The CISDOMA Institute has recently collaborated with the Provincial Legal Aid Centre of Nghe An, and the Department of Justice of Que Phong District to organise three training classes on “Enhancing Legal Knowledge on Land and Skills for Grassroots Reconciliation Teams/Women’s Clubs” in project villages, including Nam Nhoong, Cam Muon, and Tien Phong, in Que Phong District, Nghe An Province.

According to CISDOMA, Article 202, Clause 1 of the Land Law of 2013 stipulates: when parties have disputes over land, “the state encourages disputing parties to reconcile or resolve land disputes through grassroots mediation” and “when parties cannot reconcile, they shall submit a petition to the People’s Committee at the commune level where the disputed land is located for mediation.”

According to assessments, more than 70% of current civil disputes and conflicts in society are related to land issues. The main reason is the limited awareness and knowledge of the population regarding land laws. The legal documents concerning land fail to meet the requirements of economic and social development, as well as the needs for legal advocacy and grassroots mediation, which are not yet truly effective.

From the practical experience of grassroots mediation, it is evident that grassroots mediation plays a significant role and has important implications for enhancing people’s awareness of and compliance with the law.

Three training sessions to enhance knowledge of land laws and skills for the grassroots mediation teams have been organised, with the participation of 109 individuals (58 females) who are members of the mediation teams and women’s clubs in 3 communes: Nam Nhoong, Cam Muon, and Tien Phong.

At the training sessions, participants exchanged information on legal provisions regarding the basic rights and obligations of the state in land management; the rights and obligations of land users, including households and individuals; the conditions for exercising land use rights for individuals and households; the steps to conduct grassroots mediation in land disputes; and some skills of the grassroots mediation teams to guide and assist the parties in reaching voluntary agreements to resolve conflicts, disputes, and legal violations in the field of land.

At the training sessions, participants exchanged information on legal provisions regarding the basic rights and obligations of the state in land management; the rights and obligations of land users, including households and individuals; the conditions for exercising land use rights for individuals and households; the steps to conduct grassroots mediation in land disputes; and some skills of the grassroots mediation teams to guide and assist the parties in reaching voluntary agreements to resolve conflicts, disputes, and legal violations in the field of land.

After participating in the training sessions, the members of the grassroots mediation teams agreed to engage in activities beyond mediation in accordance with regulations. These activities include:

  1. Participating in outreach, counselling, and mobilisation activities for households in the village who are using land and meet the conditions for obtaining land use certificates (red books) to register and declare to obtain red books.
  2. Monitoring and continuing to support households on the list who desire to complete the paperwork and procedures for obtaining red books.
  3. Reviewing, compiling statistics, and creating lists of cases where households in the village already have red books with inaccurate information (such as incorrect names, addresses, areas, or cases where the user has passed away but the title has not been transferred).
  4. Providing procedural advice to households in the village who need to correct their red books, exchange red books, transfer ownership due to inheritance, gifts, or transfers, and convert land use purposes.

The training classes were conducted as part of the project “Enhancing Legal Knowledge and Legal Assistance to Ensure Equal Rights to Land for Ethnic Minority Women,” sponsored by INKOTA (Germany) and managed by the Center for Social and Economic Development Consultancy in Rural and Mountainous Areas (CISDOMA) from 2020 to 2022.

The goal of the project is to ensure the land rights of ethnic minority women in Quế Phong district are fairly protected through enhanced awareness and improved free legal aid services. To achieve this goal, the project aims to increase legal knowledge related to gender equality in land use rights, communication skills, and advisory skills for officials at all levels. Based on this, these teams will implement communication, advisory, and legal assistance activities for the people, especially ethnic minority women, in local communities.

Below are some images from the training sessions:

 
Source: “The Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.”
 
The project in Quế Phong district has organized 52 communication events on land law regulations in 52 villages across 13 communes, with the participation of 2,586 residents (of which 72.8% are ethnic minority women). Advisory services have been provided to 201 individuals (of which 54.6% are ethnic minority women) facing land-related issues. Residents’ concerns revolve around various topics such as obtaining new or updated land use certificates, transferring ownership due to inheritance, gifts, or transfers, converting land use purposes, and land disputes. Among these, there are 51 cases of residents facing land disputes, including disputes over boundary markers, using land plots under someone else’s name on the red book, encroachment on boundaries between plots, disputes over inheritance rights as land use rights, and disputes arising from property division after divorce.