Quarterly Report: Promoting Land Ownership Certification in Kayogoro and Kibago Districts, Burundi

The project is a continuation of ZOA's successful experience in land registration-certification in other districts of Makamba province. The Burundian government has set up a land policy to stop land conflicts, which jeopardize public security and tranquility. The land law of 2011 substituted the former inadequate law and contained gaps. The project targets landowners of 49 villages in Kayogoro and Kibago districts, the districts themselves, and 49 village recognition committees. The project's main objective is to increase awareness of targeted populations on land rights and local land conflict resolution mechanisms. However, during the reporting period, no sensitization activities were conducted, and no people were trained on mediation processes or attended information sessions on local land conflict resolution mechanisms. The project is still in its preparatory phase, and administrative procedures and human resources recruitment are ongoing. Discussions, preparation, and signing of contracts with partners have been completed, as well as the organization and execution of a workshop with communal councils members to decide on the creation of the SFC. The communal land registration human resources recruitment procedure has been implemented, and training of communal land registration staff and new Miparec staff members has been conducted. The district of Kayogoro has appointed an old house as the office for the SFC, and ZOA has requested co-funding from the Netherlands donor to partially rebuild it. The PIRS and M&E plan documents have been updated, and data collection tools have been updated, including the door-to-door sensitization data collection tool. Gender inclusion was taken into account during the recruitment of SFC staff and those of Miparec. A workshop of members of the Kibago and Kayogoro communal councils took place, and the members decided to authorize the communal administration body to put in the yearly general budget the necessary amount of money needed for payment of the two communal land agents. The initiation of the recruitment process began in February, and 24 candidates were trained on the following topics. The project's progress towards targets is slow due to the preparatory phase, which will end in May 2019. The project's indicators have not yet been achieved, and no estimation has been done about the indicators. The project's challenges include the lack of funding and the donor's policy prohibiting some activities oriented in a kind of funding governmental institutions. The project's implementation is ongoing, and the district of Kayogoro has appointed an old house as the office for the SFC. ZOA has requested co-funding from the Netherlands donor to partially rebuild it. The PIRS and M&E plan documents have been updated, and data collection tools have been updated. The project's sustainability mechanisms include the establishment of communal land services, and the communal councils have decided to authorize the communal administration body to put in the yearly general budget the necessary amount of money needed for payment of the two communal land agents.