News on Land

Calling all land enthusiasts! In collaboration with our colleagues at GODAN Action, we are excited to announce a new call for applications for the Open Data Management Online Course. The content of the course has now expanded to include land, in addition to agriculture and nutrition! This edition of the course has been revised particularly for communities managing and storing data with regards to land. We invite anyone handling data in their studies or work in the areas of land, agriculture and nutrition to apply for the course which will be held from 1-19 October 2018.

Indigenous communities occupying four territories in eastern Panama are taking their nearly five-year land-titling battle with the government to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Their move comes despite recent gains in the Panamanian process.

The ILC Secretariat is now accepting applications from member organisations to host interns for the ILC internship programme. The internship programme aims at giving the opportunity to Master’s students and young researchers from within the ILC network to be placed for an internship in another ILC member organisation.

Deadline: 30/09/2018

Why should you apply?

This is a unique opportunity for ILC members to attract additional capacity into their institutions. The internship programme will

Can digital technologies play a role in “closing the gap” in the 21st century?

Our research is focused on designing digital technologies that operate outside existing power structures. That means Indigenous leaders taking charge of the process – and consulting Indigenous end-users throughout.

Kamala Damor, or Sister Kamala, works with women and girls in rural Gujarat to help them access their right to property and inheritance. She tells her story to Chhavi Sachdev.

MEGHRAJ, INDIA – On Mondays, I leave home at 9 a.m. so I can be in Meghraj town by 10, when the land awareness and legal literacy center where I work, Swa Bhoomi Kendra, opens.

Murders of land and environmental activists are surging in the Philippines

BANGKOK - Murders of land and environmental activists are surging in the Philippines, making it the deadliest country in Asia, according to campaigners who said the government has failed to provide protection.

The Philippines-based rights group Karapatan recorded at least 63 killings of land and environmental activists last year, more than double the previous year.

MUMBAI - Women in villages who have to walk miles each day to fetch water are bearing the brunt of India's worst water crisis in history, with activists warning of serious impacts on their health and well-being.

About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water, and 600 million face high to extreme water stress, the government think tank Niti Aayog said last month.

Most of them are from villages, where the task of fetching water for cleaning, cooking and washing falls to women.

MONTREAL — In 2006, India’s parliament passed the Forest Rights Act, or FRA — a groundbreaking legislation that recognizes the rights of forest dwellers to protect and manage forest resources.

BANGKOK - In a rare rebuke of another government agency, India's Tribal Affairs Ministry has sent a letter to the forest ministry warning that its proposed policy would lead to the "privatisation" of forests and undermine indigenous rights.

The draft National Forest Policy 2018, released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in March, suggests allowing plantations of teak, eucalyptus and bamboo in forest lands under public-private partnerships.

BOGOTA - Nearly four land and environmental activists were killed each week last year, murdered for opposing large-scale agriculture and mining projects in the deadliest year on record, a campaign group said on Tuesday.

In 22 countries surveyed by U.K.-based Global Witness, at least 207 activists were killed, making 2017 the deadliest year since 2002 when the human rights organization started collecting data.

Many Indians face untold hardships due to lack of good shelter including health issues. Those in cities live in a slum close-by or stay far-away where there is no livelihood and few commuting options.

According to the State of the Low-Income Housing Finance Market 2018 report, with increasing urbanization and the lack of planning for housing, there is an estimated shortage of 10-12 million low-income homes, along with 26-37 million urban poor who live in poor quality informal homes. .

On 3 July 2018, the European Parliament adopted by 534 votes to 71, with 73 abstentions, a resolution on violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in the world, including land grabbing, drafted by rapporteur Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Francisco Assis (S&D).