USAID Tajikistan Land Reform and Farm Restructuring Project Year 3 Quarterly Report

The project focuses on three key areas: development of the land policy and legislative framework, building capacity of government officials, farmers, and civil society organizations, and raising awareness of the target population on land rights. LRFRP works with legal aid centers, tashabuskors, and local farmers to enhance their awareness of land-related rights through technical training, legal assistance, and public outreach efforts. The project's objectives include strengthening land use rights, establishing conditions for land use rights market building, and enhancing awareness of land reform and its impact on farmers. LRFRP also aims to increase the number of farmers and rural citizens who exercise their rights related to farm restructuring, marketing of land-use rights, and freedom to farm. Additionally, the project seeks to increase women's awareness of their land use rights and achieve equitable access to land. During the reporting period of October to December 2015, the project team accomplished several key achievements. The Regulation on Establishing Public (Involuntary) Easement was approved by the Government of Tajikistan on December 30, 2015. LRFRP conducted a seminar and presented the Registration System Implementation Strategy for Establishing Immovable Property Registration System (Road Map) for SUERIP regional offices on October 7, 2015. The project also hosted monthly inter-governmental Working Group meetings to discuss and promote land reform policies. In addition, LRFRP conducted meetings with legal aid centers to discuss results of the Year 2 and Year 3 Work Plan on October 14, 2015. The project conducted quarterly meetings with 25 legal aid center representatives and 67 tashabuskors on November 19-20, 2015, during which the ToT Inheritance of Land Use rights was discussed. Tashabuskors and legal aid centers conducted 519 focus group discussions, 167 round tables, 128 trainings, 21 seminars for local officials, and provided 5,235 legal consultations to farmers in the first quarter of Year 3. The project also participated in monthly FTF Partners Meetings on October 9, 2015, and November 13, 2015, and discussed environmental mitigation requirements, a new mobile health project, the FTF 2015 results summary, and ways to scale up projects. LRFRP met with the Helvetas Access to Justice Project on November 12, 2015, to share experience in implementing the Legal Aid Concept in Tajikistan. The project developed brochures on Inheritance Land Use Rights and distributed them among partners and beneficiaries in November 2015. Furthermore, the project facilitated a study tour to the Kyrgyz Republic for High Level officials from December 6-9, 2015, to increase the capacity of government officials to implement best practices in registration of immovable property, allocation of agricultural land with different organizational forms, and registration of land transactions. The project also signed a cooperation agreement with SUERIP to establish a Model Registration Office in the Bokhtar district on December 17, 2015.