Sudan: National Workshop - Towards a National Land Commission Act

27 – 28 February 2007

Introduction

As part of the FAO Sudan Land Programme’s ongoing support to the establishment and functioning of the National Land Commission of Sudan, a national workshop was carried out last 27-28 February 2007 in Khartoum, to discuss the establishment of a National Land Commission. The FAO Sudan Land Programme is technically implemented by FAO Land Tenure and Management Unit in the context of TCE Emergency and rehabilitation program.

The establishment of a National Land Commission (NLC) is provided for as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim National Constitution (INC). Efforts to draft a law to establish the NLC date back to mid 2005 when the Joint National Transition Team (JNTT) decided to set up a Commission Preparatory Team (CPT) for a number of commissions including the NLC to turn the CPA and INC frameworks into practical plans for the creation of the commissions and their operationalisation.

In September 2006, the National Constitutional Review Committee (NCRC) strengthened its efforts to support the process of NLC law preparation. Contacts between the NCRC and FAO were established through the Co-Chair, and resulted in a decision to jointly organise a high level workshop, with FAO technical support.

The objectives of the workshop were threefold:

• Expose the participants to the FAO assessment of the land question in Sudan, its reflection on possible ways forward for the NLC, and the presentation of different experiences on Land Commissions in other parts of the world, mainly on the African continent;
• Gather views on the form and principles guiding the NLC from a wide variety of stakeholders;
• Build consensus for a single draft legislation that enables the creation of an effective NLC.
The workshop was attended by over 100 highly knowledgeable people from a variety of national and regional-level institutions, civil society and universities. Discussions on drafts and concepts notes were organized around specific themes of immediate relevance to the establishment of the NLC, such as its functions, responsibilities, structure, membership, relationship with other institutions, and internal regulation.

Workshop Recommendations

The workshop discussions resulted in a set of recommendations, endorsed in a plenary session by all the participants. Amongst the main recommendations, we have chosen to highlight the following (a full report is under preparation):

1. The NCRC should proceed deliberately with the preparation of a further draft of the Act consulting broadly with stakeholders and coordinating with State governments developing their own land commission acts.
2. The Act should make it clear that “land” includes all the land based natural resources and that the National Land Commission should advise and propose policies on the management of land, coordination of different land uses, and economically, socially and environmentally sustainable land use;
3. The Act should clarify that the relationships between the NLC and Regional and State Land Commissions as well as any other State-level institutions dealing with land on the basis of the CPA and the Interim National Constitution.
4. The Act should provide for a broadly representative and independent NLC including both official and civil-society members;
5. The Act should ensure that the NLC has a strong technical secretariat, special task committees and a specialized arbitration capacity, all appointed after due consultation with the Presidency;
6. The Act should provide for the NLC to monitor and periodically issue public reports on progress by governments on achieving compliance with the principles on land in the CPA and the Constitution

Following the workshop, the NCRC formed a specialised Land Sub-Committee to deliberate on the workshop draft legislation and submit it to wider consultation before passage in the National Assembly. The FAO intends to further support this process.