This edition of the Land Tenure Journal features a selection of articles from Central and Eastern Europe to Francophone and Anglophone West Africa, through East Africa and back to Northern Europe. The focus of the topics spans land consolidation approaches in Europe, experiences of land colonization and an overview of tenure reforms in Burkina Faso, post-conflict land policy in Liberia, land reform in Malawi, and community commons in Norway.

With the purpose of bringing new ideas to bear on the subject of institutional support to forest policy implementation, a Consultation sponsored by FAO and the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 2 to 11 February 1983. Twenty-nine participants attended In their individual capacities, drawn from 24 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America and from a very wide spectrum of disciplines. This issue of Unasylva presents a selection of the papers discussed at the Consultation.

This paper discusses the development of a new Land Law in Mozambique 1 , under the leadership of the Technical Secretariat (TS) of the Inter-ministerial Commission for the Revision of Land Legislation (popularly known as ‘the Land Commission’). The TS began work on the new law in August 1995 after first formulating a new National Land Policy. The National Assembly approved the law two years later. Regulations and other instruments needed to implement it were completed in December 1999.

Safeguarding property rights of vulnerable people is an important policy issue, not least in the quest for poverty reduction in poor societies. This issue has become urgent due to recent developments, including the AIDS epidemic, globalization, climate change and other similar social and natural forces. This study sets out to assess the extent to which property and inheritance rights of widows and orphans are violated or protected in the context of HIV and AIDS in two rural communities in Tanzania.

Ce manuel de formation souligne la façon de gérer et de résoudre les conflits concernant les droits relatifs au régime foncier, la sécurité foncière et l’accès à la terre dans le domaine du développement rural. Il a pour origine des activités complémentaires entreprises sous l’égide du Programme de soutien aux moyens d’existence de la FAO de l’Unité de la gestion des terres et des régimes fonciers et de la Coalition internationale pour l’accès à la terre.

Documento de trabajo sobre la tenencia de la tierra 15. Esta publicación presenta los vínculos que existen entre la tenencia de la tierra y la realización del derecho a la alimentación. Plantea que una gobernanza responsable de la tierra requiere un enfoque basado en los derechos humanos con el fin de implementar soluciones globales que resulten coherentes y efectivas a largo plazo.

This study focuses on the gender dimension of agriculture-related legislation, examining the legal status of women in three key areas. The result is an analysis identifying the main legal and some non-legal factors that affect the existence and exercise of women’s agriculture-related rights.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

En septembre 2008, le projet FAO-Dimitra a organis son troisime atelier avec tous ses partenaires Bruxelles sur le thme : Stratgies dinformation et de communication pour lutter contre les ingalits de genre en matire daccs la terre et leurs consquences sur les populations rurales en Afrique . Ce document prsente une synthse des travaux de la runion et les diffrents articles qui ont t produits par les participants, les partenaires du rseau et les collgues de la FAO, loccasion de cette rencontre.