The Land Issues Working Group (LIWG) of Lao PDR and local civil society organizations submitted key recommendations for the country?s draft National Land Policy, which is expected to be completed by the end of June 2013. Recommendations were presented to the National Assembly, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at a stakeholders meeting on March 22. While the existing draft policy appears to recognize the importance of community and ethnic minority tenure rights as a foundational principle, the manner in which these rights will be fully realized and implemented remains ambiguous; however, the LIWG?s ability to present and increse civil society voices in the political space in Lao is significant.