SPARC-supported research and expertise informs high-level regional conference on land and conflict in Africa

On invitation from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), SPARC joined forces with IGAD, the International Development Law Organisation and the International Land Coalition to co-organise the High-Level Regional Conference on Land and Conflict in the East and Horn of Africa, held in Kampala, Uganda last year (24 - 28 October, 2022). The conference culminated in the definition of IGAD’s new 10-year Transformative Agenda on Land, Climate Change and Conflict in the IGAD region, based on the high-level ministerial communiqué that emerged from the conference (see the official communiqué here).

Alongside dedicated input to the overall planning of the conference (including its co-organisation and provision of technical input to the content preparation), SPARC co-designed, structured and led two technical panels for the conference: the first on strengthening women’s land rights through civic and grassroots organising; and the second on promising informal/formal collaboration to reduce inter-community conflict. In addition to this, SPARC’s technical expert on Land and Conflict, Fiona Fintan, formally represented SPARC at the conference and led a panel on land use planning as a tool for conflict transformation, supported by SPARC partner the International Livestock Research Institute on behalf of the One CGIAR Initiative ‘Livestock System and Climate Resilience’. Finally, SPARC supported the attendance and active involvement of its research partners from eastern and western Africa to share knowledge and experience with the conference’s wider land and conflict community of practice.

SPARC’s engagement generated significant interest in strengthening the role of research to take forward IGAD’s new 10-year strategy. A first meeting on SPARC/IGAD collaboration is anticipated to take place in March 2023.

For further information, contact Fiona Flintan ([email protected])