5th anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines

On 11 May 2012, the Committee on World Food Security held a special session to endorse the Voluntary Guidelines. In the following years, governments, civil society, the private sector and academia have made increasing use of the Voluntary Guidelines to improve the governance of tenure. The fifth anniversary of the endorsement is being marked by a series of events during 2017, including a high-level meeting and a technical thematic forum to be held in Rome, Italy, in October.

© FAO / Miguel Herrera

Events marking the 5th anniversary started on 5-6 April 2017 in Santiago, Chile. A high-level meeting took stock of how the Voluntary Guidelines are being used in Latin America and analyzed the challenges of improving governance of tenure. These include access by women and indigenous peoples and the recognition of their tenure rights, the adaptation of land administration to climate change, and the particular challenges of addressing fisheries tenure and forest tenure. The meeting brought together 20 participants from governments, civil society and indigenous peoples, and it was marked by an agreement to establish a regional platform. The platform will support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines through an exchange of experiences and by enhancing south-south cooperation through technical assistance. 

Read more:
http://www.fao.org/americas/noticias/ver/es/c/879570/ 
http://www.fao.org/americas/noticias/ver/es/c/879000/ 

Benin

Cotonou (15-17 February 2017) and Parakou (21-23 February 2017). Two workshops enabled 110 participants to discuss the Voluntary Guidelines and national initiatives on tenure governance and to contribute to Benin’s Readiness Preparation Proposal. The proposal includes recommendations for tenure reforms for the successful implementation of REDD+. The participants recognised that these first discussions on the Voluntary Guidelines were timely in light of the newly established national tenure agency and the creation of a cadastre, and they recommended the wide dissemination of the Voluntary Guidelines. The participants included representatives from government ministries, civil society, farmer associations and the private sector, and mayors, technical experts and project implementers. The events were organized by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and FAO, with the financial support from France.

Guatemala

© FAO / Guatemala Country Team

Guatemala City (16-17 March 2017). The implementation of the national land policy within the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines was supported through a workshop attended by 40 high-level government officials, including the Secretariat of Agrarian Affairs, the Land Fund, the Registry of Cadastral Information, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food. Further support for the land policy process came through a second meeting, which provided a forum for 70 representatives from the public sector, civil society leaders and academics. They discussed the advancement of rural development in Guatemala within the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines. The events were organized with assistance and financial support from FAO.

Liberia and Sierra Leone

© FAO / Chiara Nicodemi

Monrovia (3-6 April 2017). A learning programme on tenure governance brought together over 40 key “change agents” from Liberia and Sierra Leone to assess the situation in their countries with regard to the Voluntary Guidelines and to identify solutions to improve governance of tenure. The participants from governments, civil society, the private sector, the media and researchers also developed individual and country action plans. The learning programme started with three weeks of online learning in March 2017 and continued with a four-day workshop in April. It was delivered under the auspices of the Steering Committee in Liberia and the Inter-Ministerial Task Force in Sierra Leone, and was implemented by FAO with financial support from Germany. The event was a follow-up to a similar learning programme that was held in Sierra Leone between March and May 2016.

Myanmar

© FAO

Nay Pyi Taw (15-16 February). A third national workshop brought together over 100 participants to raise awareness and foster dialogue and a common understanding within and between constituencies on the Voluntary Guidelines and their potential use in Myanmar. Participants from the government, civil society, farmer associations and academia recognized that the Voluntary Guidelines can be used to sharpen ongoing processes to formulate policies and laws. The Land Core Group and USAID provided a draft version of the Voluntary Guidelines in the Myanmar language. The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and FAO, with financial support from the United Kingdom (DFID).

São Tomé and Principe

São Tomé (8-10 March). A national workshop brought together 82 participants from the government, local authorities, civil society and the private sector to discuss tenure governance and the use of the Voluntary Guidelines in the country. Their recommendations included the need to update the country’s legal tenure framework and provide secure tenure rights. The workshop highlighted the relevance of a multi-stakeholder dialogue to address the development of agriculture to ensure food security. The event was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with assistance and financial support from FAO. It is part of a regional initiative to strengthen tenure governance in Central Africa, including in Gabon, the Republic of Congo and São Tomé and Principe.

Senegal

© FAO

Dakar (7-8 December 2016). The topic of the third meeting of the national multi-stakeholder platform of the Voluntary Guidelines addressed their implementation as part of the policy reform process. The meeting drew over 50 participants from government, civil society, the private sector and academia, and their discussions highlighted that the new National Land Policy Document reflects the vision, approach and objectives of the Voluntary Guidelines. The policy was prepared in 2016 and submitted to the President of the Republic. The meeting also launched a project to strengthen the dissemination and implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines in Senegal, with financial support from Italy. The meeting was organized by the National Steering Committee (chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment and co-chaired by the National Council for Consultation and Rural Cooperation) with the assistance of FAO and financial support from Italy. 

Sierra Leone

His excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone. Source: www.statehouse.gov.sl

Freetown (23 March 2017). President of Sierra Leone, officially launched the Sierra Leone National Land Policy. The policy is designed to safeguard tenure rights, ensure equal access to land and tenure security and protect the rights of all citizens without any form of discrimination. The principles of the Voluntary Guidelines have been incorporated into the new policy (in sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3) and over 90 paragraphs of the policy are closely based on the text of the Voluntary Guidelines. FAO has provided technical support for the development of the policy since 2014, with financial support from Germany.

The Voluntary Guidelines are being used now at decentralized levels in Sierra Leone. The District Councils of Kailahun and Bo have integrated them into their Development Plans for 2016-18, with particular reference to agricultural investments. The districts are committed to increasing awareness about the Voluntary Guidelines and their safeguards in communities, and to using them in developing guidelines for agricultural investments 

Read the national land policy 

South Africa

© FAO

Durban (1-3 February 2017). The process to implement the Voluntary Guidelines in South Africa gained momentum with the third national workshop, attended by over 75 participants from government, civil society, farmer associations, the private sector and academia. Almost half the participants were women. The workshop focused on developing a roadmap to address capacity needs and it built on the results of previous workshops and learning programmes. An interim secretariat was formed to represent the land, fisheries and forest sectors and the different constituencies. It will guide the process to establish a national multi-stakeholder platform that will take the roadmap forward. The workshop was organized by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and FAO, with financial support from the United Kingdom (DFID).

See the newsletters of January, July and December 2015, July 2016, and February 2017. 

Tunisia

Hammamet (30 November - 2 December 2016). A national workshop introduced the Voluntary Guidelines to over 70 participants from government, civil society and academia. It gave them an opportunity to learn about the Voluntary Guidelines and how they can be used to improve the governance of tenure and how to link them to initiatives such as UN-REDD+. The discussions emphasized the importance of effective consultation with beneficiaries of projects on spatial planning, land consolidation and agricultural development. The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries and FAO, with financial support from France. 

Western Balkans: gender and land

© FAO

Support to address challenges facing women in owning land in the Western Balkans is being extended following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Capacities are being strengthened to collect data, monitor and report progress on the land indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals. The work is supported by GIZ on behalf of the German Government, the International Union of Notaries and FAO. In 2016, participants from the Western Balkans used the FAO Legal Assessment Tool to identify gaps in the legal frameworks and challenges in implementation. They prepared a two-year programme aiming to achieve gender equality in landownership.

Read more on land and gender in the Western Balkans
Read more on the FAO Legal Assessment Tool

Women’s landownership and control in the Sustainable Development Goals

© FAO

Gender equality is one of the principles of implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines. The Sustainable Development Goals includes two indicators on women’s land rights. Indicator 5.a.1 examines the actual situation in a country in terms of land rights and tenure security of women and men, with a focus on agricultural lands. Indicator 5.a.2 addresses reforms in the legal framework that support women’s equal rights to ownership and/or control over land. FAO is the custodian agency for both indicators and activities are underway to support countries in developing the capacity to collect the required data.

World Bank 18th Annual Conference on Land and Poverty

Washington, USA (20-24 March 2017). The Voluntary Guidelines were featured throughout the 2017 Land and Poverty Conference, which had the theme “Responsible Land Governance—Towards an Evidence-Based Approach”. A special session addressed progress in the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines, and work related to the Voluntary Guidelines was also presented in other sessions.

Read more