSA, LLA officials, and Fissebu community leaders and members meet to LGSA COP, SDI Program Manger, discuss Fisssebu’s progress towards the recognition of their customary the Paramount Chief, the CLDMC tenure. Chairperson and other representatives of the community presented to the LLA Chairman and other LLA senior management an overview of the processes for community self-identification, development of by-laws, establishment of CLDMC and boundary harmonization that occurred in accordance with the provisions of the LRA. After considerable interactive discussions and presentations of supporting documents to the LLA senior management, the LLA expressed full satisfaction that the processes for the recognition of Fissebu’s customary land rights were completed in accordance with the law. The LLA officials promised to grant formal recognition of Fissebu community’s customary land claims after the MOU signed between Fissebu and neighboring communities is probated. LGSA continues to work with the LLA, SDI and the Fissebu community towards the formal recognition of the customary land rights of the Fissebu community. Vavala and Palama communities successfully harmonized 70 and 60% of their boundary points respectively. Vavala identified and harmonized most of its boundary points, signing MOUs with four neighboring communities. Vavala shares a long stretch of common boundary with the Republic of Guinea; therefore, Vavala has successfully harmonized about 70% of its boundaries. However, there are still outstanding boundary disagreements between Vavala and neighboring towns in Gizima and Palama Districts in Lofa County. To facilitate the resolution of the historical boundary disputes between Vavalah and its neighbors, espeically the on-going contentious boundary harmonization
1 Contested boundary points that the community sees as difficult to harmonize
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 11 issue between Vavalah and Gbarlin Clans, LGSA together with LLA senior management, visited Vavalah community. During the discussions with the Vavalah community, the community leadership called upon the Land Authority to swiftly intervene to facilitate the resolution of the boundary issue. The Chairman of the LLA acknowledged that the LLA is mindful of the boundary dispute and will exert all efforts LLA Chairman facilitates resolution of boundary disagreements in Vavala working with the communities to community have the problem resolved. LGSA’s COP and SDI’s Program Manger continue to facilitate discussions between the LLA Chairman and the community leadership towards resolving the outstanding boundary issues. Palama was able to harmonize only a few identified boundary points. The remaining boundary points are contested, especially the points between Palama and Gbarlin. However, while Palama struggled to harmonize some of her boundaries, the community has one international boundary with Guinea and another boundary line with Bong County. These boundary lines have a natural demarcation, the Lofa River, which is accepted by the community as the common boundary. Therefore, about 60% of Palama boundaries have been harmonized. LGSA informed the LLA and requested that they intervene to facilitate the amicable resolution of the boundary disagremments between Palama and its neighbors. The LLA has expressed willingness to attend to this matter. The boundary mapping in the LGSA communities were completed for LGSA’s pilot communities in Bong and Nimba Counties. However, each of the four communities in both counties have experienced a boundary harmonization issue that has proved intractable despite Parley’s harmonization and mediation efforts. The magnitude of these issues is relatively limited when compared to the overall agreement reached along other areas of their shared boundaries, but the
Paramount Chief Hon. Lorpu N. Kollie of Bong County addressing community representatives. She urged them to take the activities very seriously as they were making history for their community being part of these especially important processes that would lead to the community obtaining a deed for their customary land. She called on them to give in their full participation.
12 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) cross boundary communities in these particular ‘hotspots' have requested the intervention of the LLA to adjudicate or facilitate a resolution within the context of the LLA Confirmatory Survey. The boundary issue between Kpatawee community in Bong County and its neighboring Mehnquelleh community comes with a longstanding history. The Meihn River is the recognized traditional boundary between Kpatawee and Mehnquelleh. However, there is a long standing Kpatawee settlement on the Mehnquelleh side of the river. Mehnequelleh asserts that the land be returned to them, but Kpatawee settlements assert a firm claim to the area. Clan Chiefs, as well as the communities, are in disagreement over how to resolve this issue. LGSA’s three pilot communities in Nimba also have also experienced outstanding boundary disagreements with their adjacent communities. The Dubuzon community and neighboring Old Yorpea community have persistently failed to agree on their bounday. Dubuzon and Yorpea claim to have donated land for a communal farm between the communities in the 1970s and this area was subsequently abandoned. However, both communities now claim the area in relation to boundary harmonization. The Gayea community has also experienced an unresolved bounday disagreement with the Gblor Clan. Gblor expresses grievance related to the Gblor Community Forest boundary shared with Gayea and refuses to participate in any further boundary harmonization activities. Likewise, Kporyaquelleh community was unable to harmonize its boundary with the Zota community. The Meihn River is the recognized traditional boundary between Kporyaquelleh and Zota; however, Kporyaquelleh community members have planted live crops across the river on Zota land. Kporyaquelleh agreed to recognize the Meihn River, provided that Zota agrees to recognize their tenure/use of areas they planted. This proposal is favored by Clan Chiefs and Paramount Chiefs of both Kporyaquelleh and Zota, but Zota community members have rejected the proposal. In each of these situations, the communities have stated that they would like the LLA to attend to these matters and facilitate to resolve them through Confirmatory Survey. The path to a resolution to these final issues is likely to be rather complex and dependent on the resources that can be available to the LLA to engage with the communities over several weeks to facilitate the resolution of the boundary disagreements or adjudicate the communities’ concerns and document them through the confirmatory survey. The LLA senior management members have been informed about these outstanding boundary disagreements and expressed willingness to facilitate their resolution. LGSA worked on the customary land recognition process in five of the seven identified new communities in Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties. LGSA’s approach is to directly work with the identified communities to increase awareness of their rights under the LRA, including the process for self-identification and community land governance. Specifically, the objectives of the pilot activities in the second set of seven pilots are to: 1) provide community-wide education to strengthen social mechanisms for the protection of customary land rights; 2) strengthen equitable community involvement in customary land governance through community mobilization and public education efforts; 3) demonstrate the possibility of more independent and active community participation in the implementation of the LRA; and 4) prevent decline in tenure security and social friction that can potentially arise from improper validation of Tribal Certificates and to lay the Female group leader presents the community women's sketch map in Borkeza, Zaima Clan, Lofa County. As she presented the map, other community members foundation for community- listened with keen attention. driven formal recognition of customary land rights in the target communities. To achieve these objectives, in the reporting quarter, LGSA Communications and Outreach Specialist, along with LGSA Community Mobilizers, supported two communities in Bong County
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 13 (Gwilapolu and Kpaiquellie communities) and three communities in Lofa County (Via Wulu, Wonegizi and Vasawul communities) to complete step 1 of the planned pilot work towards recognition and protection of customary land rights. The completed work includes community self- identification, producing community profiling and sketch mapping, signing of community self- identification MOUs and formation of an Interim Coordinating Committee (ICC). Simultaneously, the Communications and Outreach Specialist interacted with local officials and community leaders, including District Commissioners, Paramount Chiefs, Clan Chiefs and several town chiefs in Bong and Nimba Counties with the objective of building their awareness on the provisions of the LRA that are relevant to customary land rights. The discussions with these officials and leaders enabled LGSA to obtain their buy-in and support for the activities. LGSA staff provided education and awareness on the LRA to community members and leaders in five communities in Bong and Lofa Counties with emphasis on the basic principles and protection of cusomary land rights, boundary harmonization and private deeded land in the customary land, concessions and tribal certificates. The Communication and Outreach Specialist worked with LGSA Community Mobilizers to complete the conduct of elections for the ICC in the second set of pilot communities in Bong and Lofa Counties. The Community Mobilizers travelled to all the clusters in the communities to ensure that the elections were conducted in a free and fair manner. In all communities, they were able to ensure that the community members voted freely. In total, 39 ICCs have been formed with a membership of six persons in each ICC – two men, two women and two youth. Of the 39 committees, 18 ICCs have been formed in the communities in Bong County and the remaining 21 are in pilot communities in Lofa. LGSA’s plan to provide training to the ICC members on their roles and responsibilities is put on hold due to the COVID-19 situation and restrictions on gathering. Work in the two Nimba County communities is on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions on travel and meeting size. LGSA is ready to LGSA Communications and Outreach Specialist Richlue Burphy and recommence work in all Community Mobilizer Gayflor Wolubah preparing the community for the communities if permitted before the self-identification process. end of the project next quarter.
2.2.2 CONDUCT CAPACITY BUILDING OF COMMUNITIES, LOCAL INSTITUTIONS, AND STAKEHOLDERS LGSA collaborated with the Tenure Facility funded Protecting Community Collective Customary Land (P3CL) project to organize a National Learning and Experience Sharing Workshop that was to be held in late March 2020. The purpose of the event was to bring together stakeholders from the government, civil society, donors and implementers, to discuss the lessons that have been learned to-date in the implementation of the LRA. Tools, templates, training materials and guidance on community self-identification, community governance, and boundary harmonization was to be shared amongst implementers. Due to COVID-19 the event has been postponed. At this point, it is uncertain if the activity will be able to occur in the remaining months of LGSA. LGSA’s Methodology for the Recognition of Customary Land however has been continuously updated and will be shared with stakeholders in the next quarter.
2.2.3 DEVELOP PHASED AND COSTED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN No new work was completed this quarter towards updating the initial estimation of the direct and indirect costs for implementing the draft customary land recognition methodology. The original
14 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) estimation incorporates lessons learned from LGSA partners and other CSOs working on customary land tenure issues in Liberia and calculates the average costs incurred by government, local communities, and supporting civil society from the start of the rights recognition process to the issuance of the community deed. A final estimation for the cost on implementing LGSA’s approach for the recognition of customary tenure will be completed next quarter.
2.3. STRENGTHEN CIVIL SOCIETY. PRIVATE SECTOR, AND CITIZEN ENGAGMENT IN LAND GOVERNANCE
2.3.1 DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS LGSA has been striving to build public awareness by targeting the marginalized segments of the Liberian society, including the landless and other vulnerable segments of communities who have had no or limited information on how to register land, their right to access land and how to claim ownership of land. Moreover, as much as possible, LGSA has been working to build public awareness about the fundamental land tenure changes introduced by virtue of the LRA. LGSA continued to inform the public regarding the land governance system and their land rights and obligations. In spite of budgetary challenges, using effective tools, LGSA was able to reach out to members of various communities, expedite its activities and deliver important services to target communities. COMMUNITY RADIO OUTREACH ON LAND ADMINISTRATION SERVICES AND THE LRA. LGSA continued implementation of its public information campaigns through eight community radio stations located in the following eight counties: Grand Bassa, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Margibi. The public information activities focused on building community-level awareness regarding the LRA and land administration services that are provided by the LLA. These activities benefitted from LGSA’s training and mentorship provided to the radio stations over the years and the close working relationship that LGSA established with the LLA county land offices. In accordance with the design of the outreach programs, the community radio stations visited communities to conduct proper community entry and conducted the awareness building activities after obtaining acceptance from the target communities. Based on the activities conducted in the communities, the radio stations produced a one-hour weekly program that aired on the radio. The objectives of the radio outreach campaign were to: • Increase public awareness on the details of the LRA, land administration services provided by the LLA and women’s land rights; • Provide information to local leaders and residents on their rights, responsibilities and roles of communities in the implementation of the LRA; • Build their understanding of the land administration issues in their counties and the services the LLA provides through its local county offices; and • Reinforce the existing relationship with local media institutions and empower them to disseminate land governance-related information into the public sphere. The stations did not use only their own expertise and resources from the stations. They were also supported by LGSA to partner with local land administration actors in the counties to use expert opinions in disseminating information. Moreover, during the reporting quarter, LGSA’s Communications and Outreach Specialist continued working with the radio stations to continuously review and adjust work plans for the outreach activities as were deemed appropriate. The land actors that participated in the outreach activities included County Land Administrators, County Land Surveyors, Registrars and Land Dispute Officers. In partnership with the radio stations,
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 15 these county officials created awareness about the functions of their offices in the counties. Notably, they informed their audience about the services they render and how these services can be accessed. For example, the registrar in Grand Bassa informed the target listeners about land registration services that is provided by her office and what processes people need to complete to register their deeds. She noted that a deed that is not registered is incomplete and not legal. She further underscored that for any person to make legal claims to a parcel of land, the land must be surveyed, probated, and registered. She encouraged everyone with private land claims to endeavor to go through the required processes and get a proper deed for their land. In Gbarpolu, the County Land Administrator informed the community radio listeners about the functions of the Liberia Land Authority branch office in Gbarpolu. He provided general information about the LLA’s purpose of establishment and ongoing efforts to implement the LRA. He informed the audience that the LLA has developed a plan to work with all land-owning communities to ensure that they obtain deeds for their customary land. He also informed the audience about the services provided by the county land office. He assured listeners that his office is open to the public and that they can freely visit his office to get more information on the services that the LLA provides. All the county land officials that participated in the outreach programs were appreciative of the opportunity to reach their constituents to share information on the work they are doing in the counties. Due to lack of resources, they disclosed that they are unable to reach out to the communities they serve and therefore welcomed the initiative and expressed hope for additional opportunities in the future. During the reporting quarter, out of the eight community radio stations, five radio stations completed their outreach program, in accordance with their agreement with LGSA. The five radio stations that have completed their radio outreach activities are: 1) Radio Light, Grand Bassa County; 2) Hope FM, Margibi County; 3) Radio Saclepea, Nimba County, 4) Voice of Gbarpolu; Gbarpolu County; and 5) Radio Totota, Bong County. The remaining three community radio stations are still implementing outreach programs. These community radio stations are: 1) Radio Kintoma, Lofa County; 2) Radio Bomi; Bomi County; and 3) Radio Piso, Grand Cape Mount County. While these stations have successfully accomplished the major parts of their tasks, they have been in discussions with LGSA on how creatively and effectively they can complete the whole program in the context of the difficult situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. LGSA expects to complete these activities in the next quarter. The objectives of the outreach program conducted by these community radio stations have been achieved. LGSA’s evaluation and feedback received from the target communities indicate that the communities have been provided with key information about their rights and obligations with respect to their customary land as well as the services provided by the LLA. Moreover, the outreach activities contributed to further enhance the LLA’s and USAID/LGSA’s visibility in Liberia and to facilitate communications between the LLA and different communities in different counties.
2.3.2 DEVELOP AND MANAGE GUC SUPPORTING CIVIL SOCIETY AND PRIVATE SECTOR LGSA did not award or manage any Grants Under Contract (GUC) during this quarter.
2.3.3 SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGMENT IN LAND GOVERNACE LGSA’s COP continued providing advisory support and mentoring to key representatives of the of CSOs engaged in the land sector. The support and mentoring related to key issues regarding the implementation of the LRA, protection of customary land rights and CSO engagement in development of laws and regulations pertaining to land. Aside from capacity building, the objective of the advisory support and mentoring has been to encourage and facilitate a partnership between the LLA and CSOs in implementing the LRA, as well as to encourage appropriate participation of the CSO in land governance matters.
16 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) As indicated earlier in section 2.1.1, during the reporting quarter, LGSA facilitated and supported adequate participation of CSO engagement in the development of secondary legislation pertaining to Tribal Certificates.
2.3.4 STRENGTHEN PRIVATE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF LAND PROFESSIONALS LGSA continued its efforts for the establishment of professional land organizations. In Quarter 2 of Year 5, the focus of LGSA’s efforts in this regard was on strengthening the capacity and role of professional associations engaged in the land sector. LAND REPORTERS NETWORK – LIBERIA. LGSA has all along been engaging the local media in Liberia, with focus on media coverage of the land sector. LGSA’s involvement with the media has ranged from media training to mentorship and other forms of technical support. As a result, there have been significant improvements in the media coverage and reportage of land issues in Liberia. In the previous quarter, LGSA took an initiative to support the establishment of a new professional media and advocacy group named the Land Reporters Network – Liberia (LARNET-L), consisting of twelve journalists from rural areas of three counties: Bong, Lofa and Nimba. In the reporting quarter, LGSA supported LARNET-L to complete its legal registration with the GOL to enable the Network to operate as a legal entity. Through LGSA’s support, LARNET-L has been certified by the Liberia Business Registry, become operational, begun recruiting members into the Network and started to create awareness on land and natural resources management issues via their community radio stations and other platforms. The Network has reported that they now have members in Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Bassa and Grand Gedeh Counties. If COVID-19 restrictions permit, the Network is planning to host their first annual convention at the end of April 2020 in Ganta City (this may be delayed until later months). The convention will bring together all their members to develop a five-year plan for the Network. LARNET-L is structuring itself and setting up its offices. They have established two offices at Radio Totota in Bong and Radio Saclepea in Nimba and are planning to have a Montserrado office for coordination and operations. LARNET-L members are expected to support both local, national and international institutions and government partners with outreach and media activities in the land sector. These activities will range from community entry and engagements to awareness and sensitization programs. The Network aims to collaboratively work with other media associations including the Press Union of Liberia. SUPPORT TO THE MULTI-ACTOR PARTNERSHIP (MAP)/ LAND FOR LIFE INITIATIVE. The MAP/ Land for Life Initiative was launched by the Rights and Rice Foundation with the support of Welthungerhilfe on February 11, 2018. The initiative brings together CSOs and policy makers on land, including government entities, academia, and the private sector. Its aim is to foster multi-actor dialogue, increase information sharing, and strengthening synergies between programs and activities to address key land governance challenges. During the quarter, LGSA provided support to the MAP/Land for Life Project in several ways. LGSA’s COP provided advisory support in relation to MAP’s activities and LGSA’s Communications and Outreach Specialist participated in program meetings held at the LGSA office with the LLA and CSOs involved with the MAP/Land for Life project. The main purpose of the meetings was to adopt criteria for setting up of a steering committee to provide strategic direction for the implementation of the MAP project. The project set up four thematic groups: 1) Dissemination of LRA; 2) Women and Youth Land Rights; 3) Responsible Agricultural Investment; and 4) Protection of Customary Land Rights. LGSA’s Communications and Outreach Specialist was nominated on two of the four groups: Dissemination of Land Rights Act and Women and Youth Land Rights. Since his nomination, he has attended several meetings of the two groups and provided technical support to their activities.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 17 ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS OF LIBERIA (APLSUL). As discussed in section 2.1.1, LGSA continued working with APLSUL regarding the certification of private licensed surveyors who participated in the two-month TOT provided by LGSA. The APLSUL members who successfully completed the TOT and received certification are expected to train other members of the Association. LGSA continues to believe that APLSUL can and should play a key role in regulating the survey profession and addressing ethical concerns related to land surveyors in Liberia. However, to effectively play its role, APLSUL needs to build its organizational capacity and address ethical and capacity issues relating to its members.
2.4 GENDER ACTIVITIES As a cross-cutting issue, almost all LGSA activities involve gender mainstreaming considerations. The following are specific gender related activities that LGSA conducted in Quarter 2 of Year 5. SUPPORT TO THE LLA GENDER UNIT. LGSA’s Gender and Land Specialist continued providing technical assistance to the staff of the LLA Gender Unit in building their capacity and finalizing the Gender Integration Strategy. Capacity Building. During the quarter, LGSA’s Gender and Land Specialist continued providing technical assistance in relation to capacity building of the LLA Gender Unit. The capacity building assistance was provided at different levels. Firstly, the Gender and Land Specialist targeted two additional new staff who have been assigned in the Gender Unit of the LLA. The two new staff were brought onboard with little gender mainstreaming capacity. Consequently, the Gender and Land Specialist worked with the LLA Gender Advisor to provide orientation and training to the new staff so that they can effectively support the gender mainstreaming effort. The new staff were oriented to the Gender Unit responsibilities and given basic gender awareness training including the definition of the basic gender mainstreaming concepts and how to apply these concepts to achieve equality in matters relating to land. They were also provided with relevant documents to read and use as reference materials. In relation to the other staff of the Gender Unit, the Gender and Land Specialist focused on providing practical training that followed a combination of close coaching and ‘learning-by-doing’ approach. Accordingly, the Gender and Land Specialist continued to mentor the LLA Gender Unit staff to improve their gender mainstreaming skills. Notably, she worked with the LLA Gender Officer to develop a concept paper for proposed training that was funded by other development partners. She also supported the Gender Officer to develop a training outline and Power Point presentation on gender and women’s land rights. This training was delivered by the LLA Gender Officer to actors in customary land holding communities from Bong, Nimba and Lofa Counties. Further, the Gender and Land Specialist supported the team to review project documents from a gender perspective and made recommendations for gender inclusiveness. The Gender and Land Specialist also supported the Gender Unit in reviewing their quarterly workplan. In so doing, she provided technical advice for a more detailed planning. She also supported the team to identify other relevant activities to be included in the quarterly workplan. As a result of this practical coaching and training the Gender Unit staff are much more proactive in their work and have started gaining respect and recognition within the LLA and the land sector. LLA programs and projects now reflect gender perspectives, which will contribute to increased protection of women’s land rights. FINALIZED THE LLA GENDER INTEGRATION STRATEGY. During the reporting quarter, the Gender and Land Specialist continued working with the LLA Gender Unit staff to finalize the first draft Gender Integration Strategy for the LLA. The Gender Integration Strategy aims to enhance gender mainstreaming at the LLA. Considering a technical review of the Gender Integration Strategy and recommendations made in collaboration with Landesa, and considering the
18 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) national context, the Gender and Land Specialist provided technical assistance to the LLA to finalize the document. Subsequently, the Gender and Land Specialist helped the LLA Gender Unit to use the Gender Integration Strategy to develop an intervention matrix along with expected outcomes that would enhance an easy roll out of the Strategy within the LLA and the land sector in general. SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS TASKFORCES IN LGSA’S THREE PILOT COUNTIES. As a result of increasing reports of violations and challenges regarding women’s ownership of land, the need for collaborative efforts to fight inequalities was strongly recommended by participants of the Gender and Women’s Land Rights Training of Trainers that LGSA provided for land actors from Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties in the previous quarter. This recommendation was in line with the national Women’s Land Rights Task Force’s (WLRTF’s) sustainability plan for decentralized efforts and LGSA’s workplan to support the establishment of WLRTFs in LGSA’s three pilot counties where LGSA has been piloting customary land rights recognition processes. Accordingly, LGSA partnered with the LLA and the national WLRTF to mobilize stakeholders and establish local coalitions of women’s land rights advocates in Bong and Nimba Counties. To support the mobilization of women’s land rights advocates and establish the taskforces in Bong, Nimba and Lofa Counties, LGSA’s Gender and Land Specialist led a team comprising of members of the national WLRTF and LLA to visit the three counties and work with women’s land rights advocates. The Gender and Land Specialist and her partners from the WLRTF and the LLA started their work by providing support towards establishing a local WLRTF in Nimba County. At the onset, the team conducted mobilization activities and conducted a one-day meeting with stakeholders involved in the land sector. In the meeting, the Gender and Land Specialist provided an introductory gender and women’s land rights awareness building program to the stakeholders to sensitize them on the importance of promoting and advancing women’s land rights. Following the awareness building program, a presentation was delivered by the team to provide an overview of the national WLRTF and some of the its key achievements and the challenges it has faced. Subsequently, the land actors attending the meeting were assisted by the team to organize themselves to form their own coalition to promote and protect women’s land rights in the county. The team that was led by the Gender and Land Specialist was able to assist the new coalition to develop their by-laws and elect the leadership of the Nimba WLRTF. It was agreed that the coalition will operate as an auxiliary of the national WLRTF. Moreover, the Gender and Land Specialist and her team supported the newly formed Nimba WLRTF to develop its leadership structures and establish criteria for each position. Based on the established criteria, the Nimba County Taskforce was able to elect the leadership of the Taskforce. A total of 15 persons including representatives of government agencies, civil society and community-based organizations, women and youth groups and members of the media participated in the meeting. At the end of the meeting, assorted stationeries were provided to the group to facilitate their initial meetings. After working in Nimba County, the team led by the Gender and Land Specialist proceeded to Bong County to facilitate dialogue on women’s land rights issues and to support the formation of a coalition that aims to promote and advocate for women’s land rights in the county. The dialogue provided opportunity to the participants of the working session to share their personal and work experiences in relation to women’s land rights violations and overall challenges that they face in advancing women’s land rights. The representative of the national WLRTF also shared the Taskforce’s achievements and challenges that the national coalition has faced. The representative of national Taskforce underscored the need to decentralize efforts in the interest of contextualizing local responses. At the end of the dialogue, the participants of the meeting agreed to establish a local coalition to advance women’ land rights. Subsequently, through the facilitation of the Gender and Land Specialist and her team, the Bong County WLRTF was formed. Although the participants of the dialogue were
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 19 able to design the leadership structure of the Bong WLRTF and agreed on the roles and responsibilities of each position, they agreed to defer the election of the leadership as some key land rights actors were absent from the meeting due to restrictions that were imposed as a result of the COVID-19 situation. The developments with COVID-19 also affected LGSA’s plan to form a local WLRTF in Lofa County. Due to safety concerns resulting from the pandemic, the LGSA Gender and Land Specialist and her partners from the LLA and the national WLRTF could not proceed to Lofa as per the original plan. Therefore, LGSA and the stakeholders agreed to indefinitely postpone the dialogue for establishing a local coalition in Lofa that advocates for women’s land rights.
2.5 SUPPORT TO AUTHORIZED FOREST COMMUNITIES LGSA, in partnership with Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI), completed providing support to sixteen Authorized Forest Communities, in Kparblee District, Nimba County. LGSA’s initiative assisted sixteen affected Authorized Forest Communities in Nimba County, and their respective Community Forest Management Body (CFMB), Executive Committee (EC) and Community Assembly (CA) membership, by providing training, information and legal advice with respect to negotiating Commercial Use Contracts or Social Agreements (SAs), entering into agreements with timber companies where community development projects are clearly identified and implementation is time bound, or enforcing legal rights associated with contract or agreement monitoring. During the reporting period, LGSA and FCI implemented the final phase of LGSA’s activities with respect to supporting forest communities in Kparblee District, Nimba County. LGSA and FCI’s final work with the forest communities focused on building community awareness with respect to the management and use of their forest resources. The awareness activities involved mentoring of a cultural group, town hall meetings, radio talk shows and recording and airing of a drama. MENTORING OF A CULTURAL GROUP. LGSA, through FCI, provided mentoring to the Zaba group in Yourpea Old Town to orientate them on community forest issues. Old Yourpea cultural and Zaba group, headed by Daniel Totaye, comprises of five members that are singers, dancers, and drummers. The mentoring session was important to help the cultural group convey accurate and useful messages. The topics presented during the mentoring meeting were: • The Community Rights Law of 2009 and its Regulation of 2017 (what is it, why is it important, and why communities should follow the law); • The governance structures of a community forest (CA, EC, CFMB) and their roles and responsibilities; • The roles and responsibilities of the community in the management of their community forest; • The role of FDA in the management of community forest. TOWN HALL MEETINGS. During the reporting quarter, FCI held four town hall meetings within the sixteen communities in Kparblee, Yourpea Old Town, Kaylay and Zodru. The meetings brought together 121 men and 55 women in total. During the meetings, the importance of the Community Rights Law of 2009 and its Regulation of 2017 were presented to the participants as part of the awareness activities. The community forest governance structures, the role of the FDA, and the roles and responsibilities of communities in managing community forests were also presented. COMMUNITY DRIVEN PUBLIC AWARENESS ACTIVITIES. During the quarter, the project team held four community driven public awareness events in four central locations of the sixteen affected communities within the Kparblee Authorized Community Forest. The locations that the awareness building events took place were: Old Yourpea, Kaylay, Kparblee and Zodru. The
20 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) awareness events brought together community members from within these communities and nearby to listen to messages that were conveyed by community members who participated in the series of trainings that were provided by the project. The messages were translated in the two major vernaculars spoken by the people in Kparblee District. During the awareness building meetings, LGSA, through FCI, distributed communication materials such as stickers, brochures and T-shirts to the participants of the meetings.
DRAMA RECORDING AND AIRING. During the reporting quarter, LGSA, through FCI, produced scripts for ten episodes of a drama for airing on two radio stations in Nimba. The messages used on radio and during the drama implementation at community level focused on the Community Rights Law and its regulations, the powers and responsibility of the FDA, community rights and responsibilities, Community forest awareness drama implemented in Dubuzon, Nimba women’s participation in community County. forestry, Community Assembly, Executive Committee, Community Forest Management Body and community forest management agreement. COORDINATION MEETINGS. During the quarter, LGSA COP and MEL Specialist continued to hold regular coordination meetings with FCI. The coordination meetings continued to be useful in terms of supporting the implementation of the pilot project in Kparblee, as well as ensuring effective project management and appropriate monitoring of progress and challenges. In the reporting quarter, the regular meetings focused on the implementation of public awareness related tasks and the proper completion of LGSA’s support to the Kparblee forest communities. COMPLETION OF PILOT SUPPORT ACTIVITY AND EXIT REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION. In view of the completion of LGSA’s pilot support to authorized forest communities in Nimba, an exit review of the project implementation was conducted. The review focused on the following key areas of interest: 1) gender responsiveness; 2) youth involvement; 3) training; 4) community outreach and awareness activities, 5) community satisfaction of the LGSA activity implementation; and 6) immediate outcomes of the activity.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 21 Gender Responsiveness. In line with the design of the pilot project, throughout the implementation process, LGSA placed due emphasis on gender responsive activities. During the exit review, LGSA spoke with women who attended the trainings provided by FCI to assess their participation and understanding of forest community issues. Most of the interviewees were able to clearly explain some of the basic rights of the community and women Women express their satisfaction on LGSA’s community forest activity with respect to community forests. in Kparblee District, Nimba County They pointed out that most of them got more understanding of the Community Rights Law and contractual negotiation through the dramas that were performed in their communities. Moreover, they explained that forest issues are not just for men alone, but women also have the right to fully participate in all community forest activities. They noted that they were not aware of their rights before, but now they won’t let men make any decisions regarding the forest in their absence. Mrs. Lucia Bantu, a member of the Community Assembly expressed her appreciation to USAID for promoting women’s rights and equipping them with essential knowledge to stand along their male counterparts to manage their forest resources. Youth Involvement. Inclusive youth involvement in the implementation of the support to authorized forest communities was a main concern of LGSA. LGSA’s exit interviews with the youth in Kparblee District revealed that the youth were fully involved in all activities and the youth and women championed the public awareness and drama activities conducted during the implementation of the activity. Both male and female youth explained that they were satisfied with the implementation of the LGSA initiative in Kparblee and would like to see USAID implement more of these kinds of activities in the future with inclusive youth involvement. Lawrence A George, district youth leader, explained that such an activity will curtail youth dissatisfaction. He further said that nothing is now hidden from the youth and hope the elders will continue along this line. Training Effectiveness. FCI, under the supervision of LGSA, conducted the following four sets of training: 1) Contract and Social Agreement training; 2) refresher training on Contract and Social Agreements; 3) community forest rights training; and 4) training on monitoring of contracts. During the exit review, community members, including members of the CFMBs, CAs and the ECs, confirmed that all these trainings were satisfactorily conducted and they were satisfied with the knowledge that they were able to acquire about their rights and responsibilities as well as how to improve the management of their forest resources. Alphonso Dufu, Executive Committee Chairman, noted that the trainings and awareness activities have given them strength to challenge bad forest governance and have also given them the knowledge on how to renegotiate forest agreements with concession companies. He stated that positive actions have been taken because of the knowledge gained from the training and awareness activities. Community Outreach and Awareness Activities. Members of the authorized forest communities explained that the use of awareness activities, including drama-based sensitization or training, proved to be LGSA’s MEL Specialist conducts an exit review in Kparblee District, Nimba County
22 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) one of the most effective way of communicating essential messages and knowledge matters that affect the rural communities. The Town Chief of Yorpea New town, Nelson Paye said that the use of community awareness helps to ensure the participation of everyone in the community, especially with the usage of the local dialect. He stressed that the conduct of the awareness activities was well- coordinated and attracted the participation of most of the community dwellers. Dorothy Jeah, who is the treasurer of the CFMB, said that women, including those who do not have a formal education or are not proficient in English, were deeply involved in the awareness activities. She said songs and drama performances were conducted both in Krahn and Gio which made everyone to clearly understand what the activity was all about. She further said that she “got deeper understanding of what the project activity was all about through the awareness activities.” Many other community members including those who did not attend the trainings are now able to explain what the pilot activity was all about. Community Satisfaction on the Pilot Support Activity. Of the sixteen target forest communities, LGSA’s MEL Specialist conducted an exit review of project implementation in eight communities (Kparblee, Dewoblee 1, Dewoblee 2, Kaylay, Dubuzon, Bewarley, Yorpea New Town and Yorpea Old Town). He spoke with members of CAs, ECs and CFMBs as well as town chiefs, elders, youth, women and other community members on their perception about the LGSA activity and what they gained from it. All of the interviewees characterized the implementation of the project with full satisfaction. The interviews conducted with different segments of the communities disclosed that the community members perceive that they have immensely gained from the trainings and awareness building activities.
2.6 MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING During the quarter under review, considerable activities were conducted in relation to MEL. The main MEL activities included: data verification; technical review of partners’ reports, review of LGSA MEL Plan, exit monitoring of LGSA community forest support in Kparblee, Data Quality Assessment (DQA), and retention survey. FINAL REVIEW OF LGSA MEL PLAN. In consultation with the COP, and as per USAID request, LGSA’s MEL Specialist incorporated a new indicator in LGSA’s MEL Plan (indicator EG.10.4- 7: Number of adults with legally recognized and documented tenure rights to land or marine areas, as a result of USG assistance). All required updates of data PIRS was completed. DATA VERIFICATION. In the reporting quarter, LGSA’s MEL Specialist reviewed data from FCI, SDI and Parley. The review was conducted both at LGSA and partner offices. Data that needed validation from the source of data collection was also validated in consultation with the partners. All data was verified, validated and approved for reporting. DATA QUALITY ASSESMENT (DQA). It is to be recalled that the Liberia Strategic Analysis (LSA) project and USAID recommended that LGSA should consider outsourcing data collection for retention surveys to independent enumerators in order to reduce potential biases associated with the indicator data, and should develop a robust survey protocol to guide the collection of retention data. LSA recommended that LGSA consider transitioning to smartphone/tablet based electronic data collection and submission approach for survey related indicators. During the reporting quarter, LGSA conducted its DQA activities in accordance with the recommendations of LSA and USAID. LGSA outsourced data collection for retention survey to independent enumerators, PERT Consultancy Inc. (PERT), that utilized a smartphone/tablet based electronic data collection system. Accordingly, PERT conducted a knowledge retention survey with participants who received training from LGSA. The seven trainings covered in the survey featured topics related to land registration, surveying, conflict resolution, land allocation, land use planning, land legislation, land management, resettlement, restitution, and new technologies. LGSA’s MEL Specialist guided the collection of the
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 23 retention data by the independent enumerators in accordance with LGSA’s survey protocol. LGSA’s MEL Specialist and the COP reviewed the report submitted by PERT and provided their feedback to the enumerators. Subsequently, PERT delivered a presentation to LGSA and LSA on the retention survey data and findings. Both LGSA and LSA provided feedback to PERT for their consideration in the final report. The final report was again reviewed, and it was observed that the feedback was considered in the final report. LGSA’s MEL Specialist participated in (and facilitated) a field visit by LSA to verify data and to ascertain whether data tools were updated in Lofa County. Verification interviews and discussions were conducted by LSA around trainings on the following topics: boundary harmonization; dispute resolution; LRA; and women’s land rights. In Fissebu community, Lofa County, the team held a meeting with eleven CLDMC members and other community leaders. The LSA team and LGSA MEL Specialist also visited Bong to hold a meeting with the Kpatawee CLMDC leadership. In the meeting, held in Raymond’s Town community, the team held discussions with sixteen members of the community leadership. In both communities the discussions were positive and fruitful.
24 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) ANNEX A: LGSA INDICATORS AND TARGETS2
# Type of Indicator DQA Reporting Data Source and Baseline Y1-Y4 Y5 Y5 Q1 Y5 Q2 Achieved Life of Indicator Date Frequency Collection Method Actuals Target Actuals Actuals to Date Activity Target 1 LTPR 10.4-1: Number of specific pieces of Y5/Q2 Annually LGSA implementing legislation or implementing regulations partners; copies of proposed, adopted, and/or proposed, adopted 0 12 1 0 0 12 12 implemented affecting property rights or implemented of the urban and rural poor as a result pieces of legislation of USG assistance or regulations 2 Custom 1.3: Number of people trained in land Y5/Q2 Quarterly Completed tenure and property rights issues participants 0 3,434 1,200 377 0 3,811 3,850 attendance forms 3 LTPR 10.4-2: Proportion of individuals Y5/Q2 Bi-annually Completed trained who can correctly identify key participant 80% 80% 81% 80% learning objectives 30 days later as a attendance forms and 0 (160/ (960/ N/A (187/ 83% (3080/ result of USG assistance3 follow-up survey, 200) 1200) 230) 3850) disaggregated by gender 4 Custom 2.3: Number of individuals who Y5/Q2 Annually Individuals receiving received specialized geomatics certificate in education (certificate in surveying surveying technology 0 N/A 0 0 20 20 21 technology) with confirmation from the training institute 5 Custom 3.1: Proportion of adults in pilot areas Y5/Q2 Bi-annually LGSA survey data 20% over who report that their land tenure 40.1% N/A 15% N/A N/A N/A baseline rights are secure
2 In the revised MELP, several indicators were removed; however, LGSA wants to maintain the indicator numbers to ensure there is no confusion when looking at data throughout the life of the project.
3 Percent of people trained who can correctly identify key learning objectives 30 days later as a result of USG assistance. 80% of participants trained is the target of each year and also LOA target. A simple survey would be conducted 30 days later after the training is completed. This indicator requires percent, but numbers has been added for clarity.
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 25 # Type of Indicator DQA Reporting Data Source and Baseline Y1-Y4 Y5 Y5 Q1 Y5 Q2 Achieved Life of Indicator Date Frequency Collection Method Actuals Target Actuals Actuals to Date Activity Target 6 LTPR 10.4.5: Number of parcels with Y5/Q2 Annually Collected from land relevant parcel information corrected agencies database or newly incorporated into an official quarterly. Household land administration system as a result members or of USG assistance organizations report 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 to LLA with clear evidence of formalized land rights in hard copies or electronic forms 7 LTPR 10.4-6: Number of people with secure Y5/Q2 Annually Reports collected tenure rights to land, with legally from land agencies. 129 recognized documentation and who LGSA Annual survey 20% over M-85 0 +20% 0 0 0 perceive their rights to land are secure baseline F-44 as a result of USG assistance4
8 Custom 3.5: Percentage of community Y5/Q2 Quarterly Reports from LGSA governance entities implementing rules technical staff, and 86% 100% 50% 50% 86% 0% 0% for the inclusion of women, youth and bylaws submitted (6/7) (7/7) (7/14) (7/14) (12/14) strangers 9 LTPR EG.10.4-7: Number of adults with Y5/Q2 Annually legally recognized and documented Reports collected from land agencies. tenure rights to land or marine areas, 0 0 7,206 0 0 7,206 7,206 as a result of USG assistance. Population data from LISGIS
10 Custom 4.1: Number of gender responsive Y5/Q2 Quarterly Copies of outreach outreach materials on land tenure and materials report and property rights distributed through receipts from printing 0 65 6 2 4 71 66 USG assistance press and distribution lists collected
4 Indicator 3.3 contributes to a USAID Standard Indicator (FACTS 4.5.1-25 or EG.10.4-6)
26 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) # Type of Indicator DQA Reporting Data Source and Baseline Y1-Y4 Y5 Y5 Q1 Y5 Q2 Achieved Life of Indicator Date Frequency Collection Method Actuals Target Actuals Actuals to Date Activity Target 11 Custom 4.2: Number of gender responsive Y5/Q2 Quarterly Reports including public outreach activities on land summary of each tenure and property rights held with activity, with receipts, 0 463 102 16 15 494 474 USG assistance where appropriate, and distribution information collected 12 Custom 4.3: Number of new or existing Y5/Q2 Quarterly LGSA technical staff professional organizations of surveyors and implementing and other land related professions partners submit 0 8 1 1 2 11 9 supported reports including support provided 13 Custom 4.4: Number of marginalized people Y5/Q2 Quarterly Reports from LTPR who have accessed land tenure and implementing property rights services or have gained organizations or basic knowledge from land tenure and LLA/LCC showing M-241 M:2429 property rights implementing partners the marginalized 150 428 10,000 F-5081 F: 6407 14,586 16,000 or land governance institutions with groups who have T-5322 T: 8836 support from USG accessed services or basic knowledge of LTPR services 14 Custom 5.1: Number of community members Y5/Q2 Quarterly Participants trained in legal issues, management of attendance lists are community forestry and monitoring of completed at all 0 171 160 162 0 333 320 forest concession agreements training events, verified and by the LGSA MEL specialist 15 Custom 5.2: Number of outreach/awareness Y5/Q2 Quarterly Participants list, activities conducted, or public pictures or meetings held in natural resources audio/video or audio management through UGS assistance recordings of the 0 N/A 20 0 21 21 20 awareness, outreach or meetings held for NRM activities
LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 27 # Type of Indicator DQA Reporting Data Source and Baseline Y1-Y4 Y5 Y5 Q1 Y5 Q2 Achieved Life of Indicator Date Frequency Collection Method Actuals Target Actuals Actuals to Date Activity Target 16 Custom 5.3: Number of quarterly monitoring Y5/Q2 Quarterly Participants list, meetings held to discuss or review pictures/video or concession agreements for negotiation audio recording, 0 4 4 3 1 8 8 or renegotiation. agenda of the meeting and report
28 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) ANNEX B: SUCCESS STORIES
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PHOTO CREDIT: RICHLEU BURPHY, TETRAPHOTOBURPHY, TECH CREDIT: RICHLEU
U.S. Agency for International Development 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20523 Tel: (202) 712-0000 Fax: (202) 216-3524 LAND GOVERNANCE SUPPORTwww.usaid.gov ACTIVITY FY20 QUARTER 2 REPORT (JANUARY - MARCH 2020) 33