This document summarizes Myanmar's process for developing a national land use policy through multi-stakeholder engagement. It outlines key lessons learned, including using a roadmap, improving working group effectiveness, ensuring quality information and effective public consultation. A vision for a democratic policy development process is presented, involving public participation to develop a higher quality policy with public ownership. The original roadmap and actions taken from 2012-2016 are detailed. The roles of different groups in the process, such as providing research, recommendations and facilitating workshops, are also described.

1. Learning from the process of
National Land Use Policy
Development in Myanmar
Improving the quality of a policy with inputs
from multi-stakeholders
U SHWE THEIN
LADN CORE GROUP
Regional Land Forum
Hanoi
21 June 2016

2. Key Areas of Lessons Learned
1. Use of roadmap,
2. Effective Support to improve effectiveness of working groups’
performance,
3. Quality of Information used for drafting of policy statements,
4. Effectiveness of public consultation,
5. Use of information registration worksheet for effective information
management,
6. Effective management of policy revision process
7. Quality translation of policy document

3. Visioning a Democratic Process
A democratic process involving the active and informed participation of the
people of Myanmar in the development of a national land use policy will lead to:
• Development of a higher quality National Land Use Management Policy;
• Improved public trust in the Government;
• A better informed Government and public;
• A land use policy that has ownership and legitimacy of the citizens of
Myanmar;
• An increased likelihood of sustainable economic growth;
• Climate change resilience;
• Proper valuation of natural capital and protection of environmental
services; and
• Greater political and social stability in the country

4. Anticipation
• A never ending awareness campaign and
consultation process supported by donor
and NGO community
• A living policy with frequent updating
• Replication of process for other policy/law
development

5. Original Road Map
Activity Timeline
1 Initial informing public and concerned government agency 2013 to early 2014
2
Clearly informing public and concerned government
agency
Late 2013 to 2016
3 Development of a draft policy for comment 2014 to 2015
4 Make the draft of policy available for review 2014 to 2015
5 Feedback with mechanism on 1st draft 3 months
6 National level consultation in NPT & Yangon 2014 to 2015
7 Revision of first draft 2014 to 2015
8 Make second draft of policy available for available review 2014 to 2015
9 Revision of second draft 2014 to 2015
10 State/Regional consultation 2015 to 2016
11 Revision of second draft 2015 to 2016
12 Make third draft of policy available for review Late 2015 to early 2016
13 Final national level consultation workshop Late 2015 to early 2016
14 Approval 2016
15 Revise if needed 2016

6. No
.
Actions 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
1 Road Map
2 Working Group
3 Policy drafting
4 Gov Pre-consultation
5 CSOs initiated pre-Consultation (LCG,
LIOH, etc.)
Feedback from indiv/group
6 State/Regional public consultation (17)
7 Registration/Documentation of key
suggestion points
8 ERT process (2)
9 National consultation workshop
10 Policy endorsement

7. LUASC Taskforce
Policy
drafting
WG
Legal WG
Land
classification,
registration,
mapping WG
Ethnic land
use & conflict
resolution WG
Donor/NGO
Coordination
WG
Roadmap
Analysis
Detailed Work
Plans
Recruitment of
Tech. Experts &
Info. Collection
Consultation
Policy
recommendat
ion & drafting
Policy
framework
First draft
Second draft
Final policy
Info.
Collection,
mobilization
of CSOs,
NGOs,
Donors
Different
level
consultatio
n
National
dialogue
PublicInfo.Sharing
1
2 3 4 5

8. • Facilitate designing process and preparation of action plan
• Support information collection
• Facilitate workshops/meetings
• Provide technical experts to help review, analyze and prepare
policy statements (Land, legal, national, international,
translator)
• Manage to enhance the professional inputs

9. • Research reports from LCG Network e.g. key recommendations
from customary tenure research from various initiatives,
• Policy recommendations from various national and local dialogues
e.g. Key recommendations from National dialogue on land use and
land rights, Jointly organized by MOECAF, NESAC, LCG(FSWG),
Shifting cultivation key recommendations by Pyo-pin
• International references e.g. policy process and products from the
region e.g. India Land Use Policy (process, content) from India,
Laos, Land Law from Cambodia, Indigenous act from Philippines

10. • Media management training to increase capacity of
government staff in listening, accepting public feedback
(External international media experts)
• Pre-consultation workshop to various local communities and
CSOs e.g. LCG network members (MRLG QDF, Pyo-pin)
• Quality feedback in 17 public consultation meeting organized
by the government
• Improved listening of government consultation team during
the public consultation process

11. No.
Date/
Location
Name of
feedback
provider
Position/
Dept./
Org
Ref.
Chapter
Ref. Para
Ref.
policy
statemen
t
Summary
feedback
Pre-
analysis/
policy
reference
Pre-
analysis
for
question
developm
ent
Questions
for expert
roundtabl
e meeting
Remarks
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

12. • Setting clear ground rules based on main
objectives of public consultation (Owership,
quality)
• Process facilitation to enhance correct analysis
and people centered thinking

13. • A series of translation workshop, not one person
translates and another person revises and finalizes
• A team of nationals with an international legal expert
so that both language and subject can be
appropriately decided
• Feedback: “I felt like the policy statements are writeen
by an English speaker” said one NGO International
staff.

14. A Sample Comparison between 5th,
6th and final draft of NLUP
• Basic Principle
•8.(a) It shall use the land resources of the State sustainably and
systematically by conserving and protecting them for the interest
of all peoples of the State;
5th
• Basic Principle
•7(a)To recognize and protect legitimate land tenure
rights of people, as recognized by the local
community, with particular attention to vulnerable
groups such as smallholder farmers, the poor, ethnic
nationalities and women;
6th (After Expert
Roundtable Process)
• Basic Principle
•8(a) To legallyrecognize and
protect legitimate land tenure rights
of people, as recognized by the local
community, with particular
attention to vulnerable groups such
as smallholder farmers, the
poor, ethnic nationalities and
women
Final (After national consultation
workshop)

15. How a theme spread out in the policy
Objectives
6(c) To recognize
and protect
customary land
tenure rights and
procedures of the
ethnic nationalities
Basic Principle
8(a) (a) To legally recognize and
protect legitimate land tenure rights
of people, as recognized by the local
community, with particular attention
to vulnerable groups such as
smallholder farmers, the poor, ethnic
nationalities and women
Land Use Administration
10(a) In establishing the Land Use
Committee at Region or State level, it shall
comprise the Chief Minister as Chairman,
Ministers for ...., responsible persons from
...., representatives of farmers selected by
local associations, representatives from all
local ethnic nationalities, ..., women and ...
as members, and a person elected and
assigned by the members as the Secretary
Part (VIII) Land Use
Rights of the Ethnic
Nationalities
64. Customary land use tenure systems
shall be recognized in the National
Land Law in order to ensure
awareness, compliance and application
of traditional land use practices of
ethnic nationalities, formal recognition
of customary land use rights,
protection of these rights and
application of readily available
impartial dispute resolution
mechanisms

16. U Shwe Thein
Land Core Group
usthein@gmail.com