Land rights issues are ascending on the development agenda. An indication of this are the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security that were endorsed at the 38th Session of the Committee on World Food Security in May this year after a two-year global consultation process involving national government, civil society and private sector representatives from all around the world. The International Land Coalition (ILC) is a global alliance of 116 organizations representing more than 50 countries, working together to promote secure and equitable access to land for rural people, mainly through capacity building, knowledge sharing and advocacy. Among its membership are organizations of farmers, indigenous people, women, pastoralists, forest users and other associations of rural people, as well as national, regional and international research institutes and inter-governmental organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, FAO, IFAD and IFPRI. 

 

The Coalition plays a leading role in the international discussion and assessment on phenomena such as the rapidly growing trend for large-scale land acquisitions in the developing world but also on issues such as women’s land rights and on the importance of securing the commons. 

 

Speakers:  

Michael Taylor and Luca Miggiano from the ILC Secretariat in Rome will visit the University of Gothenburg on the 19th of September and present what ILC considers are the priority issues, actions and research topics that need to be focused on in the current conjucture of escalating competition and conflicts for land and natural resources to secure poor people’s tenure rights and livelihoods. Lessons learned from ILC’s recent work on women’s land rights will be specifically addressed. 

 

This is the third in a series of seminars organized by LARRI (Land Rights Research Initiative) which is a platform for discussion, exchange of ideas and information as well as for promoting collaboration among researchers and students interested in land rights issues from a poverty and development perspective. The initiative is hosted by Gothenburg Centre of Globalization and Development.