PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE LAND GOVERNANCE – NES Kosovo:
Promoting inclusive and sustainable land and forest management through multi-stakeholder dialogue
Securing land rights is the key to end poverty and build peaceful and just societies. However, land governance is complex and deeply rooted in unequal power relations. To those working to secure land rights, it is clear that this cannot be addressed in isolation. That is why the International Land Coalition (ILC) has been building and strengthening partnerships based on trust to solve land governance challenges. National Engagement Strategies – “NES” – are multi-stakeholder platforms led by national actors that simplify and unpack land governance complexities, using ILC’s 10 commitments to people-centred land governance as their compass, while promoting the Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure (VGGT).
Based on collaboration and evidence-based policy dialogue, NES platforms set priorities and design legitimate solutions to the most challenging land‑related issues in a country. NES platforms include ILC members and non-members and aim at bridging the gap between national and local government, international agencies, and civil society, providing a space to share knowledge and complement each other to improve land governance.
NES Kosovo is interested in exploring together how NAPFO Kosovo can engage in this partnership between civil society and government to complement and link our efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by securing land rights.
Major land governance challenges in Kosovo
Since the end of the conflict with Serbia in 1999, Kosovo has greatly progressed towards building democratic institutions and strengthening its legal system and policy frameworks. However, considerable challenges in governance remain, such as unclear property rights, weak institutional capacity and law enforcement, and unequal rights for women.
Agriculture is a key sector for the country’s economy, although a significant share of the product is still consumed at the farm level. Land fragmentation, lack of financial investments and informal employment are among the main constraints to its development.
Forestry constitutes another important resource for the country. Despite the development of long-term management plans and the Forestry Policy and Strategy 2010 – 2020[1], sustainable management of forests is hampered by illegal cutting, poor law enforcement, unclear ownership and complex bureaucracy, together with lack of awareness and low stakeholder engagement.
Regarding gender equality, existing land legislation ensures equal rights to women and men. However, conservative societal values and customary norms still result in women representing a minority among property owners and often waiving their land rights in favor of their male relatives. Gender gaps also remain in access to economic opportunities and training and capacity building programs.
The overarching objective of NES Kosovo is to develop partnerships among stakeholders in the land and forestry sector, to facilitate civil society involvement in the formulation of forest policy, to promote participatory forest management and to strengthen women’s rights to land.
The priorities for NES Kosovo until 2021 are to:
- Promote dialogue and participatory decision-making through the involvement in the NES of representatives of national and local governments, development partners, civil society and private sector;
- Raise the attention of policy-makers on the necessity to improve management policies of state forests and National Parks for forest communities and to simplify bureaucratic procedures for private forest owners;
- Support the implementation of current Forestry Policy and Strategy to achieve inclusive and participatory forest management at the local level;
- Improve women awareness of their land rights and strengthen the role of women and youth in non-timber forest product value-chains.
ILC Members involved: National Association of Private Forest Owners (NAPFO); Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Connecting Natural Values & People Foundation (CNVP).
Other actors involved: Department of Forestry and National Forestry Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP), Municipalities, Faculty of Forestry Sciences.