Challenges of effective state land management

1. Challenges of effective state land managementWilli ZimmermannLand Policies and Legal Empowerment of the PoorWorkshop November 2-3, 2006 World Bank, Washington DC

2. Challenges of effective state land management • The range of problems • Why should we bother • The challenge ahead • Learning from country cases: • Canada, Egypt and Cambodia • Towards a governance and accountability chain: building a framework around good practices • What could be done at international level • What could be done at national level

3. The story of public landis a mixed story about power relations, the ever changing relationship between the state and the citizens, bad experiences during periods of colonisation and nationalisation. In some countries we see positive trends during the last two decades in terms of restitution, acceptance of native claims, decentralisation and the new role of the state; in other places we face accelerated looting of state assets.

4. The Range of Problems • Political interference in allocation and acquisition of public land • Vested interest of powerful people lead to strong resistance for better governance and transparency (free good), land grabbing, illicit land swaps and eviction • Lack of policy orientation (Land Policy, Fiscal Policy, central level versus local governance) • Lack of information about where is what • Fragmented institutional arrangements (often on purpose) • The state does not protect its property assets • Central level interests over-ride local resource rights

5. There is a lack of awareness and policy orientation (fiscal policy, land policy) The state is failing in providing enabling infrastructure, information and services for managing state land The state is violating basic rights of the people Powerful people are looting state property assets In summary: Deficiencies in managing state land could be divided into four topics:

6. Just a few examples out of hundredsfor illustrating the reality: • Global survey on forced evictions on state land (cohre www.cohre.org) • Land grabbing in Kenya (Human right watch, report Kenya, www.hrw.org • Human right violation on state land Cambodia: UNHCR report 2004 • Mining concessions on state land violating state common property rights (ILC) • Illicit land swaps Indonesia and Cambodia • Central government allocations over-ride local common property rights (OXFAM) • Beneficiaries of land allocation are mainly politicians and a privileged minority (IIED)

7. Searching for good experiences • Only few countries did explicitly and comprehensively tackle the deficiencies of their public land management system • Little information is available on such reform processes compared to land registration supported by intern. donors • FAO, UN-Habitat, GTZ and some others are working on the subject but have not yet come up with conclusions • Good Governance in Public Property Management is work in progress; there is a long way to go

8. Searching for pattern and country clusters To understand the syndromes of weak governance in managing state land we have to understand the underlying problems and identify country clusters broad enough to preserve important communalities Cluster 1: New public management countries Cluster 2: Influence markets and elite cartels Cluster 3: Oligarchs and clans Cluster 4: Capture States Cluster 5: Conflict and post-conflict countries

10. Principles for selecting country cases • Look at different cluster situations • In different regions • In countries where some lessons can be learned from processes • Canada, cluster 1 , Americas • Egypt, cluster 3, North Africa • Cambodia, cluster 5, East-Asia

11. Case study Canada www.tbs.sct-gc.ca and Urban Institute Washington • Canada initiated a state reform program in the 90th with fundamental changes for public sector services and fiscal policy • Resulting in: “Treasury Board Public Property Management Framework”, guiding principles for result orientation, stewardship, values and citizen focus • The custodian concept is the heart, TB as center and networks with 87 custodians • A complete accountability chain is in place (legal framework, custodian portfolio, auditing, reporting, performance indicator

12. DFRP Federal and provincial public property data base: 26 000 properties of 87 custodians, 306 000 sqkm public property, 47 000 buildings

13. Highest functionality standards (Directory) • Easy access to information and knowledge • Custodians are accountable for the quality and adequacy of information • Publication of comprehensive audit guide for public property • Disposal of all surplus land by special purpose cooperation CLC • Good practice example in handling native claims (dialogue, legal base, transparency) • What core elements (not the model as such) that could be used in other countries?

14. Case study EgyptWB, Public Land Management Strategy, April 2006 • Population concentrates on 5 % of Egypt • Up to now: Sectoral development model • Accumulation of layers of legislation (40 y) • 45 laws and degrees often conflicting • Highly complex institutional landscape for managing public property (Zimam system) • System has no relevance for urban dev. • Prime Minister is guiding reform process • Three stage model: short, medium, long

15. Reform process for public property is part of the state reform (Urban dev., Investment) Development and discussion of three reform scenarios: • Retain existing institutional landscape and improve coordination and mandates • Reengineer and consolidate institutional system and establish a public land bank • Reengineer institutional system following a decentralized approach (Governorates) There is Internal and external policy dialogue Accompanying the process will provide lessons

16. Tackling the overall state land topic in a post-conflict/transition situation 80 % should be public property, but reality on the ground differs totally LMAP is supporting RGC in all aspects of the land sector. (Multi-donor program) Broad internal and external dialogue Enabling rules and regulations (policy papers, land law, 6 degrees, technical tools) State land matters come under the Land Policy Board and the provincial PLUAC Strong engagement and role of NGOs Case study Cambodia

17. Achievements: State land component is operational in building the regulatory framework (including recovery of state land), institutional setting, enabling technical tools and capacity building • But: In a cluster 5 situation laws are not enforced, there are impunity practices, rule of power continues, there is no disclosure of old concession contracts • Conclusion: Don’t give up but projects in cluster 4 and 5 situations dealing with state land require complementary diagnostic surveys beyond the project design, strategic support (conditionality, anti-corruption agency, judicial reform)

18. Land Swap Phnom Penh(value added model) • Fill water bodies, grab and fence adjacent land (through shadow land developer) • Make use of public infrastructure (financed by ADB and EU) • Swap and consolidate with central city public land (MJ, Court) • Sell the land to investor for some millions of $

19. Towards a framework for public land governance • Policy orientation and strategy • A regulatory framework, law enforcement • Expanding the tool box • Regularization process • Specialized anti-corruption agency • Land management rules for public property • Institutional landscape • Fiscal management, audit, annual performance indicators • Inventory and information system • The role of civil society and profess. Assoc

20. Policy and strategy considerations • Building awareness, driving forces? Fiscal reform, conditionality, public sector reform • Statement, that public property is held in trust for the people • Rules for transfer from central to local government and for disposal of surplus • Rules for allocation and acquisition • Principle for capitalization of public property, market value principle, auction • Classification of public property 1, 2, 3 • Defining the accountability principles • Defining the custodian concept

21. Regulatory framework • Defining public property and classifying public property • Conversion rules, acquisition, allocation • Resettlement regulation (fair and just) • Land exchange (land swap) regulation • Contracts (regulation for concessions and leasing like disclosure, public display, right to appeal), contract law compliance • Continuum of common property rights on state land, partial interest, bundle of rights • Mechanism for dispute resolution

22. Land acquisition Land allocation Land disposal, privatisation Land expropriation Land regularisation Land valuation for non-economic use of state land Land settlement Resettlement Land exchange (swap) Land licenses, leases Land concessions Land banking Recovery of state property Land use planning, zoning Co-management models between central and local government and between state and the commons State land inventory and LIS Dispute resolution and conflict prevention Expanding the operational tool box, depending on cluster specific situations

23. Regularization of public property is an important governance procedure: Why? • Existing cases of invasion • Informal settlements in rural and urban public land • Public land cannot be located • Appropriation of public right of way • Fuzzy boundaries and unclear bundle of rights in natural resource tenure • Partial interest or clarification of continuum • Concession areas on public land are not demarcated and are unclear

24. Good practices for Regularisation:South Africa, Trinidad Tobago, UN-Habitat, Cambodia, visual evidence; informal possession;illegal occupation ?? 1991 2002

25. Anti-corruption Agencies: Hongkong, Pakistan, Uganda, BotswanaBotswana DCECwww.gov.bw/government/dcec/ • Three pronged attack principle: Investigation, Prevention and Education • Annual reporting (published and www.) • 2001 report: abuse of Land Board procedures and allegations of corrupt state land allocations have been reported in press and received by DCEC. DCEC conducted a detailed study with a view to eliminate opportunities for corruption and make allocation processes fully transparent • Specific training for land boards • Convicting of two land board staff

26. Land management andpublic property • Clarification of different classification models • Public land and common property regimes State common property, clarification of resource rights, bundle of rights • Registration of partial interest • Co-management models for NRM (the concept of sharing power IUCN, IIED,,, • Participatory LUP, (FAO, GTZ, PLUP) • Common property regimes, case studies 2005 (FAO, IFAD, CAPRi, ILC

27. Good governance principles forpublic land concessions • Agricultural concessions Malaysia model and new regulations Cambodia • Forest concessions (FAO Forestry series 145 and 139 on law compliance and principles) • Extracting industries (mining) Transparency initiative, publish what you pay, finding common ground, mining and indigenous rights (IIED), resource revenue guide IMF) • Carbon sequestration schemes on pasture land and degraded forest, social forestry

28. Auditing guides: Good practices • Governance in the Public Sector: A Governing Body Perspective (www.ifac.org ) • Revised Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency, IMF 2005 • Real Property Information Audit Guide DFRP Canada

29. Good practices: Information systems and mappingEgypt: all state land on one map scaleCanada: Meta data map and identifier for small state parcels

30. Example of a land status map for strategic decision making (Australia)

31. Performance ReportingGood Practices • BLM 2005 Annual Report • http://www.blm.gov/ • The BLM’s Mission and Organizational Structure • Performance Goals and Results • Systems, Controls, and Legal Compliance • Discussion and Analysis of the Financial Statements • Financial Statements • Stewardship Assets and Lands • Natural Heritage Assets • Cultural Heritage Properties • Investment in Research and Development • BML Independent Auditors’ Report

32. What can be done at international level • Creating awareness : managing government property assets: the challenge of governance and accountability • Model diagnostic governance check • Cluster specific tailored advisory services for financial and technical cooperation (based on good practices • Knowledge management: updated statistical information and analysis on state property (global scale), knowledge network • Create network and modules for capacity building • More tailored research on topics like compendium of state property legislation, capitalisation of state property, partial interest registration • Integrate and discuss the state land issue in professional circles WB TF, UN-Habitat, UNDP, FIG, FIAC, local government associations

33. What could be done at national level: 10 points • Awareness and recognition in Governments • An explicit policy framework and commitment to this framework is developed: governance check • The regulatory framework is reviewed, analysed and eventually complemented or made coherent • Accountability chain and performance benchmarks • Transparent fiscal management procedures • The institutional stakeholder model (custodians) designed and approved (assess different options) • Government property asset board is set up to lead and integrate strategy • Inventory and regularisation of public land is regulated and initiated • Information system and knowledge network is established • Public property asset (and facility) management is recognised as a professional occupation