In Dr. Tajamul Haque’s untimely demise on 2nd May, India has lost a scholar policy maker, a champion of the causes of farmers, tribal, an advocate of land rights for women and dalits and a messiah for marginal farmers and tenants. With his departure, farmers lost a tireless, fearless advocate at the echelon of power corridors, while for ministers and secretaries, gone now is a highly knowledgeable yet an unassuming pragmatic advisor.

The day I first met Dr. Tajamul Haque, I did not realize I was meeting the man who would change the trajectory of tens of millions of lives across India – and my own.  

* This blog post was written by the following women:  Patricia Chaves, Gigliola Silva Araújo, Natali Lacerda and Tereza Borba. They take us back to 2015, through to the present, telling us about the process of localizing the land-related SDGs and empowering local women to build multi-stakeholder platforms in order to change and influence policies that can affect their families, communities and  lives. * 

On the International Women’s Day – and every day – we must call out gender bias wherever we see it. The trouble is, when it comes to land and property rights, much is hidden behind closed doors. But now, a new survey is giving voice to women around the world, letting them share their perceptions of their property rights.

From revolution and conflict to shifting demographics and women’s empowerment – big change is underway in the Arab world, much of it linked to questions of land. Perceptions data is a quick and effective way to understand the impact this change is having and map a smart way forward that meets the needs of people today.

Yesterday, on International Human Rights Day, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands announced that Saw Eh Say, the coordinator from the Kayah Earthrights Action Network (KEAN), received the 2020 Human Rights Tulip Myanmar Award for his great efforts to promote the right to land in Myanmar. The Human Rights Tulip is an annual award of the Dutch government for outstanding and courageous human rights defenders.

Blog by Monzur Hossain and Naoyuki Yoshino, reposted from the Financial Express, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world but with a land-man ratio of 0.06 ha per person, it occupies the lowest rank. The increasing population begets an increasing demand for non-agricultural land which further contributes to an aberrant hike in land price. This obstructs investment opportunities and cuts down affordable housing facilities for the common people.

The debate about compensation of former white farmers in Zimbabwe continues to rage. The compensation agreement signed in July agreed a total amount of US$3.5 billion to pay for ‘improvements’ to the land that was expropriated. After 20 years of discussion, this was a major step forward. However, there seem to be multiple positions on the agreement and little consensus, along with much misunderstanding. However, some things are happening, and a joint resource mobilisation committee has been established with technical support from the World Bank and others.

By Owen Dhliwayo and Refiloe Joala

The  ability of the Embera villages in Panama to shut off the road into their community, and to exclude outsiders, is based in large measure on the government’s official recognition of their indigenous collective land rights.

Globally, the UN estimates that 1.6 billion people struggle to find adequate housing. Kenya’s Constitution Article 43(1) (b), provides that ‘every person has the right to accessible and adequate housing and reasonable standards of sanitation’. Kenyans suffer insecurity of tenure and are victims of frequent forceful evictions. This is a country that never follows up on building standards, leave alone rent controls. The current leadership is money-minded and has no interest in public housing.