The Tenure Guidelines aim to serve as a reference, providing guidance to improve the governance of land, fisheries and forests so that it can contribute effectively to securing the right to adequate food. The Guidelines thus constitute an internationally agreed upon normative standard that assesses the actions and omissions of states, UN agencies as well as international organisations with respect to the way they regulate land, fisheries and forests in specific situations. See box 1 below.

ActionAid International has been working over the last few years with women and rural communities to challenge commercialization of land, which leads to loss of their rights to land.

Guide to determine if monitoring is actually a viable activity that can be undertaken by their organisation. Choosing to undertake monitoring is dependent on considerations such as evaluating the sufficiency of resources, capacity to design a sound monitoring system, and availability of political windows to effect change, amongst others.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) are an international framework based on human rights obligations and standards for the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. Adopted in 2012 by Committee on World Food Security (CFS) member countries, and following an inclusive negotiation process, they recognise the importance of land to a country’s development, and that good land governance and broad access to land enable food security for all people.1

Tenure is crucial to the livelihoods of billions of people. For many, their food security is linked to their tenure security. People with weak, insecure tenure rights risk losing their means to support themselves if they lose their access to natural resources. Women often have weaker tenure rights where there is discrimination in laws and customs. Tenure systems define who can use which natural resources, for how long and under what conditions. Many tenure problems are caused by weak governance and attempts to address them are affected by the quality of governance.

We must agree as a nation, that several mistakes have been made in our land deals in recent years. We were stampeding in the wrong direction without adequately consulting beneficiaries i.e. those who are directly affected, those individuals and groups who suffer if anything goes wrong. They are also seen but not heard i.e. the voiceless and marginalized living in the rural areas. 

These Regulations reform the law in Ghana with respect to the granting of timber rights and related matters. They (a) regulate the identification of land suitable for the grant of timber rights, (b) regulate the terms and conditions for small and large scale timber rights, (c) regulate other sources of timber, and (d) provide for a legality licensing scheme.The Forestry Commission shall identify lands suitable for grant of large scale timber utilisation contracts. The Regulations set out the procedures for the identification of lands (including owner consent).

The booklet is part of a series of materials produced in India to raise awareness on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) among indigenous peoples and local authorities. In particular, the booklet aims a explaining, through simple cartoons, what communities can do to register their communal lands undert the Forests Rights Act, indicating steps to take and institutions to contact.

Putting the voluntary guidelines on tenure into practice: a learning guide for civil society organizations is a learning guide which has been designed specifically to give civil society and grassroots organizations a deeper understanding of the VGGT. It provides civil society organizations with a methodology and a set of materials to undertake training on the VGGT with civil society actors from the grassroots to the national level. Trainees will learn how to apply the VGGT to actual tenure gover nance.

The guidelines are the first comprehensive, global instrument on tenure and its administration to be prepared through intergovernmental negotiations. The guidelines set out principles and internationally accepted standards of responsible practices for the use and control of land, fisheries and forests.

Increase the use of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure among CSOs and Grassroots Organizations – Mongolia is a country factsheet that provides information on the project “Increase the use of the VGGT among CSOs and Grassroots Organizations”, a general overview of governance of natural resources in the country, and information on activities undertaken in the country in collaboration with local CSOs and grassroots organizations.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) promotes secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment. The guidelines were officially endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on 11 May 2012. 2. The Guidelines serve as a reference and set of principles and internationally accepted norms or practices for the responsible governance of tenure.