ilc lunchtime seminar at irish aid
TRANSCRIPT
ILC lunchtime seminar at Irish Aid
Prepared by ILC Secretariat, September 24th 2012
•A global alliance to promote secure and equitable access to and control over land for women and men •Global Secretariat hosted at IFAD (Rome, Italy), with regional nodes in Manila (Asia), Kigali (Africa), Lima (Latin America)•Focus on dialogue, knowledge sharing, capacity building and advocacy
Vision: Secure and equitable access to and control over land reduces poverty, promotes sustainable development and contributes to identity, dignity and inclusion
International Land Coalition:A global alliance
116 members, including intergovernmental organisations, farmers’ organisations, research institutes, NGOs and CBOs – In more than 40 countries
At the root of ILC: eradicating poverty A bit of history and key underlying assumptions
•Established as a result of the 1995 Conference on Poverty and Hunger (Brussels) as Popular Coalition to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty (PCEHP)•In 2003, the PCEHP became the International Land Coalition
•Land reform leading to broadened access to secure land rights is a critical factor (if not a pre-requisite) for fighting hunger and eradicating poverty •The linkage between land governance (secure access to land) and food security is therefore at the root of the establishment of the ILC
1. Linkages between land tenure security and food security
• Poverty is a predominantly rural phenomenon
• It is estimated that 75% of the poor, hungry people live in rural areas (2008 WDR)
Why land matters in addressing hunger and poverty?
Incidence of poverty in rural areas:•In Sub-Saharan Africa 51% of the rural population are poor•In South-East Asia 40% of the rural population are poor
Why land matters in addressing hunger and poverty?
62%Small farmers
25%Landless
13% Pastoralists, forest-dwellers, fisherfolk
Securing land rights for the poor men and women helps combat poverty in rural areas and globally
Profile of the rural poor
Identifying linkages
Secure and equitable access to land enhances the supply of food
1 Tenure security as promoting investment and sustainable management
2 What sort of tenure?
3 Land as collateral
4 Land distribution and productivity
Identifying linkages
Secure and equitable access to land enhances entitlements to food
1 Tenure insecurity as food access insecurity
2 Land and entitlements to food at local level
3 Land and entitlements to food at the household level
4 Land and entitlements to food at national and global levels
Food security, empowerment and people-centred land governance
Increasingly recognised linkages
The HLTF Updated Comprehensive Framework for Action (2010)
The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (2012)
Framework and guidelines on land policy in Africa (2009)
Women’s land rights and food security
A very large body of evidence on the linkages between women’s land rights and women’s empowerment, and between women’s empowerment and both increased productivity and “other social and economic benefits” i.e. greater bargaining position within the household; improved child nutritional status, which in turns influences health and education attainment (SOFA Report 2011)
“If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4 percent, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent” (FAO, 2011: 5)
Women’s land rightsand food security
A very large body of research on linkages between women’s land rights and women’s empowerment, and between women’s empowerment and both improved agricultural productivity and reduced “other dimensions of human poverty” (i.e. greater bargaining position within the household; improved child nutritional status, which in turns influences health outcomes and education attainment) (FAO, 2011)
If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4 percent, which in turn could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent (FAO, 2011: 5)
2. Current challenges and priorities in promoting women’s land rights
Why women’s land rights?
1 Women’s human rights are violated
2 Women’s key role in food security and natural resource management is not recognised
Challenges and priorities in advancing women’s land rights
1 Understanding rights: the importance of information
2 Claiming rights: the importance of monitoring, mobilisation, and legal empowerment
3 Guaranteeing rights: the importance of enabling environments and implementation
1 Discriminatory/gender-blind laws or poor implementation
2 Cultural and social norms discriminate against women and delay/contain social change
3 Increasing threats to land security disproportionally affect women
Priorities
Challenges
Understanding rights:The importance of information
1 Increase women’s awareness, literacy and education
2 Work with women and men in communities
3 Inform men of the benefits of securing women’s rights
4 Engage with customary authorities to build acceptance for WLR at community level
5 Target public officials responsible for land administration, especially on inheritance
6 Engage with media to raise visibility on WLR and inform
CINEP, Colombia, Women’s empowerment to exercise their land rights in the Cauca Valley
SARRA, India, Women’s empowerment in tribal communities
Claiming rights:The importance of mobilisation
1 Place women at the centre and support grassroots mobilisation
2 Strengthen women’s representation in decision-making processes
3 Build the capacity of women’s organisations
Claiming rights:The importance of monitoring
1 Strengthen women and organisations’ ability to monitor WLR
2 Monitor gendered impacts of programmes and laws (e.g. allocation, food security….)
3 Monitor gendered impacts of new threats (e.g. commercial pressures, contract farming…)
Claiming rights:The importance of legal empowerment
1 Provide paralegal services and legal aid, particularly for the resolution of disputes over inheritance, demarcation, and titling
Claiming rights:The importance of enabling environments and implementation
1Identify and document good practices for replication and scaling-up (how to reach rural women; how to ensure women’s participation; how to ensure fair allocation; what works and what does not… )
2 Work on national policy dialogue and advocacy
3 Use/monitor CEDAW and VGGT at national level
3. Land rights and the rush for land
3. Land rights and the rush for land 4. The Voluntary Guidelines
The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
2 year-long consultation process
1 year-long negotiations
Endorsed in May 2012 by the CFS
Endorsed in July 2012 by the FAO Council
Strong legitimacy and political momentum
Provide a global benchmark for the governance of tenure
Human rights framework; food security and poverty eradication; significance of small-scale food production; participation and consultation in land governance; reference to territorial development
Access to justice and transparent information; women’s land rights and gender equality; ancestral domains; non-state actors responsibilities; markets; investments
Summary of the VGGT
Preface and General Matters
Summary of the VGGT
Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties
Summary of the VGGT
Transfers and other changes to tenure rights and duties
Summary of the VGGT
Administration of tenure
Summary of the VGGT
Responses to climate change and emergencies
Summary of the VGGT
Promotion, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
