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Neil Sorensen has been shaping the Land Portal’s communications strategy as its Communications Specialist since October 2015. With a wealth of experience in leading communications for international organizations, he excels at fostering relationships with civil society, donors, intergovernmental agencies, media, and the private sector to elevate the global dialogue on land governance.
Prior to joining the Land Portal, Neil served as Governing Bodies Officer and Strategic Adviser to the Secretary of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), where he played a key role in high-level institutional governance and strategic planning. He has also spearheaded communications for three major international organizations: the International Land Coalition (ILC), the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), strengthening their global visibility and engagement.
Neil holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a Bachelor’s degree in German and Sociology from St. Cloud State University. His expertise lies at the intersection of governance, communications, and advocacy, ensuring that land governance remains a prominent issue on the international agenda.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 1202Corruption Perceptions Index: Corruption is playing a devastating role in the climate crisis
Global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering, according to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International. The report has exposed serious corruption levels across the globe, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50 out of 100. The global average on the index has remained unchanged at 43, highlighting the need for urgent action against corruption and warning of a critical global obstacle to implementing successful climate action.
Call for abstracts: LANDac Annual Conference 2025
Plurality of Knowledge: The Future of Land Governance in Shifting Global Contexts
Utrecht, the Netherlands | 2-4 July 2025
Call for Abstracts and Early Career Researcher Contributions - closes 23 February 2025!
Find the full Call for Abstracts and Call for Contributions here.
Protecting USAID’s legacy of land knowledge
The Land Portal has been following the news about USAID’s shutdown with much sadness and concern. During its 60-plus years of existence, the agency has acted on many fronts of international development, funding and managing thousands of initiatives to ensure good health, education, food security, women’s empowerment and, not least, good land governance in many countries of the Global South.
How global climate initiatives can risk Indigenous women’s land rights
Recognizing Indigenous lands is important to achieving forest and biodiversity targets and mitigation goals. This is directly acknowledged in initiatives like the Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30x30 Target, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) and Net Zero by 2050.
However, the actions necessary to achieve these targets can sometimes result in pressure and infringement on Indigenous and local land tenure systems that are already insecure due to lack of formal recognition and communities’ weak participation in decision-making related to climate initiatives. These pressures are experienced differently by women and men because of social, economic and political dynamics that influence land tenure and community governance systems. Failure to account for gender when implementing climate initiatives can risk eroding the traditional land entitlements of women and trigger additional negative impacts.
Land Data Tools & Collaboration for Resilience in the Arab Region
Pathways to Responsible Agriculture in the Mekong: Key Insights from the Webinar
On January 23, 2025, the Land Portal Foundation and Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) convened a webinar to explore the evolving landscape of agricultural investments in the Mekong region. Experts from various sectors joined to discuss the impact of industrial crops, smallholder farmer integration into transnational value chains, and the resulting economic, environmental, and social transformations.
The Land Facility Programme

Effective land governance systems are key to economic growth, protecting nature, rural livelihoods, conflict prevention, and women’s rights.
Yet land governance in many developing countries is weak, with large amounts of unregistered land and disputed ownership rights, resulting in little protection for the homes and livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable:
- Only 30% of the global population has legally registered rights to their land and homes;
- Women constitute less than 20% of the world’s landholders;
- Indigenous Peoples and local communities hold 65% of the world’s total land area, but their legal rights extend to only 10% of that land.
The Land Facility, launched April 2024, is a global programme from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom to advance effective and sustainable national land governance reforms and administration systems.
The Land Facility will provide technical support to partner governments, tackling complex land governance problems and furthering wider developmental objectives. Core priorities for the programme are:
- Commitment: building political support for land governance reforms
- Capacity: increase government capacity to plan and implement the reforms required to develop robust land policies, legislation and administration systems
- Coordination: strengthening coordination within government, and between government and wider development partners in focus countries
Through these interventions, the Land Facility aims to support governments develop robust and transparent land governance systems and increase formal recognition and protection of rural, urban and forest tenure rights, including in tropical forest countries.
Tetra Tech and Land Equity International lead delivery of the Land Facility, in partnership with Global Land Alliance, Landesa, Mokoro, The Policy Practice, Terra Firma, TMP, and Planet Partnerships.
The Land Facility will be delivered through partnerships with governments and wider stakeholders to design and implement demand-driven projects informed by political economy analysis. These projects will cover urban, rural or forest land in focus regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America. The Land Facility is part of FCDO’s Global Land Governance Programme and the UK Government’s Centre of Expertise for Green and Inclusive Growth.
The Land Facility is supported by an independent Decision Support Unit (DSU), delivered by an Abt Global-led consortium. The main purpose of the DSU is to enhance the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Land Facility by providing advice and offering evidence-informed insights.
The programme is now in early implementation phase and runs to December 2030.
If you would like to learn more about the programme, contact Jolyne Sanjak, Team Leader, or Becca Smith, Senior Facility Manager.
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The Land Portal Foundation believes that access to information is crucial for achieving good land governance and securing land rights for landless and vulnerable people. Building an information ecosystem for land governance that supports informed decision and policy-making at national and international levels is its mission. Land Portal will play a central role in the online communication of Land Facility programme learning and global community engagement. Please check this page for future updates.
Her Land
Land is being degraded rapidly worldwide. Our current agricultural practices are causing soils worldwide to be eroded up to 100 times faster than natural processes replenish them. At this critical moment, enabling the full contribution of women to halting land degradation and tackling drought is needed now more than ever.
Women comprise nearly half of the world’s agricultural workforce, producing 60–80 per cent of the food grown in developing countries1, so are poised to lead on sustainable land management practices while keeping their families and communities fed.
Critical minerals, international policy and a just energy transition
29 January, 2025, 1-2.30pm GMT, Online, via Zoom
The growing global demand for 'critical minerals' has soared in recent years, with materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel being essential in the production of many technologies in the green energy transition.