This document reports on the regional consultation for Southern America (including Mexico), held in Brasilia on 20 and 21 of May 2010 with the support of the Government of Brazil and preceded by a civil society meeting composed of organizations integrating the International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC), whose recommendations have been annexed at this document.

The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme officials in Ethiopia.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and several development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, academic and research institutions, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

Concentration of land ownership, lack of access, insecurity of tenure and lack of efficiency and transparency in land administration services, are among the obstacles towards responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Latin America. These issues have been the subject of discussions and policy recommendations during many international forums, such as the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in March 2006.

Land Tenure Working Paper 16 Governance of Land Tenure Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) looks at the land governance situation in the region. It has been prepared to provide a base for discussion for the regional consultation meetings on the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources. The objective of the study is to evaluate the current land governance situation in the region and to identify main achievements as well as remaining challenges.

Land Tenure Working Paper 17. This publication identifies and assesses issues related to land governance and provides examples of good governance in the Caribbean subregion. This working paper was done in light of FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources.

FAO and its development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, the private sector, civil society, academia, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practice and associated technical guidance, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

This regional evaluation is based on discussions and outputs of the consultation meeting of Francophone Africa on the Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources that was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 23-25 June 2010. The opinions expressed in this evaluation are those of the participants at the consultation meeting and do not necessarily reflect those of FAO.

Land Tenure Working Paper 15. This publication brings to light the existing linkages between land tenure and the realization of the right to food. It points out that responsible governance of land requires the adoption of human rights-based approach in order to develop coherent and long term solutions to improve people’s livelihoods. The document presents the legal implications of the right to food at national level and provides a series of examples on the implementation of human rights principles and obligations into land tenure systems, policies, and institutional frameworks.

The present study – looking at the land governance situation in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – has been prepared to provide a base for discussion for the regional consultation meetings on the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Germany, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Finland, GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), UN-Habitat, World Bank and UNDP, and IPC (International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty), Food First International Action Network (FIAN), ILC (International Land Coalition), FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private se