News on Land

Communities have continued to suffer targeted killings, threats, displacement from their land and the effects of anti-personnel mines. 

Colombia's Indigenous peoples say their rights continue to be violated, and their land stolen, in spite of the peace deal signed last November between the government and FARC rebels.

Human rights advocates and specialist bodies at the United Nations have demanded an end to the discrimination, exclusion and lack of protections for Indigenous peoples around the globe. This call comes ahead of the tenth annual International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which will take place Wednesday. The statement, dated August 9, urges the world's governments to take further measures to provide basic services to Indigenous people facing systemic dispossession, while also preventing violence against land defenders facing worsened murder rates, dispossession and the loss of their lands.

The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Working Group on Land Rights Act (LRA) has called on the legislature not to tamper with some of its provisions, saying it would defeat not only the fundamental purpose of the land reform, but also undermine peace, reconciliation, and development in Liberia.

The group is a coalition of CSOs working on community land rights across Liberia that is currently engaging stakeholders and lawmakers on the passage of the Draft Land Rights Act.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are stewards of natural resources and nature. We have been conserving our territories for thousands of years. Each indigenous community has its own territory. For indigenous nomadic pastoralists our territory consists of summering grounds, wintering grounds, migration routes, stopovers and mid-way stations with different ecological, social, economic and cultural assets. These assets include forests, rangelands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, coasts, seas, and many other types of ecosystems and wildlife.

Santiago Maldonado was last seen when security forces evicted Mapuche Indians from land owned by clothing company Argentina’s government has offered a reward for information about the whereabouts of a missing activist who was last seen when security forces evicted a group of Mapuche Indians from lands in Patagonia owned by the Italian clothing company Benetton.

Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Spencer Cohen – Senior Economist at Community Attributes, a Seattle-based research consultancy, and former senior policy adviser for the Washington Economic Development Commission – is the 102nd in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.” 

In which areas has China’s market reforms shown productive results?

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) will lead the tribal folk of the Cordillera Region in marking World Indigenous People’s Day on August 9, 2017 – with a vow to further assert their right to self-determination.

“Our common plight as indigenous peoples experiencing national oppression, discrimination, development aggression and human rights violations strengthens our resolve to unite with indigenous peoples and other oppressed sectors in the Philippines, as well as our brothers and sisters in other nations,” stated CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget.

Odisha Government on Tuesday took a decision to grant land rights to the slum dwellers living in Municipal Councils and Notified Area Councils of the State and property rights to those living in Municipal Corporation areas. Accordingly, the State Cabinet approved promulgation of two ordinances for assigning land rights or property rights to the identified slum dwellers for redevelopment, rehabilitation and upgradation of slums.

NAIROBI — In the months leading up to Tuesday’s general election in Kenya, civil society organizations have been laying the groundwork to prevent the kind of violence that has erupted during elections past.

Amid concerns that tensions between communities could spill over into violence if the election outcome is not perceived as legitimate, organizations have been working in recent months to mitigate localized conflicts over issues such as resources, borders and land rights.

Land is integral to securing shelter, agriculture for food security, mobilising investments and for the sustainable management of resources. With these issues in focus, Habitat for Humanity's Solid Ground Campaign, in association with the Urban CSO Cluster of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) of UN-HABITAT, will be hosting a conference in Pretoria, 15-17 August.

Modern land registration systems are usually compulsory. Countries must be able to keep track of land, ownership and land use. This is important for planning, real estate sales and urbanization. When land is properly and legally registered, it should protect landowners.

The National Land Policy (NLP) will seek to ensure that a staggered, accessible and affordable process of compulsory registration is enforced after the ratification of the policy.

Mental Health Australia says governments need better response to ‘slow-burning, invisible kind of tragedy’

Governments are better at tackling natural disasters than longer-term problems in remote Indigenous communities, the head of Mental Health Australia has said.