EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
"Myanmar’s agricultural sector has for long suffered due to multiplicity of laws and regulations, deficient and degraded infrastructure, poor policies and planning, a chronic lack of credit, and an absence of tenure security for cultivators. These woes negate Myanmar’s bountiful natural endowments and immense agricultural potential, pushing its rural populace towards dire poverty.

This paper discusses Cambodia’s legal framework relating to Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) and looks at the implementation gaps. It argues that despite Cambodian’s legal framework governing land and ELCs being well-developed, its social benefits, such as protecting the rights of the poor and vulnerable and contributing to transparency and accountability, are almost non-existent.

Villagers in Karen areas of southeast Myanmar continue to face widespread land confiscation at the hands of a multiplicity of actors. Much of this can be attributed to the rapid expansion of domestic and international commercial interest and investment in southeast Myanmar since the January 2012 preliminary ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Myanmar government. KHRG first documented this in a 2013 report entitled ‘Losing Ground’, which documented cases of land confiscation between January 2011 and November 2012.

At night the Shweli has always sung sweet songs for us.
But now the nights are silent and the singing has stopped.
We are lonely and wondering what has happened to our
Shweli?" ... "Exclusive photos and testimonies from a remote village near the China-Burma border uncover how Chinese dam builders are using Burma Army troops to secure Chinese investments. Under the Boot, a new report by Palaung researchers, details the implementation of the Shweli Dam project, China's first Build-Operate-Transfer hydropower deal with Burma's junta.

Documents and analyses on land tenure in Burma/Myanmar.....
"1.Reconcile legality and legitimacy through clear legal recognition of existing
acknowledged rights, whatever their origin (customary or statutory) or nature
(individual or collective, temporary or permanent).
2.Initiate widespread debate on the choice of society that the land policies will
serve (and target), the opportunities for formalisation, how it will be implemented
and its possible alternatives.
3.Build consensus between all the actors concerned (central and local

In October 2013, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released
"Disputed Territory", a report documenting the emerging trend of Mon farmers fighting
for recognition of their land rights in the face of unjust land and property
confiscations. The report analyzed specific barriers impeding their success, from weak
land policy and inadequate dispute resolution mechanisms, to an absence of support
from various sources.
While "Disputed Territory" explored the broad spectrum of land right violations among

Preliminary: 1. Objectives... 2. Nature and scope..... General matters: 3. Guiding principles of responsible tenure governance... 3A General principles... 3B Principles of implementation... 4. Rights and responsibilities related to tenure... 5. Policy, legal and organizational frameworks related to tenure... 6. Delivery of services..... Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties: 7. Safeguards... 8. Public land, fisheries and forests... 9. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems... 10. Informal tenure.....

Analysis of KHRG's field information gathered between January 2011 and November 2012 in seven geographic research areas in eastern Myanmar indicates that natural resource extraction and development projects undertaken or facilitated by civil and military State authorities, armed ethnic groups and private investors resulted in land confiscation and forced displacement, and were implemented without consulting, compensating or notifying project-affected communities.

The purpose of the Guidelines for Impact Evaluation of Land Tenure and Governance Interventions (“the guidelines”) is to serve as a tool for both researchers and land sector experts in the design and conducting of land impact evaluations and ultimately broaden the evidence of what works and does not work and why in regard to measures meant to improve land tenure and governance.

Its June 2018, half a year down the line following the reclassification of several land indicators including 1.4.2 by the IAEG-SDGs in November 2017. To all of us, this milestone was defining and encouraging in our effort towards achieving monitoring of land governance issues at scale.

Improved access to land and data is pivotal for the promotion of land governance reform as well as the fulfillment of human rights and sustainable development. With access to reliable data and information, informed decisions regarding land and property rights can take place.

Land sector challenges are vast and complex. Insecure rights to land continues to affect more than 2 billion people living in urban and rural informality worldwide, with women, youth and indigenous people faring the worst. We need more strategic partnerships, at all levels, that drive innovative thinking and provide practical solutions to these tenure security challenges.