Facing the Global Agenda - Focus on Land Governance 1

SUMMARY “Do surveyors have a role to play in the global agenda?” - from a FIG point of view the answer to this question is clearly a “Yes”! Simply, no development will take place without having a spatial dimension, and no development will happen without the footprint of surveyors – the land professionals. There is a big swing that could be named “From Measurement to Management”. This paper presents the changing role of the surveyors and their commitment to the global agenda in terms of sound Land Governance in support of the Millennium Development Goals. 1. THE GLOBAL AGENDA The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions. The first seven goals are mutually reinforcing and are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal global partnership for development - is about the means to achieve the first seven. These goals are now placed at the heart of the global agenda. To track the progress in achieving the MDGs a framework of targets and indicators is developed. This framework includes 18 targets and 48 indicators enabling the ongoing monitoring of the progress that is reported on annually (UN, 2000). “Do surveyors have a role to play in the global agenda?” - from a FIG point of view the answer to this question is clearly a “Yes”! The surveyors play a key role in supporting an efficient land market and also effective land-use management. These functions underpin