9 September 2015
Global Stakeholders Call for Expanded SDG Indicator on Land
story highlights

The Global Donor Working Group on Land has endorsed an expanded land rights indicator for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It aims to address concerns among stakeholders that the indicator recommended by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Land Indicators leaves out the “critical component” of secure land rights for a transformational Post-2015 Agenda.

globaldonorplataformSeptember 2015: The Global Donor Working Group on Land has endorsed an expanded land rights indicator for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to address concerns among stakeholders that the indicator recommended by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) leaves out the “critical component” of secure land rights for a transformational post-2015 development agenda.

Noting that “no sustainable development is possible without responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources,” the September 2015 Policy Brief of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development supports a proposal by the Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII) to expand the scope of the indicator from a focus on “the share of women among agricultural land owners by age and location,” to incorporate “the percentage of women, men, indigenous peoples, and local communities with secure rights to land, property and natural resources.”

GLII is a broad coalition of global and national organizations, civil society and experts, including the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Women’s Major Group (WMG), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

Echoing GLII’s position that SDG 1 on ending poverty encompasses “all people regardless of where they reside, their livelihood activities, or the assets they own,” the policy brief calls for including the proposed land indicator under Target 1.4 of SDG 1, which seeks to ensure that all poor and vulnerable people have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of resources.

The policy brief further notes that the proposed global indicator is essential in realizing three other SDGs, relating to food security (SDG 2), gender equality and empowering women (SDG 5), and inclusive cities and human settlements (SDG 11). It further highlights the potential of the proposed indicator to support the twin aims of tracking legal and administrative progress by governments in recognizing secure rights to land and of “people-defined progress on the quality of land rights.”

The Working Group further echoes GLII’s call for a land rights indicator that: captures more than agricultural land; explicitly refers to “secure land rights” as a term that encompasses more than ownership; and tracks both gender ratio and overall progress in achieving secure land rights.

The publication of the policy brief aimed to coincide with the deadline of the Open Consultation with Civil Society, Academia and Private Sector organized by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators, and to help inform decision making on targets prior to the adoption of the SDGs in September 2015. [Global Donor Platform for Rural Development Policy Brief, September 2015] [GLII Press Release: Land Rights – An Essential Global Indicator for the Post-2015 SDGs]


related events


related posts