The Africa Framework & Guidelines, which was developed through a rigorous roadmap of activities, including regional assessments and consultations on land policy, was adopted by the African Ministers responsible for land in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in April 2009. They were further endorsed by the highest level of African governance—the AU Heads of State and Government, through the adoption of a Declaration on Land Issues and challenges in Africa, during the 13th Assembly of the African Union in Sirte, Libya, in July 2009.

The IGAD Regional multi-stakeholder Platform on Land Governance will have a core function of enhancing land policy convergence among the IGAD Member States and African Union as provided the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa. It will achieve this through facilitating regional dialogue and cooperation on land policy issues amongst the IGAD Member States.

The overall objective of the IGAD- Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Land Governance is to facilitate dialogue and regional co-operation on land governance amongst IGAD Member States by fostering greater understanding and policy coherence on land governance as well as strengthening regional institutional and technical capacities to implement and track progress on land policy guided by the AU Framework and Guidelines.

The IGAD- Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Land Governance aims to achieve the following specific goals:

1)     To establish a mechanism for continuous dialogue and co-operation among IGAD Member States on land governance and related issues, enhancing their capacity to manage land within a regional context, consistent with the Africa Framework and Guidelines.

2)     To enhance knowledge and foster a common understanding by policymakers, technicians, academia and other stakeholders of the causes, dimensions, patterns, future trends and impacts of land governance on broader social, economic and environmental goals in the IGAD Region.

3)     To help develop and strengthen regional institutional and governmental capacities to address the challenges of land governance in a cooperative and knowledge-based manner.

4)     To focus on the priority areas identified by the IGAD Member States, namely technical cooperation and capacity building, information collection, dissemination and sharing, and progress toward formulation and harmonization of land policy development, implementation and monitoring in accordance to the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa.

The IGAD Secretariat, in collaboration with the Land Policy Initiative (AUC/UNECA/AfDB) and other partners to address the needs identified by Member States for greater inter-state dialogue and cooperation on land governance.