This course aims to provide guidance to government authorities engaged in investment promotion, approval, and monitoring activities at all stages of the agricultural land-based investment cycle. Based on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure for Land, Fisheries and Forests, the course provides technical guidance on how to safeguard tenure rights, human rights, food security and the environment in the context of such investments.

Ill-regulated land acquisition and unilateral land concessions may often trigger forced relocations, conflicts and human rights abuses. This course introduces the concept of Free, Prior and Informed Consent that indigenous people and small family farmers can use to protect their customary or traditional land rights. The process ensures that communities can participate in decision-making processes and that their concerns, priorities and preferences are accommodated in any project affecting their lands, territories and resources.

This journal article discusses the importance of empowering grassroots community to facilitate the sharing of climate change and REDD+ related information, knowledge and policies discussed at the national, regional and global level to local stakeholders.

Overall it was found that institutional capacity for strengthening forest tenure for forest dependent communities exists, but significant gaps were identified in all countries and all types of organizations. All three countries need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the different actors to identify measures and activities that will have direct livelihood improvement benefits and increase the income of forest dependent communities.

Improving livelihoods and income of forest dependent communities is important in the context of poverty reduction efforts, food security, and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this regard, many countries in Asia have initiated forest tenure reform programmes. However, the outcome of such reform is mixed and potential benefits to rural people are not fully realised. Restrictive and weak regulatory frameworks, tenure insecurity, and insufficient institutional capacity are key factors limiting the impacts of forest tenure reform.

The project in question refers to the case of 'Freedom Square' in Gobabis, which is a cooperation between the Municipality of Gobabis and the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN), the Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG), the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), and other international parties. The project is motivated by an agenda of 'inclusive cities': through close collaboration with existing residents in the area, the process of land delivery is expedited and turned into an exercise of making inhabitants drivers in the improvement of living conditions.

This training manual has thus been developed to enhance the knowledge and skills in gender mainstreaming, including gender analysis and the integration of the findings from the analysis into the design of forestry interventions. This manual is particularly relevant for forestry-related interventions and practices that seek to promote participation and reduce the inequality that exists between forestdependent women and men, especially among marginalized people living in rural areas.

This report was prepared as part of the
World Bank engagement in the Philippines to support Islamic
Finance and Financial Inclusion. It provides an overview on
the context for the development of Islamic finance in the
Philippines and is accompanied by two focused reports
providing further detail and suggestions on enhancing
financial inclusion in the Philippines through Islamic
microfinance and assessment of the status of financial

This Guide has been developed for use by our colleagues and partners in implementing the GLTN capacity development strategy at country level. It is based on practical experience gained in the course our work during GLTN Phase 2, specifically in the development and application of pro-poor, gender responsive land tools. In our experience, learning is a fundamental precondition for the successful innovations that are so urgently needed to achieve responsible land administration for secure land and property rights for all.

Capacity development is at the heart of Action Against Desertification’s efforts to combat land degradation, desertification and drought. A capacity development strategy is in place to strengthen the capacities of individuals and organizations in sustainable land management and restoration, and to support the establishment of an enabling policy and legal environment at local, national, and regional level to increase the impact and ensure sustainability of activities carried out under Action Against Desertification.

Action contre la désertification aide les pays à identifier leurs capacités existantes et à hiérarchiser leurs besoins, en faisant intervenir un large éventail de parties prenantes : gouvernements, société civile, organisations de producteurs et de femmes, organisations techniques, instituts de recherche et communautés locales aussi bien au niveau local, national, régional qu'international.

At its 42nd Plenary session in 2015, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) decided to hold a global thematic event at the 43rd session in October 2016 to share experiences and take stock of the use and application of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT), as a contribution to monitoring progress towards VGGT implementation. This second global stocktake on the VGGT is informed by the contributions received from stakeholders.