The purpose of this paper is examine the notion of tenure in connection with water resources and to explore whether the concept of water tenure has the potential to make a useful contribution towards resolving the world’s water resources challenges. It seeks to provide answers to the following questions: (a) What is water tenure? (b) Does water tenure really exist or is water simply too different from other natural resources? (c) Could the concept of water tenure be useful in terms of the development of natural resources policies and practices?

Adopted by the 127th Session of the FAO Council, November 2004. The objective of the Voluntary Guidelines is to provide practical guidance to States in their implementation of the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, in order to achieve the goals of the World Food Summit Plan of Action. They provide an additional instrument to combat hunger and poverty and to accelerate attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Land Tenure Working Paper 11. This co-publication of FAO and UN-HABITAT seeks to better understand and define the processes, mechanisms and institutions of governance of tenure in rural and urban areas. The paper recognises that excellent land policies, laws and technical reforms have been developed. However, in many cases their implementation has slipped, stalled or even been reversed. By adopting a governance and political economy perspective, the paper offers insights for the design of reforms and for the development of land governance tools.

Cuadernos de trabajo sobre el derecho a la alimentación 3. Este cuaderno presenta el procedimiento para realizar la revisión de la compatibilidad de la legislación sectorial que puede afectar a diversos aspectos del derecho a la alimentación con el fin de garantizar que el marco legislativo del país constituye un entorno jurídico favorable para la realización progresiva de este derecho. El contenido de este cuaderno de trabajo está basado en la “Guía para legislar sobre el derecho a la alimentación”.

Il y a plusieurs décennies, les efforts des administrations consistaient essentiellement à développer la pêche et l’aquaculture et à veiller à ce que la production et la consommation augmentent. Lorsque, dans les années 80, de nombreuses ressources ont été exploitées complètement ou à l’excès, les décideurs ont commencé à être attentifs à la gestion des pêches, outre le développement de l’aquaculture. L’aquaculture continue à progresser, tandis que la pêche – pour l’ensemble du monde – semble plafonner.

Consistent with its mandate to pursue a world free from hunger and malnutrition, the following “FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples” has been formulated so as to ensure that FAO will make all due efforts to respect, include and promote indigenous issues in relevant work.

This guide is written for people who work in land administration and all those with an interest in land, land tenure and their governance. Although much has been written about the importance of good governance in achieving development goals, there is comparatively little material on good governance in land tenure and administration. Failings in governance have adverse consequences for society as a whole. By contrast, good governance can help achieve economic development and the reduction of poverty. Good governance matters.

In September 2008, the FAO-Dimitra project organised its third workshop with all its partners in Brussels, on the theme:“Information and communication strategies to fight gender inequality as regards land access and its consequences for rural populations in Africa”. This document presents a synthesis of the workshop’s activities as well as the different articles which were prepared for the workshop by the participants – the partners of the network and FAO colleagues.

The purpose of this document is to promote a dialogue about land issues between FAO and its member countries, indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum and other interested organizations. It outlines a number of basic principles of a methodological approach for indigenous peoples’ territorial recognition, starting from the consideration that a simple legal recognition is often not sufficient to improve living conditions for these communities. A more open reflection on the delicate theme of ‘development’ is also promoted and sought.

The Review of the legislative framework and jurisprudence concerning the right to adequate food in Nepal discusses overarching aspects of Nepalese law and jurisprudence dealing with the human right to food. Following a brief discussion of the international legal protection of the right to food in Nepal, the review, in particular provides a critical assessment of constitutional as well as legislative provisions and offers a thorough analysis of Supreme Court jurisprudence pertaining to the right to food.

The papers contained in this issue have been selected from those presented at a series of workshops, held in 2002 in Hungary, Uganda, Mexico and Cambodia, that were organized by the World Bank jointly with the Department for International Development (DFID), the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and with FAO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the African development Bank (AfDB), the European Union (EU), the International Land Coalition, Oxfam, and other bilateral an

This paper focuses on legal and institutional aspects of children’s property and inheritance rights in Southern and East Africa. Chapter 2 discusses violations of children’s property and inheritance rights and discusses how the spread of HIV/AIDS has contributed to the violations. Chapter 3 assesses several norms of customary law that aim to protect children’s property and inheritance rights as well as the current practices of customary law that—in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic—serve to complicate and limit children’s ability to maintain their rights.