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IIED, Namati and CCSI | New Initiative ALIGN

IIED, Namati and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) have developed a new initiative to support governments, civil society, local communities and private sector actors in improving the governance and practices of land-based investments.  

The Advancing Land-based Investment Governance (ALIGN) project involves:

  • Sustained, in-depth work in three sub-Saharan African countries, including Sierra Leone, to support policy development and implementation, legal empowerment, and dialogue between actors, both at the national level and in selected sites
  • An international facility for responsive support to governments, civil society, local communities and other relevant actors, for example through training and support regarding policy development and implementation, legal empowerment, and dialogue between actors, and
  • Enhancing understanding and improving practices among key actors, globally and in specific targeted contexts, through developing and disseminating innovative responses to key challenges.  

In the first few months of the project, priority is being given to monitoring, responding to and anticipating developments occurring in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Further partner organisations will also be identified during project implementation.

Read more on the launch of ALIGN here.

ITC Twente | Evaluating Some Major Assumptions in Land Registration: Insights from Ghana’s Context of Land Tenure and Registration

Read this new article by Zaid Abubakari, Christine Richter and Jaap Zevenbergen: Evaluating Some Major Assumptions in Land Registration: Insights from Ghana;s Context of Land Tenure and Registration.

Abstract:
A discussion of the assumptions that underlie efforts to register land enables us to not only evaluate their validity across different contexts, but most importantly, to further understand how the low incidences of land registration might derive from very fundamental sources outside of differences in technology and approaches of recording. Building on existing literature and previous research in Ghana, this study has identified and evaluated three such assumptions, namely, land rights registration is desirable, all land rights are registrable, and access to the registration system is an administrative event. We analyzed each assumption in order to find out how they manifest in conventional approaches as well as what they imply for emerging fit-for-purpose (FFP) approaches. In the context of Ghana, we find that (a) there are variations in desirability across space (urban vs. rural) and among landholders; (b) many land rights are registrable, but not all, unless we accept a loss in meaning; and (c) access to the registration system can be an administrative event between surveyor/surveyed, but it is often a process of connecting multiple actors and practices. We conclude that close attention needs to be paid to scenarios where these fundamental assumptions fall short, in order to finetune them and redirect associated implementation strategies.

 
This article is open access and can be found at MDPI journal Land. Read now!

 

Oxfam Novib | Job Opportunity

This position lies in Oxfam (Novib)’s food and justice campaign GROW. The GROW campaign contributes to a diverse and active movement for food justice. It focuses on small scale-food producers and their communities benefiting more from local, national and global public and private sector policies in the areas of land rights, climate change, investment, income and human rights to ensure that their food security, prosperity and resilience are promoted. In this role, you will contribute to the advocacy work in the field of agricultural investments (including climate finance for agriculture) and land rights, and will participate in the management of an externally funded project – to support these influencing strategies – housed within the team.

The person they are looking for has a track record in advocacy, preferably in national and international settings. The policy lead analyses Dutch ODA policy on agriculture and climate finance and contributes to Oxfam proposals to improve policies. The policy lead develops research and policy positions on agriculture, climate finance, land rights and related thematic priorities. The policy lead works closely with the campaigners in the GROW team to deliver (digital) campaign strategies, and works closely with program development staff to prepare funding proposals to institutional donors, lead on research and advocacy outputs, write blogs and op-eds for broader audiences. You work well in a multi-disciplinary team around the world, you are comfortable in planning and organizing your own work, and you can find a balance between different angles and stakeholders. Please note that your application must be received by the 5th of October at the latest.

Please click here for more information.

ZOA | Job Opportunity

Vacancy closing date: 9 October 2020

ZOA is looking for a new Consortium Coordinator. The international work of ZOA is coordinated from the Netherlands. ZOA is active in multiple countries in Africa, South America, Middle East Region and Asia and works with approximately 900 employees worldwide and also with (local) partners. The Consortium Coordinator coordinates the implementation of the WeAreAble! Consortium, consisting of four (I)NGOs, namely ZOA as lead, the African Disability Forum (ADF), The Leprosy Mission (TLM) and Light for the World (LftW). In addition, The Hague Academy (THA) and Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten Internationaal (VNGi) have been subcontracted under this grant.

Please click here for more information. 

World Habitat | Job Opportunity

Deadline for applications: 14 October at 10am (BST).

World Habitat is looking for a dynamic Programme Officer to support their World Habitat Awards programme. You will be part of a small and experienced team that runs the Awards competition, and a series of international programmes and events that arise out of it. You will support the World Habitat Awards team and external partners to identify and encourage the adoption of the best housing practices. They are looking for someone who enjoys a variety of work, has strong self-management skills, and who will enjoy the opportunity to work with a global network of partners. Due to the nature of their work, they require someone who is comfortable working virtually and is able to build strong working relationships on and offline.

Please click here to read the full vacancy. 

ITC and EU | Innovative Geospatial Tools for Mapping Land Rights in East Africa Faster, Easier and Cheaper

In sub-Saharan Africa, it’s an ongoing challenge to map millions of unrecognised land rights. An EU initiative delivered land mapping tools that respond to the need to rapidly map millions of land rights.

Project partners developed an innovative suite of land tenure recording tools based on geoinformation technologies that respond to the needs of end users, such as local communities, SMEs, non governmental organisations and government. The tools reinforce an existing strategic collaboration between the EU and East Africa. The partners performed data collection, piloting and demonstration activities at rural communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda.

The tools and accompanying models improve land tenure mapping by providing faster and less costly land rights recording in East African countries. They enable local communities and governments alike to adjudicate, demarcate, survey and record land tenure information that for too long was unavailable or concealed.

Please click here to read the full article. 

 

 

Wageningen University & Research | 3 PhD Positions on Climate Security and Food Systems

Deadline for application: October 1st 2020

Wageningen University and Research (WUR), the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) are looking for 3 outstanding candidates for our joint PhD program on Climate Security and Food Systems. The objective is to uncover and maximise synergies, focusing not only on eliciting integrated research but on complementing it with the most effective supporting role in policy development and advocacy. The selected PhD candidates will work under a common and jointly developed framework, with each of them focusing on a specific geographic area. One PhD project will be on the Sahel, one on the Ganges Delta in Bangladesh and one the Mekong Delta. The selected candidates are expected to start doctoral studies in Fall 2020. 

For more information on these PhD positions, please click here

RRI | New research by the Rights and Resources Initiative

The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) has shared three new technical analyses to serve as a roadmap to scale up land tenure reforms globally. The launch of these analyses is intended to influence donors, policy makers, negotiators, and investors in advance of UN Climate Week, and to feed into negotiations of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, Convention on Biological Diversity 15, and UNFCCC COP 26. The reports include:

  1. Estimate of the area of land and territories of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants where their rights have not been recognized – this document represents the first comprehensive effort to develop a global baseline of the total land area with unrecognized rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants. The analysis covers 42 countries, representing almost 50 percent of global land area. It finds that that Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants exercise customary rights to at least 50% of the land area of the countries studied, and at least 46% of this area has yet to be recognized.
  2. The Opportunity Framework: Identifying Opportunities to Invest in Securing Collective Tenure Rights in the Forest Areas of Low and Lower Middle Income Countries – the Opportunity Framework provides a simple tool to help facilitate, prioritize, and mobilize greater investments to scale-up the recognition of land and forest rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. This report is an independent, and expert, high-level scan of the status of country readiness for investments to secure these rights, prioritizing countries that are members of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Based on the results of the study, investment in just 7 countries would shift some 176 million hectares of forest lands from public to Indigenous or community ownership, more than doubling progress made over the last 15 years, benefiting some 400 million people, and helping to secure some 153 billion tons of carbon.
  3. Urgency and Opportunity: Addressing global health, climate, and biodiversity crises by scaling-up the recognition and protection of Indigenous and community land rights and livelihoods – this brief synthesizes findings from the above technical analyses, along with other datapoints drawn from historical RRI research, to orient these arguments at the heart of ongoing negotiations related to climate, biodiversity, and the global response to Covid-19. The brief concludes with a call from the RRI Coalition, aimed at governments, the international community, conservation organizations, and the private sector on priority actions to take to close the gap in the legal recognition and protection of the customary land and forest rights of communities to mitigate climate change, protect vital ecosystems, and accelerate progress towards inclusive and sustainable development.

This suite of analysis spotlights both unrealized potential and opportunities for global support and investments in secure Indigenous and community lands, which in turn offer the chance to build a more sustainable, just, and resilient world. Taken together, these elements represent the ingredients for transformative change.

To learn more about the technical analysis, please visit the recently updated RRI website. You can access the newly available reports, brief, and press release, here.

 

LANDac | Guatemala Blog Series Update – Land governance in Guatemala: a new setback

Over the course of 2018 and 2019 Jur Schuurman has zoomed in on the story of Guatemalan land issues from many perspectives in this blog series. In this recently published update, he updates us on some worrying recent developments in Guatemala: the Secretaría de Asuntos Agrarios (the Department for Agrarian Affairs – SAA), created as a corollary of the Peace Agreements of 1996, has been closed down by the Guatemalan president. This will have a great impact on the monitoring and solving of land conflicts.

ILC | 2020 Land Forums and Regional Assemblies

The International Land Coalition invites you to participate in the virtual 2020 Regional Assemblies and Land Forums. Please be aware that although Land Forums are open events,  participation in the Assemblies are reserved for ILC members only. 

Africa
This year’s theme is ‘Delivering on the African Union Agenda 2063 by promoting people-centered land governance in Africa’. The Land Forum will be held on 15 – 17 September. On the 18th of September the Regional Assembly co-organized with IGAD and the African Union will take place. 
Please click here to register for ILC Africa’s Land Forum.

Latin America and the Caribbean 
‘Inequality in Latin America: Impact and proposals for land governance’ is this year’s theme for Land Forum and Regional Assembly. The Land Forum will take place on 6 – 8 October and the Regional Assembly will take place on the 13 – 16 October. Please follow this link to register for Latin America and the Caribbean Land Forum. 

Asia
ILC Asia’s theme concerns ‘Securing land rights for smallholder farmers and sustainable food systems’. The Land Forum will take place on 6 – 8 October, the Regional Assembly will take place on the 9th of October. Please click here for more information and registration. 

Europe and the Middle East
Please send an email to c.wedeman@landcoalition.org in order to register for this event.