The New Nation - Internet Edition

A Researchers’ Planning Workshop on 'Knowledge Generation and Policy Dialogue on Access to Land and other Natural Resources by the Rural poor in four Asian Countries' will be held at the CIRDAP Head quarters from 28-30 January 2008

As a follow-up activity of the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) declaration, the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) is going to implement a project titled 'Knowledge Generation and Policy Dialogue on Access to Land and Other Natural Resources by the rural poor in four Asian Countries'. The project which will be handled by the Research Division of CIRDAP, will be funded by the International Fund for Agriculture Research (IFAD).

The Researcher's Planning Workshop to initiate the project will be held on 28-30 January 2008. It will be a three days long meeting to finalize the outlines for country studies. Mr. Md. Mosleh Uddin, Secretary in Charge, Ministry of Land, Government of Bangladesh will be the Chief Guest at the Inaugural session. Dr. Durga P. Paudyal, Director General, CIRDAP and Dr. Nasreen Khundker, Director, Research, CIRDAP and Project Director will also address the Inaugural session.

The research project will be implemented in four important countries of the Asia-Pacific region, i.e. Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines. This project will be the first follow-up activity of the ICARRD declaration. The findings of the research will benefit policy makers throughout the Asia-Pacific region. International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD), held in Brazil in 2006, recalled the outcomes of the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD), held in 1979, and reaffirmed that wider, secure and sustainable access to land, water and other natural resources related to rural people's livelihoods, especially that of women, indigenous, marginalized and vulnerable groups, is essential to eradicate hunger and poverty. This principle was enshrined in the Peasant Charter constituted in 1979. The study will thus be an important contribution to understanding the constraints and opportunities of the rural poor's access to land.

Two technical sessions will be held in this meeting. Four country presentations will be made in the first technical session by the eminent researchers on land related issues. The researchers are Dr. Selim Raihan, Assistant Professor of Economics of Dhaka University, Dr. Yulfita Raharjo, Ex-Senior Researcher of the Centre for Population Studies, Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Dr. Jagannath Adhikari, Program Coordinator (Development Studies) of Nepal Development Research Institute and Mr. Carlos B. O. A. Santos, Research Fellow of the Asia Pacific Policy Centre of the Philippines. The study outlines for each country will be finalized in the second technical session with inputs from the Project Director, Dr Nasreen Khundker, Research Director (CIRDAP), Mr. Wim Polman, representative from FAO and Ms. Susana Evangelista-Leones, Chairman, Executive Committee, CIRDAP and representative from the International Land Coalition (ILC). The Researchers' Planning Workshop will end on 30 January, 2008.