Myanmar, June 2014: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat ) and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, represented by the Settlement and Land Records Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation signed a milestone Letter of Agreement (LOA) on the 18th of June 2014 for the implementation of a Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP). LAMP is funded by the Livelihoods Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) and continues until 30 September 2015.
The LoA was signed in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in Nay Pyi Taw by Mr. Bijay Bahadur Karmacharya, Myanmar Country Programme Manager for UN-Habitat and U Tha Toe Aung, Director General of the Settlement and Land Records Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
The aim of the LoA is to strengthen the existing land administration and management system so that it meets the needs in service and land record keeping of Government and the people.
The main activities of the LAMP are to introduce practical, reliable and affordable systems for updating existing land records, to provide training materials for SLRD staff and Farmland Administrative Body (FAB) officials, to upgrade the training facility at the Central Land Records Development Training Center (CLRDTC) , and to make two township level SLRD offices operational with the improved systems .
UN-Habitat’s engagement with Myanmar began in the 1980s and 1990’s where the agency supported urban issues, city and regional planning as well as capacity building. UN-Habitat’s presence in Myanmar was intensified in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
In addition UN-Habitat is also cooperating with relevant Ministries in other sectors pertaining to the Habitat Agenda such as Urban and Regional Development, Water & Sanitation and Basic Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Change.
