The December 2015 edition of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Governance of Tenure newsletter features a discussion of a training programme for civil society organizations (CSOs) to enhance their use of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (Voluntary Guidelines).
Launched in 2014 and co-implemented by FAO and FIAN International, with financial support from Belgium, the programme has developed and tested a modular framework to enhance the capacities of CSOs in Guatemala, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Senegal and South Africa.
December 2015: The December 2015 edition of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Governance of Tenure newsletter features a discussion of a training programme for civil society organizations (CSOs) to enhance their use of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (Voluntary Guidelines). Launched in 2014 and co-implemented by FAO and FIAN International, with financial support from Belgium, the programme has developed and tested a modular framework to enhance the capacities of CSOs in Guatemala, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Senegal and South Africa.
The newsletter highlights an international workshop in Rome, Italy, in November 2015 that brought together CSO representatives from the seven programme countries. It further discusses the outcomes of national Voluntary Guidelines workshops held in Liberia, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Peru, the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Africa.
Among other technical and policy developments, the newsletter highlights the launch of ‘Open Tenure,’ part of the Solutions for Open Land Administration (SOLA) open source software suite, which provides an affordable way for automating land administration in line with national laws and practices. The tool is designed to tap mobile devices and crowdsourcing techniques to help ordinary citizens and local organizations in monitoring their tenure rights at the community level.
The newsletter also features several new publications and learning resources in the area of land tenure governance, including: ‘Safeguarding Land Tenure Rights in the Context of Agricultural Investment,’ a technical guide for government authorities; a report by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) analyzing how investment treaties can affect land governance in key areas of the Voluntary Guidelines; a framework for land-based investments in Africa being promoted by New Alliance and Grow Africa; and an e-learning module focusing on gender and social issues when dealing with land tenure. [Governance of Tenure Newsletter Issue #25: December 2015]