The FAO-IFAD-ILC side-event on “How can women’s land rights be secured? Learning from successful examples” will address the following questions:

• What are relevant experiences of women’s organizations to know, understand and claim women’s land rights; are there lessons that apply across contexts?
• How can women access justice systems to claim their land rights?
• What support do women’s organizations need to mobilise; what potential partnerships we can build and reinforce?
• What role can women’s organizations play in community development? How can women’s role in decision-making be strengthened?
• Which approaches have worked best to make women’s voices heard and get support from policy-makers?
• Which policies have promoted secure land rights for women and how can these be replicated? What innovative and affordable tools can secure land tenure?
• What are the challenges that women face in securing their land rights when land use is moving away from traditional agriculture towards commercial agriculture, the production of crops for fuel, and for conservation purposes?
• Once land rights are secured, how can women sustain livelihoods from the land?

Additionally, from 23 January to 6 February, ILC, the Land Portal, and the FSN Forum will jointly moderate an online discussion to gather further examples of how to secure women’s land rights and to raise questions to be posed to the panel. A synthesis of the discussion will be presented at the side event. Find out more at the Land Portal.

ILC Asia will be

Ekta Parishad will be celebrating the day among a prominent community of landless dalits in central Maharastra as part of its yearlong cross-India Samwad Yatra tour to mobilize people for the Global Jan Satyagraha March 2012. They would like to take this opportunity to start an online debate with the Land Portal community. Please let us know your thoughts on land rights and human rights in your country by leaving us a message on the Land Portal by clicking here.

The result of this discussion will be used by South-South Solidarity to compile a report and share it on the December 10th human right event as a way of advocating people for the 2012 Global Land Movement campaign.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Speakers for the Opening Session of the 2011 Asia Land Forum. From L-R: Sec. Lalmoni Joshi, Ministry of Land Reform, Nepal; Hon. Narayankaji Shrestha, Deputy Prime Minister, Nepal; Ms. Rohini Reddy, ILC Council member; Hon. Dipendra Bahadur Kshetri, Vice Chair, National Planning Commission, Govt. of Nepal; Mr. Jagat Basnet, CSRC, ILC member

More than 60 participants from over a dozen countries participated in the 2011 Asia Land Forum, organized by ILC Asia in collaboration with Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian  Reform and Rural Development, Community Self-Reliance Centre, and the Government of Nepal, on 20 to 21 October 2011 at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza in Kathmandu, Nepal.  This year’s focus was inspired by the 2011 SAARC Summit theme, Building Bridges, leading to the title, Preserving our Gains in the Struggle for Land: Building Bridges in Addressing Commercialization, Climate Change and Food Security.

Resource speakers representing government, NGO, and financial institution sectors from all over Asia gave presentations on a diverse range of topics, including climate change, food security, women’s access to land, and political economy and governance of large land acquisitions.  One presentation on transparency and accountability in decision-making in land transactions was broadcast via Skype by Mr. Peter Messerli at the University of Bern in Switzerland.  ILC members also presented various case studies in their respective home countries.  The audience was also invited to participate in a question-and-answer session at the end of each thematic discussion, leading to lively debates and discourse.

Presenters answer questions from the audience about case studies in the region.

After the two-day Land Forum, ILC members gathered for the Regional Assembly on 23 October 2011.  The annual gathering serves as a forum to provide updates on ILC Secretariat, Regional Node, and member activities and discuss future plans.  This year, ILC Asia had perfect member attendance at the Regional Assembly, including its ten new members from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, and the Philippines.

Mr. Tony Quizon opened the day with a presentation on the global debate on land, which included an overview of the history of land issues in Asia.  Ms. Sabine Pallas, Programme Officer at ILC in Rome, and Ms. Seema Gaikwad, Asia Regional Node Coordinator, also led discussions on relevant ILC documents and activities for the 2012 work plan.  Finally, members separated for small group discussions by region (South Asia and Southeast Asia) to provide feedback on the Strategic Framework and Operational Guidelines.

ILC members gathered for small group discussions.

The participants of the Land Forum and Regional Assembly appreciated the opportunity to learn more about various land-related issues in diverse Asian contexts and network with experts in each area.  The information shared and learned will be used to implement future activities in 2012 and beyond.  ILC Asia extends its appreciation to all who contributed their time and expertise in combating injustice and poverty in the region.

ILC Asia members

The Land Portal Video from The Land Portal on Vimeo.

The program was divided into three parts: (1) discussions on updates from the region and the secretariat and the priority issues in the region; (2) discussions on pertinent processes for the region (i. e. the internal review of the regionalization process, presentation of the draft version of the next ILC Strategic Framework and Membership Concerns); and, (3) formulation of the region’s road map for 2011-2015 and action planning. Two of the major decisions undertaken in the Assembly is the formal appointment of ALRD as the region’s focal organization for gender issues and of PAFID as the focal organization for the issues of the indigenous peoples.

Likewise, in the Regional Assembly, the incoming Regional Node Coordinator was introduced. Ms Seema Gaikwad is an Indian national and has years of working in the development sector. She will formally take the post on the 1st of December 2010. The members warmly welcomed her and has pledged their full support to her.

Below are some publications on Access to Land. If you have some that you want to be publicized in this blog, just send it to me at s.toledo@landcoalition.info.

Thanks,

Shem

IFAD land tenure policy

Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction

A Case Study of Common Property Resources in Bangladesh

Please find below a link to a publication entitled Indicators Relevant for Indigenous Peoples: A Resource Book.

This book was published in 208 by TEBTEBBA — Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education, with support from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional.

May the book be of great use to you!

Indicators Relevant for Indigenous Peoples: A Resource Book

About a fifth of Pakistan territory is inundated by gushing waters. The disaster zone stretches from the Swat Valley in the north, where 600,000 people are in need of help, to Sindh in the south.  About 1600 people are killed and 20,000,000 are affected. Their assets and sources of livelihood are completely destroyed.

The U.N. appealed last week for $459 million in international aid for immediate relief to Pakistan. Aid groups have complained that the response so far has been very slow.

These floods are a stern warning that climate change is actually happening and resulting in extreme events such as these unprecedented floods and long droughts which are expected anywhere. It is said by metrological department that a rainfall which could normally fall down in 4 months of time, just poured within just a week. Drought and desertification are the other disasters which we have already became habitual in the country.

After immediate rescue challenges the nations has to struggle through a relief operation of massive scale, with millions of helpless and hungry people in relief camps. Lethal water borne disease such as cholera is hovering over the heads of people which could kill millions if immediate appropriate actions are not taken. However considering the huge scale of disaster, the combined capacity of the government, Pakistan army and civil society is not a match to the disaster.

The civil society has lined up to join government and international agencies to provide relief to flood victims, in the form of food, medicines, shelter and basic facilities. Rehabilitation will be the next challenge after relief operations, which will involve providing seed and farm inputs to the farmers so that they resume their livelihood and country can be saved from a major food security failure.

Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment (SCOPE) is a Drynet partner which is involved in flood relief activities in Sindh Province. It is requested to our Northern counterparts and general public to assist us in relief operations through. You can send your donations at our account No. 119-2014343-010 at Faysal Bank Limited, University Road, Karachi, Pakistan. Swift Code fayspkka. For your aid, you can also contact Mr. Tanveer Arif, SCOPE Chief Executive Officer, at scope@scope.org.pk.

Pakistan floos cause ‘huge losses’ to crops

Pakistan flood toll exceeds 1,500 as Officials struggle to reach survivors