Background
Original work plan in .pdf-format
1. BACKGROUND - AFRICA TASK FORCE 2009-14 OUTCOMES:
Under the FIG term 2009-14 the ATF was asked to deliver a clear direction
for African members Associations to actively increase their presence in FIG,
and raise the profile of both African land professionals as well as the
wider FIG land community on the international stage.
The FIG Africa Task Force was asked and did successfully deliver its
mandate. It was established to address the challenges that sub-
Saharan African FIG Member Associations face in addressing their capacity
issues specifically emphasised the importance of good land governance and
the role of the African Surveying Profession in contributing to meeting the
key challenges of poverty alleviation, economic growth, and environmental
sustainability.
The ATF achieved this mandate, guided through participatory workshops the
African Land Professional community considered, presented new and creative
tools to revitalise and strengthen members and their organisations within
Sub Saharan Africa. The focus has been be on building the capacity of
the surveying organisations and individual surveyors to act as agents of
positive change and encourage the process of development and growth for the
benefit of Africa and its people. Importantly, for a task force, there
was unprecedented engagement over 4 years, it involved a significant number
of professionals drawn from across the continent, with over 140 attendees
from 12 Member Associations, in addition to Academic and Corporate Members-
the outreach was wide both across the continent and also at four FIG annual
working weeks roundtables, two FIG Congress’ and Key pan-African
communication platforms (including AU).
Driven by this significant momentum a strong African network has been
created and traction for more to be done has begun to take hold, notably,
the participants have increasingly become more engaged within the FIG
community, and taken on key roles of leadership.
The next step is this for land professional’s African regional network to
actually engage with the key drivers and challenges that the continent faces
with land governance institutions, and it is proposed a further platform is
required to support them to achieve this in the African region. Importantly,
such a regional network may be adopted by other regions. Supported by an
appropriate business case agreed to be agreed at FIG Council, the
overarching mandate of each region will be “to develop workshops to build
the capacity of land professionals to enable them to effectively embrace
current global trends in their respective region”
2. PROPOSAL
Due to the success, it is considered that this approach could be rolled
out across the Regions, if additional funding could be secured. Given
the previous 4 year lead in time, the African region will lead this new
initiative, building upon the clear direction emerging from the ATF
(2009-14) and from these deliberations it is proposed to continue the
philosophical and methodological approach of the Africa Task Force in the
wider sense as the Regional Capacity development Network, and led by the
Region. Such a further 4 year term platform has the following
advantages:
- The concept can readily be seen as a template and adopted by Land
professional’s groupings in other World Regions.
- It becomes an identifiable entity in the minds of public and civic
institutions and can more clearly be engaged
- It will deliver a high profile activity that contributes to the FIG
corporate brand by maintaining meaningful links into strategic donor
partner’s work activities and their associated international
African Regional mandates
- It should aim to continue and increase the presence and involvement
of the Young Surveyors, drawing upon the Young Surveyors Network as key
partners
The next four years is the period for consolidating what has been
achieved, and for the partner member associations to take on the
responsibility to continue, and to engage with regional and international
organisations. It is a critical step to build upon the originating mandate
that land professionals must act as change agents and to engage at high
levels.
Ultimately, the Task Force activity should be seen as a capacity
development process, the intention was to build capacity, and indeed this
has occurred as outlined (see ATF publication #63), and has resolved a
consensual view and clearly articulated recommendations providing a focused
way forward for the ATF Vision 2030, that,
By 2030 Africa land professionals will provide global thought leadership
and promote professional leadership qualities amongst its members and within
their Associations.
The co- leadership will be agreed a the FIG working week in Sofia,
Bulgaria by way of nominations, the chair is to maintain development of the
program over the term, in partnership with three separate champions (for
each theme).
It is therefore recommended that the work of Task Force continues as a
Network that enables capacity development for land professionals within the
Terms of Reference (TOR’s). In the following section 3 to 6,
these TORs broadly outline a focus, themes, a work program and outcomes that
will make a difference.
3. AFRICA REGIONAL FOCUS
ATF is a robust platform but one that needs to evolve. In short,
the Africa Task Force process of participatory capacity development has
enthused the workshop participants and enabled them to facilitate the
process of further empowering the surveying profession in Sub-Sahara Africa
to cope with their professional and social responsibilities, so much so the
momentum to continue the work is significant. It is important that
such momentum does not reinvent the wheel.
A clear direction emerged from the ATF and from these deliberations key
recommendations have been devised that could easily apply to any world
region. The focus in Africa is to continue the network and so mandated
to build members and their associations capacity to engage and interface at
all institutional political levels including the African Union oversight
level to grassroots community involvement.
The recommendations resolved that land professionals in Sub-Saharan Arica
should build upon the previous ATF to continue now to apply their collective
knowledge and build their capacity to address the emerging UN Post-2015
agenda that will supersede the current UN Millennium Development Goals that
are in place over the period (2000- 2015).
It is imperative that Land Professionals across the world remain engaged
in initiatives that will enable them to make a difference. Renewed
commitment to continuing this initiative is crucial. For the first
time, through the post 2015 development goals, targets specifically relating
to land and societal development will be drafted; thus providing an
excellent opportunity to optimise and continue the Task Force deliberations
in Africa encapsulated in the Vision.
4. THEMES
The ATF Roundtable held in KL June 2014, agreed that the next step should
be a platform that has a mainstreaming strategy to ensure that our strategic
stakeholder groups are fully involved. These include Young Professionals,
Franco-phone land professionals as well as the main cohort of Membership
Associations to ensure diversity in our audience. Such diversity will
provide a lead champion each year.
Drawing from and adopting the recommended approaches identified by the
Task Force members, (see ATF Publication #63) the network will work towards
gaining support in its outputs by actively Communicating to influence,
purposefully Collaborating, and in so doing building Connectivity to ensure
that skills are developed that will reach out to all stakeholder’s community
networks
The Network envisages a number of outreach events to be organised and
subsequent discussion at the FIG Regional/ Working Weeks. The events
include but are not necessarily limited to “giving a voice” to themes around
the Land professionals contributing to
Youth and Diversity in an equitable economy that will address the post
2015 MDGs (2015/16), Good Land Governance and alliance to FAO/VGGTs and AU
Guidelines (2016/17), Large Scale Land Based Investments OR other (2017/18).
Each themed event will be championed by three nominated co- eads, one for
each year, and it is proposed to open discussion with FIG key stakeholders,
specifically FGF and YSN who in turn will work with a Member Association/
Academic to deliver the proposed event. A network chair will ensure
continuity over the term, and be responsible to steer delivery, for the
overall coordination and available
Finally, all activity will link back to integrating cross-cutting themes
into the activities and projects at key stages of the term, and be monitored
and evaluated at the mid-term point.
5. PROPOSED WORK PROGRAMME
With this aim, the Network, during its first meeting at the FIG Working
Week (Sofia, Bulgaria) will agree on a working programme aiming to meet
eight times before submitting its recommendations.
- 2015 – Inaugural meeting, agree themes and leadership – Sofia.
- 2015 - Regional – Youth and Diversity in Land Professionals and MDGs
+2015 agenda
- 2016 – Open forum discussion – New Zealand.
- 2016 - Regional: Good land governance assessing the VGGTs
- 2017 – Open forum discussion – Finland.
- 2017 - Regional – tbc (possibly Large Scale Land Based Investments),
and
- 2017 – Regional discussion to pulling together.
- 2018 – Open Forum discussion and final agreement – Turkey.
- 2018 – Submission of report.
6. OUTCOME
In its final report the Network will present a new look at how
Professionals will continue to support Africa’s own efforts to meet the
challenges of today and tomorrow including the on the one hand recognition
of Africa’s diversity, and on the other working towards fulfilling the
Global challenges (+2015 MDG a VGGT’s).
The report will contain recommendations on how to promote ownership of
the emerging African network and if this process can articulate an approach
for other Regions to follow.
In drawing up its conclusions, the network force will build on linkages
with strategic allies across the continent including education and
professional networks, a continuous dialogue with high level African and
international experts and drawing upon the development of frameworks and
principles embodied in existing and new FIG declarations, codes of conduct
etc).
When the conclusions have been presented, they will contribute to the
framework for FIG development co-operation with Africa in the years to come.
Participants will be drawn from young surveyors network and the strong
existing network across Africa as listed in ATF previous publications (ATF
2009- 14 publication #63)
Above all, the Network will provide an adaptive template for land
professional’s regional groupings to pursue their own Regional agendas to
support Land professionals in their quest to become influential agents of
change.
7. COMPOSITION OF THE NETWORK
Chair: FIG Vice President Diane Dumashie
Members: to be decided
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