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.