WEBSITE ABSTRACT: This case study presents a country-wide quantitative analysis of a Parliamentary Commission established in 2012 in Myanmar to examine ‘land grab’ cases considered and to propose solutions towards releasing the land to its original owners, in most cases smallholder farming families. The study analyses the information contained in four reports released to the public, but also aims to elicit information they do not reveal. First of all, the paper suggests the commission has failed to provide detailed information about land grabs by the military.

This publication on Pro Poor Land Management is based on the Handbook on Best Practices, Security of Tenure and Access to Land. It briefly describes recent innovations at the global level in the field of pro poor land management. It shows how governments, including local government and other stakeholders, are coming to grips with implementing the land related principles enshrined in the Habitat Agenda at a practical level in the cities and towns.

This country level analysis addresses land governance in Laos in two ways. First, it summarises what the existing body of knowledge tells us about power and configurations that shape access to and exclusion from land, particularly among smallholders, the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women. Second, it draws upon existing literature and expert assessment to provide a preliminary analysis of the openings for and obstacles to land governance reform afforded by the political economic structures and dynamics in the country.

Pour de nombreux pays, la mise en place d’une politique rationnelle de gestion des forêts est une tâche difficile. Une des raisons à cela est que différents secteurs stratégiques (politique énergétique, politique du commerce extérieur, par exemple) sont étroitement liés à la politique de gestion des forêts et qu’il faut tenir compte des intérêts d’une multitude d’acteurs.

This paper provides guidance on how to conduct collaborative and participatory risk assessments, paying attention to the human rights of project-affected people. It was written for stakeholders who seek more effective strategies for investigating the human rights impacts of business projects or operations, and who wish to make their human rights impact assessments more inclusive and responsive, or who seek to encourage greater buy-in from other stakeholders.

This briefing note, co-authored with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Sciences Po Law School Clinic, outlines a new approach to conducting human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of business operations or projects, which brings together project-affected people, the company, and other stakeholders to jointly design and implement an assessment.

This case study draws on research into some of the processes through which people access, hold, and trade land in poorer areas of towns and cities. The research was commissioned by Urban LandMark and undertaken by the Isandla Institute, Stephen Berrisford Consulting and Progressus Research and Development. 

The land challenge is central to the broader youth dynamics of migration, employment, livelihoods and belonging. The more than 1.8 billion youth living worldwide represent not only a land challenge, but an untapped potential in moving the tenure security agenda forward.

Youth-led Action Research on Land builds on previous youth and land engagement and consultations that have identified critical needs and knowledge gapsin the space of youth and land.

This report presents results from nationally representative surveys with 1,000 residents aged 15 and older in eight countries — Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru and Tanzania — and with 3,000 residents in India. Each survey attained comprehensive coverage of both urban and rural areas of the country using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling.1 Standardized interviewer and supervisor training, as well as robust validation of data collection/data entry, help to ensure rigorous quality standards. 

The land challenge is central to the broader youth dynamics of migration, employment, livelihoods and belonging. The more than 1.8 billion youth living worldwide represent not only a land challenge, but an untapped potential in moving the tenure security agenda forward. Recognizing this, the Global Land Tool Network has partnered with UN-Habitat to develop youth responsive land tools through the Youth-led Action Research on Land program. Five action research projects will be undertaken by youth organizations in Brazil, Kenya, Nepal, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

In Ghana 70 per cent of the population are smallholder farmers who depend on the land for their basic needs. Growing competition for this resource is having significant impacts on rural livelihoods and governance as land changes hands. This study highlights the key drivers of pressure on rural land and their communities, such as population growth, urbanisation and acquisition of land by new actors, including government and business.

Over the last decade, there have been considerable concerns raised regarding the social and environmental impacts of large-scale land concessions for plantation development in various parts of the world, especially in the tropics, including in Laos and Cambodia. However, there is still much to learn about the various connections and interactions associated with reactions to what are often referred to as “land grabs”, and the ways they are associated or not associated with broader social movements and networks opposed to land grabbing.