Around the world, land is the foundation of rural life. Perhaps no other asset can equal the transformative power of land to create economic opportunity, boost productivity and food security, and fulfill the promise of fundamental human rights and a life of basic dignity and access to justice.
Land is a key economic resource inextricably linked to access to, use of and control over other economic and productive resources. Recognition of this, and the increasing stress on land from the world’s growing population and changing climate, has driven demand for strengthening tenure security for all. This has created the need for a core set of land indicators that have national application and global comparability, which culminated in the inclusion of indicators 1.4.2 and 5.a.1 in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda.
The challenges to tenure security in both urban and rural areas are not only large, but they are increasing due to the different types of pressures making land more and more scarce. There is growing acceptance that only by recognizing and supporting a continuum of land rights, can tenure security be reached for all people in an inclusive way.
Since 2010, the GIZ Land Programme in Lao PDR has sought to improve the land tenure security of rural communities. The programme currently consists of three projects – the BMZ-commissioned Land Management and Decentralised Planning (LMDP) Project, the Enhanced Land Tenure Security (ELTeS) sub-project within a global programme on responsible land policy, as well as the German contribution to the Mekong River Land Governance (MRLG) Initiative.
In the face of the climate crisis and threats to food security, a safe water supply and biodiversity, GLF Bonn 2019 sought to hear the voices of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth – all of those with the greatest stake in confronting such global challenges. The forum did not avoid identifying hurdles, most of which stem from conflicting rights and interests, that hinder cooperation to rapidly secure the rights to a healthy life for present and future generations.
From forced eviction to loss of livelihood, social status, savings and even life, land corruption in Africa has serious and far-reaching consequences. Such corruption comes in many forms, and it must be understood – along with the factors that enable it – before it can be tackled.
The webinar on the Forest Rights and Governance in India took place on 30 January, 2018. The webinar discussed why has there been variation in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act and identified institutional bottlenecks to upscaling its implementation, as well as lessons learned from existing best practices.
The webinar addressed implementation of the Forest Rights Act, its inclusion of traditional forest dwellers - men and women, innovations that have proven successful, and questions of governance and its impact on the forest rights discourse and policies.
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