This month, we invite you to participate in the e-consultation on Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. Following a lengthy regional consultation process, additional input is being requested prior to the drafting of the Zero Draft Guidelines. FAO Headquarters marked World Water Day 2011, examining the urgent need for safe water supplies for the world’s rapidly growing urban populations.

Land Tenure Working Paper 19. The present paper is written as part of the overall Voluntary Guidelines consultation and development process and is a contribution to the subsequent preparation of the Gender Technical Guide. It contextualises and defines gender for the Voluntary Guidelines, discusses what governance of tenure means from a gender perspective and identifies and analyses key issues and themes. It then summarises recommendations relevant to gender before drawing some conclusions for the development process of the Voluntary Guidelines.

In this issue, we will be introducing the new Land tenure e-journal, which has just launched its first issue. This e-journal is dedicated to land-related issues, including land tenure. We will also learn about the recently issued report, the State of the World’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and we will introduce you to the new web site gearing up for the 2012 event marking the twentieth anniversary of the Earth Summit - FAO@Rio+20.

Documento de trabajo sobre la tenencia de la tierra 19. Este documento se enmarca dentro de la consulta global de las Directrices Voluntarias y su proceso de desarrollo y es una aportación para la preparación posterior de la Guía Técnica de Género. En él se contextualiza y se define el concepto de género en las Directrices Voluntarias, se trata el significado de gobernanza de tenencia desde la perspectiva de género y se identifican y analizan los temas y aspectos claves.

This country profile is a summary of key information that gives an overview of the water resources and water use at the national level. It can support water-related policy and decision makers in their planning and monitoring activities as well as inform researchers, media and the general public.

La Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indígenas (CAOI) ha desarrollado un largo proceso de discusión acerca del Buen Vivir, propuesta central de los pueblos indígenas y sus organizaciones. La sistematización de este debate y una investigación desarrollada en los países que la integran, ha sido publicada en el libro Buen Vivir / Vivir Bien. Filosofía Políticas, Estrategias y Experiencias Regionales Andinas.  

Great share of rented land in total utilised area as well as a significant variability of land rent and market prices of land causes a need of research that would assess which factors influence the land rent as well as the price of land and how significant such factor are in each state. The average land rent is significantly lower in new EU member states than in the EU 15 members. There is a strong dependence of land rent on the intensity of production. Subsidies have moderate to medium influence.

As the world is urbanizing, many cities are grappling with a population that is growing rapidly, thereby increasing demand for land and housing. This pressure on land and housing markets often is exacerbated by inappropriate or inadequate policies. The result is a supply of well-located land and housing that falls well short of demand and the proliferation of poorly serviced informal settlements, many of which are located far from jobs, city services and amenities.

Mongolia has very significant natural resources and a large part of the population is dependent on them for their daily living. The impact of the state of the environment on the living standards of herders is obvious, but also Mongolians living in the capital Ulaanbaatar have learned that air pollution, especially in winter, and other environmental problems have a deep impact on their living standards. The Government of the Netherlands has established a Trust Fund at the World Bank to support environmental activities in Mongolia.

Since the publication of the Report of the Brundtland Commission (Our Common Future) in 1987, and the consequent Earth Summit on sustainable development, global attention on natural resource scarcity and degradation has been increasing, because of climate change and rising food and energy prices. This awareness, in turn, has led to growing interest in land investments by the private and public sectors. Despite this interest, however, land degradation has not been comprehensively addressed at the global level or in developing countries.

The aim of this initiative is to help the States to re-think their land policies in line with their national realities, and to ensure that they are effectively and efficiently implemented. The current issues involving new land policies in Africa include consolidation of peace, sustainable use of natural resources, promotion of economic growth and poverty reduction.