On the 11th May 2012, the Committee on World Food Security of the United Nations adopted the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT). Rural 21 asked Roman Herre of the human rights organisation FIAN about his views on the implementation of the Guidelines so far.

This Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Manual is designed as a tool for project practitioners of a broad range of projects and programmes of any development organization, by providing information about the right to FPIC and how it can be implemented in six steps.

صمم دليل حق الشعوب الأصلية وممارسة جيدة للمجتمعات المحلية كأداة للمارسي المشاريع في طيف واسع من المشاريع والبرامج التابعة لأي منظمة تنموية، حيث يوفر معلومات حول حق الشعوب الأصلية وممارسة جيدة للمجتمعات المحلية وكيف يمكن تنفيذها في ست خطوات. ويكمل هذا الليل سياسة منظمة الأغذية والزراعة الخاصة بالشعوب الأصلية والقبلية (2010) والتي تدرج حق الشعوب الأصلية وممارسة جيدة للمجتمعات المحلية كواحد من مبادئها.

The Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security discuss the importance of recognizing "legitimate land rights." But what does that mean and who determines which rights are "legitimate?"

A Comparative Study of Land Rights Systems in Southeast
Asia and the Potential of National and International Legal
Frameworks and Guidelines....."Land rights systems in Southeast Asia are in constant
flux; they respond to various socioeconomic and political pressures and to changes in statutory and customary
law. Over the last decade, Southeast Asia has become
one of the hotspots of the global land grab phenomenon,
accounting for about 30 percent of transnational land
grabs globally. Land grabs by domestic urban elites,

Focuses on communal land and attempts to better understand the intersection of gender, communal land, and land reform in Namibia. Concentrates on two regions that adopted different approaches. The Oshana region leads the implementation of the nationwide Communal Land Reform Act, 2002, that introduced the registration of customary land rights in communal areas, while the Kavango region declined to participate in this and instead continues to independently administer customary land rights in accordance with its established customary system.

Case study identifies good practices and lessons learned about including gender in a project designed to sensitize communities about the importance of securing land rights, build capacity of customary land secretariats, and provide alternative dispute resolution training to traditional authorities in the Northern Region of Ghana.

The accountability mechanisms currently underpinning land transactions in Ghana are very weak. This study explores how land transactions are taking place at the local level, the repercussions for communities especially women, and the responses of women in particular and communities at large to changed circumstances of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA). Discrimination against women in relation to land has its roots in customary laws and practices concerning the right of use, access to, and succession of land.

In Cambodia, the majority of the population is still composed of smallholder family farmers. 54% of the total labour force is employed in agriculture. They have access to 3.6 million ha of land, representing 19% of the country’s total land. The rest is divided between large scale economic land concessions (12%), public forests and protected areas, unclassified areas and some infrastructure.

Brazil lags behind much of the world in taking advantage of an important driver of economic growth: secure land rights. In 2015, Brazil ranked 64th on the International Property Rights Index (IPRI). It ranked even lower, at 95th, for secure property rights on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitive Index.

When property rights are secure, the nation’s lands can be managed, improved, or protected to their fullest potential. This could unlock new economic opportunities, develop markets more fully, and improve the use of the country’s resources.

Securing Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ land rights is an urgent matter – especially in the light of increasing resource demands and related conflicts. The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (Tenure Guidelines) provide a historic opportunity to recognize and secure tenure rights.