26 May 2016: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the European Union (EU) are supporting a three-year project that will support responsible land tenure principles to secure the rights of indigenous communities and contribute to biodiversity conservation and peacebuilding in Colombia.

The €3 million project is part of a broader strategy supported by FAO and the EU to enhance the efforts of the Colombian government to build a lasting and sustainable peace. The project will support Colombia’s Post-Conflict Ministry to design strategies for promoting the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (Voluntary Guidelines).

The project specifically aims to slow deforestation trends, govern land-use changes and help resolve disputes over how land and natural resources are exploited. It will engage key national partners such as the National Natural Park System, the Land Restitution and Rural Agricultural Planning units, and World Wildlife Fund Colombia.

FAO will make available its technical leadership in agricultural and food security policies, focusing on the three pillars of: promoting more stability in land management; supporting food and livestock production in rural areas targeted by the government’s rural development and land restitution plan; and supporting the eradication of hunger and chronic childhood malnutrition.

The Voluntary Guidelines were officially endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security on 11 May 2012. Since then, their implementation has been encouraged by, among others, the G20, the UN General Assembly and the Francophone Assembly of Parliamentarians. [FAO Press Release] [IISD RS Story on National Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines]