May 2016: A publication from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), titled ‘Improving Tenure, Improving Lives – 2016: Putting the Voluntary Guidelines into Action,’ highlights several initiatives supported by FAO and its funding partners in 47 countries around the world, in the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (the Voluntary Guidelines), which were adopted by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in 2012.

The publication describes the Voluntary Guidelines as “an unbiased framework in which new conversations on tenure are taking place, new skills are being developed, and new policies are being influenced in participatory ways.” It outlines how multi-stakeholder platforms in countries such as Guatemala, the Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Uganda are helping to strengthen national and sub-national land governance across diverse sectors. The report also highlights the growing use of open source applications, such as the Solutions for Open Land Administration (SOLA), to support increased transparency of land transactions and to expand electronic land registration in countries such as Guatemala, Nigeria and Uganda.

FAO also highlights various capacity building initiatives, including a Belgian-funded program that has enabled civil society organizations in various countries to design flexible training activities and initiate follow-up actions to monitor land reform processes at the national and local levels. It also discusses an African regional project to promote effective land policies that provide equitable and secure access to land, that enhance linkages between the Voluntary Guidelines and the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa. Co-implemented by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which hosts the LPI, and FAO, with funding from Switzerland and the EU, the project also aims to contribute to knowledge sharing among the 10 countries involved in the project.

Related initiatives highlighted in the May 2016 Governance of Tenure newsletter include: ongoing consultations in Central America aimed at enhancing public dialogue to improve land access and rights for indigenous communities in the context of the Voluntary Guidelines; a new Land Reform Bill approved by the Scottish Parliament that explicitly recognizes the Voluntary Guidelines as internationally accepted principles and practices for responsible practices in relation to land; discussion of the Voluntary Guidelines at the 17th Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in March 2016, which addressed the theme of ‘Scaling up responsible land governance’; and the publication of a technical guide for legal professionals working with state institutions, civil society, development agencies and the private sector to better understand the provisions contained in the Voluntary Guidelines. [FAO Governance of Tenure Newsletter, May 2016, Issue #29] [Publication: Improving Tenure, Improving Lives – 2016: Putting the Voluntary Guidelines into Action] [IISD RS Story on Proposed Monitoring Framework for the Voluntary Guidelines]