Khartoum, 15 June 2017— UN-Habitat ’s office in Khartoum  in collaboration with GLTN regional office for Arab states and in partnership with UNDP Sudan Country office, recently organized a four-day training workshop to provide hands-on training on relevant tools and techniques, through participatory planning and enumeration, to ensure returns and reintegration processes are sustainable.

Some 35 participants representing project stakeholders from the Ministries of Physical Planning and Public Utilities  (MPPPUs), along with participants from Federal Ministry of Environment, HAC (Humanitarian Aid commission), UNDP, and UN-Habitat  participated in the learning exercise   and exchanged their inputs with regards to the unique context of Darfur, to tailor the tools of GLTN and capacitate concerned government institutions in planning and managing land-use in the Darfur region, through research and hands-on support.

Within the overall objective and context of Darfur Development Strategy (DDS), the Project “Strengthening Land Management for Peaceful Co-Existence in Darfur intends to address the issue of land in Darfur, which constitutes a considerable challenge to the Darfur peace initiatives and paves the way for sustainable recovery and reconstruction.   Sketch mapping is one of the most critical components of this Project,   it aims to “address Land Concerns at return sites” by demarcation of 50 returnee villages boundaries, sketch mapping including future expansion as well as a buffer  zone around the village, following traditional practice.

STDM tool, one of the GLTN tools that provide a standard for representing ‘people – land’ relationships independent of the level of formality, legality and technical accuracy, was introduced to capacitate and enlighten all project stakeholders on the importance and technical know-how to exploit, In order to bridge the jab in the conventional land administration systems, and to cater for customary and informal tenure context in Darfur.

During the interactive group work sessions of learning STDM, the participants shared their perceptions on land management challenges in Darfur, reflections on customizing STDM to Darfur context, and way forward to implement enumeration in field. Issues such as land tenure types, ownership of data, management and update, conflict resolution mechanism, and integration of official and informal system of land tenure in Darfur was discussed and reflected to consolidate the workflow of enumeration in the five states.

The event was highly ranked and evaluated by participants, furthermore, the technical support by GLTN team will continue all through advanced training on STDM and enumeration techniques and process, to enable stakeholders to effectively apply these tools.