Washington, March 14, 2019 – The World Bank Board of Directors approved a US$ 100 million loan today to support Colombia’s efforts to develop a fully functional, updated land administration system. The loan will be used to implement a multipurpose cadaster in selected municipalities, which will strengthen the security of property rights and facilitate access to land and property information.
The Multipurpose Cadaster Project will also support land tenure formalization to about 67,000 people. At least, forty percent of the titles will be issued to women. The Project involves a differential approach for Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities.
“The current cadaster isn’t meeting the need we have for information to design and implement public policies,” said DNP Director Gloria Alonso. “It is important to have an updated database, which will be useful in a number of areas for both citizens and government, including better planning, environmental management, public services, and property taxes,” said Alonso. According to the Geographical Institute’s (IGAC) Agustin Codazzi, 5.68% of the territory currently has updated information, 28.32% is unformed and 66.01% is outdated.
The project will build institutional capacities to implement the registry at the local and national levels, formalize property tenure, promote community participation with a differentiated gender approach and establish special procedures for ethnic communities.
Project activities will benefit communities of the selected municipalities through formalization of their property rights and the generation of information on landholdings for improved environmental and land planning. They will also strengthen the property market, generating better conditions for private investment and economic growth overall.
“An updated, functional multipurpose registry is pivotal for a prosperous economy, for peacebuilding and for legality and equity in Colombia,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Director for Colombia and Venezuela. “With this Project, we seek to contribute to the formalization of property ownership and the improvement of the quality of life of thousands of Colombian families,” he said.
The US$ 150 million Project is financed through the US$ 100 million World Bank loan and an Inter-American Development Bank loan. Benefitting government agencies include the National Planning Department (DNP), the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC), the Superintendency of Notaries and Registries (SNR), the National Land Agency (ANT) and selected municipalities.
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