Neil Sorensen joined the Land Portal as its Communications Specialist in October 2015. He has extensive experience leading communications for international organizations and developing relationships with civil society, donors, intergovernmental agencies, the media and the private sector. Previously, Neil worked for the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) as a Governing Bodies Officer and Strategic Adviser to the Secretary of IFAD. He has also led communications for three international organizations, including the International Land Coalition, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). He holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as well as a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in German and Sociology from St. Cloud State University.
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Indigenous Leaders Stress Cooperation, Rights in Paris at COP21
Several indigenous leaders from Canada are in Paris for the COP21 talks as part of the official delegation, bringing Native concerns directly to world leaders.
Among them are Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde, AFN Northwest Territories Regional Chief Bill Erasmus and AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Kevin Hart, who is part of the Manitoba delegation. Also joining them are Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed and Dwight Dorey, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
Global Landscapes Forum | Paris
The 2015 Global Landscapes Forum is the leading platform for bringing together individuals and organizations that have an impact on land use. The event is expected to be the largest meeting on the sidelines of the UNFCCC COP21.
International Migrants Day
On 4 December 2000, the UN General Assembly, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December as International Migrants Day.
The WRF receives the Jacques Diouf award from the United Nations in recognition of its work for Family Farming
30 November 2015, a ceremony has been held in Rome where the World Rural Forum received the Jaques Diouf award from the FAO, in recognition of its support for dialogue between rural communities and its political promotion of family farming.
Ask the Expert: Dr. Agnes Quisumbing
Question: Dr. Quisumbing, tell us about yourself; what is your professional background?
Answer: I am an economist by training, and have worked on intrahousehold and gender issues, land and property rights for 20 years at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). I came to IFPRI after working at the University of the Philippines and the World Bank. At IFPRI, I led the gender and intrahousehold research program, and co-led work on poverty and economic mobility and gender and assets.
RDC: Enquête et menaces contre le DDH Augustin Alphonse Bofaka et d'autres défenseurs des droits humains
Le 15 novembre 2015, le défenseur des droits humains M. Augustin Alphonse Bofaka a été interrogé par l'Agence nationale de renseignements (ANR) au sujet d'une récente manifestation contre une entreprise multinationale accusée d'usurpation de terres et de dégradation environnementale.
Il a également reçu plusieurs appels à cause de son rôle de mobilisateur de la communauté.
Land grabs often driven by investors seeking land, Global Witness says
[Editor’s note: Researchers at the environmental watchdog Global Witness say Cambodia’s ongoing land crisis is part of a larger global trend, one driven by economics and resource shortages. With less stability in markets and investments, investors have gone looking for farmland in countries like Cambodia, where it is easy to strike a deal, says Josie Cohen, a campaigner who has researched land grabs in the Mekong Delta for Global Witness.
Private sector investments in Nigeria’s agriculture sector
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has disclosed that private sector investments in the country’s agric sector has reached about N760 billion in the last two years.
Former Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Sonny Echono, an architect, disclosed this in Abuja at a seminar organised by the ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to harness public and private sector stakeholders’ support for the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN) in Nigeria.
Angola grants 7,000 hectares of land to Cabo Verde
The government of Angola granted a plot of 7,000 hectares in Kwanza Sul province to Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) for agricultural development, said Thursday the Cape Verdean ambassador to Angola, Francisco Veiga.
The ambassador, at the end of a courtesy visit to the governor of Kwanza Sul, Eusébio de Brito Teixeira, said the government would now consider what to produce on the land but said that maize production from improved seeds was one of the priority crops.
Indigenous peoples of Guyana concerned that timber trade agreement lacks solid protections for land rights
In two newly released reports, indigenous leaders point out that the current concession allocations system in Guyana is unjust, severely flawed and facilitated by a national legal framework that does not fully respect their internationally protected rights to their customary lands and resources.
“The foreign companies come and they have legal rights and we the people who have been living here all the time do not have legal rights.” [Resident, Kwebanna village]