From Securing Tenure To Ensuring The Sustainable Use Of Land Within A Context Of Responsible Governance Of Land Tenure

Since the mid-1990s, Giz provides technical support related to land administration and management in different countries of the region: Georgia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serba, Montenegro, Kosovo and others. The paper shows how this support evolved over time and identifies good practices and success factors. Supporting South-Eastern European countries in the area of land administration and management over the last two decades, two objectives received most attention: increasing legal certainty regarding property rights and introducing EU and other international standards. In general, securing property right - hence setting up a functioning land administration, including a land registry as well as a surveying and mapping system - received primary attention from national governments as well as from donors. Regulating the use of land was secondary interest, but becomes increasingly a key issue.

The paper starts with an overview on typical challenges in the areas of land administration and management these countries were/are facing. It then outlines the focus of GIZ projects and how it evolved over time. At the core of the paper are success factors, derived from good practices and lessons learnt. To identify them, the following issues have been looked at in more detail: establishing the institutional setup, introduction of new procedures and technologies, capacity development, scaling-up, donor cooperation and the role of advisors.