Every year, the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty brings together representatives from governments, the development community, civil society, academia, and the private sector to discuss issues of concern to communities, land practitioners and policymakers worldwide. The conference aims to foster dialogue and sharing of good practices around the diversity of reforms, approaches and experiences that are being implemented in the land sector around the world (see the 2012 conference website at www.landandpoverty.com for details on format of the conference.

Under the theme of “Moving towards transparent land governance: Evidence-based next steps”, the 2013 conference will provide a forum for an evidence-based discussion of innovative approaches to follow up on recent global and regional initiatives, and concrete steps to improve land governance at country level in a way that contributes to poverty reduction, gender equality, and sustainable economic growth. Papers are invited for presentations at the conference in six thematic areas:

• Securing land rights and improving land use at the grassroots;
• Adjusting laws and institutions to address urban expansion and governance;
• Innovative approaches towards spatially enabling land administration and management;
• Supporting a continuum of rights in a decentralized environment;
• Mobilizing the private sector to improve land governance; and
• Sharing benefits from exploitation of land- based resources.

For more information, please contact landconference@worldbank.org.