| |
New
offices at the National University of Timor-Leste now house the
Land Law Program (LLP), a USAID-supported activity of Associates
for Rural Development, Inc. The program is helping university
students and faculty and government officials develop the rigorous
research and policy-drafting skills needed to address land rights
issues in Timor-Leste.
Though an innovative arrangement, the LLP office
rent went towards renovating an existing building at the university.
At the end of the program, the facility will become the university's
land research center. . "This building was originally a computer
center.It was destroyed in 1999, and now is transformed to meet
the changing needs of our new nation," said Dr. Faustino
Cardosa Gomes, director of the Centro Nacional De Investigacao
Cientifica (National Research Center) at the univerisity. |
|
|
|
Dr. Gomes attended this
month's ribbon-cutting ceremony, toured the facility, and reviewed
some of LLP's recent research.
Investigations by the LLP address a range of core land rights
issues, including property rights, land tenure security, and long-term
use and ownership rights of immovable property. Findings from
the research already support the government in drafting new land
tenure policy and legislation.
The LLP's objectives also include capacity building for the government's
Land and Property Unit, where experts are teaching land tenure
research methodology and land law policy and drafting skills.
The team is also developing a technical, four-language glossary
of land and property terminology that will accompany all draft
versions of legislation. Timor-Leste's official and working languages
are Portuguese, Tetum, English, and Indonesian.
The LLP's direct beneficiaries include its team's counterparts
at the university and in the government. Indirectly the program
will benefit the whole population of Timor-Leste as its research
empowers the government to resolve land disputes in a transparent
and equitable manner. Economic stability and growth depend on
effective administration of clear and transparent land laws. The
work of the LLP in support of Timor-Leste's government furthers
a range of USAID's objectives, including strengthening democracy,
improving governance, and building a sound basis for the rule
of law.

Printer Friendly Version
|
|
|