GLTN Partners’ Meetings

Held every two years, the GLTN Partner’s Meeting provides an opportunity for a Network-wide engagement to review the work done, realign priorities and forge a way forward for partners’ engagement in the delivery of the GLTN agenda. Since its formation, GLTN organized seven Partners’ Meetings.

The first Partners’ meeting was held in November 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden and it was jointly organized by UN-Habitat and SIDA. It focused on the Why, What and How of the establishment and functionalities of Network, including the institutional and financial implications.

The second Partners’ meeting was held in March 2006, in Norway and was jointly organized by UN-Habitat, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norad, the Norwegian Mapping Authority and SIDA. The discussions revolved around the identification of concrete mechanisms to support on-going GLTN initiatives and the priority pro-poor land tools to be developed. With these two meetings as a foundation, in June 2006, GLTN as a Network was finally launched at the World Urban Forum III in Vancouver.

The third Partners’ meeting took place 4-6 November 2009, in Nairobi, Kenya and was attended by 60 participants. The main objective of the meeting was to strengthen the partnership arrangements to improve synergy and interactions towards advancing the GLTN agenda, core values and objectives and deciding concrete contribution for its success. The theme of the meeting was “Enriching Partnership and Increasing Activities for Land Reform”. The following key achievements were highlighted by Partners after the meeting: (1) Partners perceive themselves as “owners” of the Network; (2) Creation of a significant momentum around shared achievements; (3) Getting to know the partners; networking opportunities; (4) Learn from mid-term assessment; (5) Participation of grassroots; (6) Working in cross-cluster groups; and (7) Better understanding of what GLTN is all about.

The fourth Partners’ meeting took place in November 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting’s theme was “Strengthening Partnerships: Sustaining the paradigm shift towards designing, developing and implementing pro-poor land tools and approaches”. The following objectives were achieved: (1) To share GLTN’s achievements, challenges and lessons learnt in the past four years and to contribute to its future direction; (2) To share and identify partners’ key priorities and programmes related to the achievement of the GLTN agenda to improve synergies and interactions; (3) To strengthen working relationships and collaboration between and among partners within their own sectors / clusters and across other clusters to address emerging global challenges in the land sector; (4) To decide on representations to the International Advisory Board (IAB) and to improve the current arrangements and feedback mechanisms; (5) To review GLTN’s experience in partnership and networking and to provide strategic recommendations and directions to further strengthen the network; and (6) To better understand the available land tools and training packages for mainstreaming, adoption and possible piloting and roll out.

The fifth Partners’ Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, Netherlands, in November 2013. The meeting was attended by over 130 participants from partner organisations and observers. The theme of the meeting was “Working together at country level: Implementing land tools through partnership” and the specific objectives were: (1) Strengthening partnerships and networking at global, regional and national levels; (2) Promoting and rolling out tool development and implementation, capacity development and good learning practices at country level and in programmes; and (3) Expanding country level operations in a coordinated and strategic fashion.

The sixth Partners’ Meeting was held in November 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. The focus was on strengthening partnership and collaboration within the Network and increasing visibility of land and tenure security in the development processes related to Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. The specific objectives were: (1) Review of the GLTN tools development processes by Partners and Clusters and explore how joint development and implementation could be expanded; (2) Review how GLTN Partners were delivering at country level and how joint delivery could be enhanced; (3) Increase the visibility of land and tenure security issues and of the GLTN agenda in relevant global development processes and agree on a strategy for engagement; (4) Improve collaboration and coordination between Clusters and Partners for improved delivery, report achievements of the last two years and make plans for the upcoming biennium under the lead of the newly elected IAB members; and (5) Take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the GLTN Phase 2 programme.

The seventh Partners’ Meeting was held 24-26 April 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya. The main theme was: “Together, moving tenure security for all to the next level”. The specific objectives were: (1) Reflect on the key achievements of the GLTN partnership in addressing land tenure: successes, lessons learnt and challenges; (2) Explore the opportunities for strengthening collaborative efforts to address emerging land tenure issues within the global agenda; (3) Connect, learn and be inspired by each other; and (4) Engage the partnership in new directions with the 2018-2030 strategy, 2018-2024 programme and associated governance framework.
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The eight Partners Meeting was held 1-4 December 2020 on an online platform due to travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main theme of the meeting was “Tenure Security as a key element of COVID-19 response and impact mitigation” and the meeting focussed on the strategic decisions and policy directions of the Network, discussions on the implementation of the GLTN programme in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening partnership and collaboration within the Network. The specific objectves were (1) To provide an opportunity to share and discuss experiences, trends and tools related to land tenure security; (2) To reflect on the implementation of the GLTN Phase 3 strategy, cluster priorities and work plan in the context of COVID-19; and, (3) To fulfil the requirements of the Partners’ Charter regarding the election of cluster leads and the GLTN Steering Committee.
Read more on the 8th GLTN Partners’ Meeting

The ninth Partners Meeting was held 2-4 May 2023 in a hybrid format that saw in-person as well as online participation. The main theme of the meeting was “Securing land tenure for all in a rapidly changing world.” The Meeting focussed on the lessons learnt from Phase 3 and reflected on the way forward towards Phase 4 of the GLTN programme. Specific objectives of the meeting were (1) Report on achievements, challenges and lessons learnt from GLTN Phase 3 (2019-2023); (2) Reflect on the way forward towards Phase 4 (2024-2027); (3) Elect Clusters’ representatives; (4) Hold thematic discussion on highlighted tools, topics and geographical focus areas (to be proposed by partners); and (5) Hear the voice of partners in partners-led sessions.
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