SEPTEMBER 26ILC AWARD

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IFAD/IPAR, SENEGAL •

AFRA, SOUTH AFRICA

DQLCC, JORDAN

MARAG, INDIA

SER, PERU

OPDP, KENYA

KYRGYZ JAYITY ASSOCIATION, KYRGYZSTAN

COMMUNITY LAND SCOTLAND (CLS), SCOTLAND

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, GHANA

ACAD, PALESTINE

CODECA, GUATEMALA

2018 ILC AWARD NOMINEES

SEPTEMBER 26ILC AWARD

The Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) partnered with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), a South African human rights organisation, to launch a class action lawsuit against the Government

of South Africa on behalf of a class of farm dwellers known as labour tenants. Under the 1996 Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, labour tenants were granted rights to apply for ownership of the land they occupied. However, the government has failed to implement this law, and 19,000 labour tenant claims remain pending. AFRA and LRC sought to use international best practices to create a new legal mechanism, through the appointment of a “Special Master” to oversee the implementation of this legal provision by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

IFAD’s agricultural development project in Matam (PRODAM) has contributed to securing land tenure by supporting the “one household, one hectare” principle in the allocation of land in village irrigation

schemes and facilitating the establishment of pastoral units responsible for the management of pastoral resources. The project granted access to land in irrigated areas to returnees and dispossessed people by regrouping the people and redistributing land to all families living in the villages.

COMMITMENT 1:SECURE TENURE RIGHTSUsing the justice system to promote international best practice

ORGANISATION: AFRA COUNTRY: SOUTH AFRICA

COMMITMENT 1:SECURE TENURE RIGHTSSecuring land tenure in Senegal

ORGANISATION: IFAD COUNTRY: SENEGAL

SEPTEMBER 26ILC AWARD

2018 ILC AWARD NOMINEESILC members are doing amazing work, leading the fight for a more just and equitable world. In celebration and recognition of this, the second ILC Award will be given out during the 2018 Global Land Forum. Between July and November 2017, ILC members were asked to share their good practices - processes, methodologies and tools that they used to generate positive change in the framework of the ILC’s 10 commitments for people-centred land governance. All members were then given the chance to vote for who they thought had shown exemplary contribution to securing the land rights of women and men living in conditions of poverty!

Join us on September 26th to find out who will take home the Award this year!

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Asociación Servicios Educativos Rurales (SER) promoted changes to statutes in 25 communities to formally include women in decision-making processes. It also developed women’s capacities

to improve their effectiveness in their new roles as community leaders. Twenty women in the Andean regions of Ayacucho and Puno have since joined the management boards of their respective communities and are implementing local projects for sustainable development.

COMMITMENT 4:EQUAL LAND RIGHTS FOR WOMENIndigenous women in Peru defend their land rights and become community leaders

ORGANISATION: SER COUNTRY: PERU

In Tafila in southern Jordan, the Dana and Qadisiyah Local Community Cooperative (DQLCC) has set up a sustainable tourism partnership with a group of local farmers by establishing a small

camp for tourists on the edge of a nature reserve. Since the local community has limited rights of access to its land and no rights of use, management, or alienation, DQLCC is working to strengthen the livelihoods of community members. The Wadi Dana tourist camp, which is working towards eco status, is operated by local people and volunteers, and provides community members with employment and work experience opportunities. A small team provides “hotel services” for guests staying in tents and chalets: food is prepared by a female home cook, and guests are offered traditional “village life experiences” and guided hikes, led by shepherds (mainly youths) and farmers. Eco-tourism is strengthening community livelihoods, promoting a traditional lifestyle, providing an alternative to migration, and promoting improved land and ecosystem management.

COMMITMENT 2:STRONG SMALL-SCALE FARMING SYSTEMSSustainable tourism partnership with local farmers strengthens family incomes

ORGANISATION: DQLCC COUNTRY: JORDAN

Some 78% of the grazing commons in the state of Gujarat have been acquired by investors and other actors, restricting access for local land users. Local NGO Maldhari Rural Action Group (MARAG) worked

with local communities to launch “Wheels of Hope”, a motorbike campaign that covered a distance of 1,200km, nine districts, and twenty five blocks in eight days, targeting the community development blocks with the highest rates of encroachment and acquisition of common land. Through the campaign, local communities established that rights over the commons belong to those who depend on them for their livelihoods.

COMMITMENT 3:DIVERSE TENURE SYSTEMS“Wheels of hope” motorbike campaign tackles unlawful occupation of common land in India

ORGANISATION: MARAG COUNTRY: INDIA

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Community Land Scotland (CLS) has worked to strengthen a human rights approach to land governance through multi-stakeholder dialogue and advocacy. Previously, Scotland’s land tenure

system was oriented towards private property rights. This has changed, with CLS working with the Scottish Human Rights Commission to introduce a human rights based-approach to land governance. Through its advocacy work, CLS convinced the Scottish Land Reform Review Group that there was a need for a land policy statement. CLS has worked with Scottish and international human rights organisations to develop human rights arguments as the basis for defending people living on community land. Its efforts have led the government to pass the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS).

COMMITMENT 7:RIGHTS INCLUSIVE DECISION-MAKINGA human rights approach to rural land governance in Scotland

ORGANISATION: COMMUNITY LAND SCOTLAND (CLS) COUNTRY: SCOTLAND

The Ogiek community brought a land rights case against the Government of Kenya at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, after exhausting all local redress mechanisms.

The case attracted attention from the international community, and helped to hold the government to a higher standard of accountability. It enabled the Ogiek people to address violations of their rights to human dignity, worship, education, property, and association, among others. During the case, the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP) documented community by-laws, maps, and protocols for the management of communal lands, and used this information to engage the government in seeking legal ownership of the land. The African Court found in favour of the Ogiek community, recognising them as an indigenous community in Kenya and restoring their land rights.

COMMITMENT 5:SECURE TERRITORIAL RIGHTS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLESLitigation for the restoration of Ogiek land rights in Kenya

ORGANISATION: OPDP COUNTRY: KENYA

The Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) partnered with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), a South African human rights organisation, to launch a class action lawsuit against the Government

of South Africa on behalf of a class of farm dwellers known as labour tenants. Under the 1996 Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, labour tenants were granted rights to apply for ownership of the land they occupied. However, the government has failed to implement this law, and 19,000 labour tenant claims remain pending. AFRA and LRC sought to use international best practices to create a new legal mechanism, through the appointment of a “Special Master” to oversee the implementation of this legal provision by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

COMMITMENT 6:LOCALLY-MANAGED ECOSYSTEMSCommunity based natural resource management in Kyrgyzstan

ORGANISATION: KYRGYZ JAYITY ASSOCIATION COUNTRY: KYRGYZSTAN

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Staff and members of CODECA (Comité de Desarrollo Campesino) faced serious repercussions after the organisation published a report highlighting human rights violations by powerful landowners in

Guatemala. There were 40 arrests and 117 acts of aggression, which left two people dead, and a media campaign aimed at defaming and discrediting the organisation. Despite this, CODECA carried on its struggle and implemented community resilience mechanisms, and, with support from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, eventually secured acquittal verdicts from the Guatemalan justice system and the release of three detained land rights defenders. This experience has changed CODECA’s position as a movement coordinating efforts by urban, rural, and indigenous peoples to transform Guatemala into a multinational state.

COMMITMENT 10:PROTECTED LAND RIGHTS DEFENDERSLand rights defenders in Guatemala fight back against intimidation, assault, and arbitrary detention

ORGANISATION: CODECA COUNTRY: GUATEMALA

In 2016, Transparency International gave ten widows from Kulbia village in the Upper East Region of Ghana an opportunity to tell their land rights stories. They used a technique known as

participatory Video, which enables people to use video as a conduit, facilitating and enhancing communication between people who might otherwise never converse. The women learned to produce videos through experiential games and exercises that demystify technology and open access for anyone, regardless of literacy or experience. They collaborated in authoring a short documentary about their experiences of discrimination and landlessness as a result of widespread corruption by traditional land custodians, and managed to interrogate their landlessness.

COMMITMENT 8:TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE INFORMATIONParticipatory Video Making Empowers Women to Interrogate Traditional Land Practices in Ghana

ORGANISATION: TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL COUNTRY: GHANA

The Arab Center for Agriculture Development (ACAD) has used different methodologies to protect the land rights of local communities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the rehabilitation

and utilisation of land by planting different kinds of plants and trees. ACAD has lobbied on behalf of local farmers to protect their land rights and has facilitated activities to strengthen the resilience of target groups, in particular women and young farmers, by establishing agricultural cooperatives in Beit Skarya village in the West Bank. The cooperatives have strengthened the capacity of farmers to increase their incomes and sustain their agribusinesses. Furthermore, women have received technical and vocational assistance in adding value to their farm produce and have gained access to local markets.

COMMITMENT 9:EFFECTIVE ACTIONS AGAINST LAND GRABBINGEconomic empowerment to enhance resilience to land grabbing

ORGANISATION: ACAD COUNTRY: PALESTINE

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WE ARE

a global alliance

of Civil Society and

Intergovernmental

Organisations

WE WANT

land that is governed

for and with people

WE SEEK

a just, equitable

and inclusive world

SOMOS

una alianza mundial

de organizaciones

intergubernamentales

y de la sociedad civil

QUEREMOS

que la gobernanza

de la tierra sea para

y con las personas

PERSEGUIMOS

un mundo justo,

equitativo e

inclusivo

NOUS SOMMES

une alliance mondiale

d’organisations

intergouvernementales

et de la société civile

NOUS ASPIRONS

à une terre gouvernée

pour le peuple et avec

le peuple

NOUS ŒUVRONS

en faveur d’un monde

juste, équitable et inclusif

KITA ADALAH

aliansi global dari

organisasi masyarakat sipil

dan antar-pemerintah

KITA INGIN

tanah yang dikelola oleh

dan untuk rakyat

KITA CAPAI

dunia yang adil, setara,

dan inklusif

Via Paolo di Dono 44, 00142 - Rome, Italy tel. +39 06 5459 2445 fax +39 06 5459 3445 info@landcoalition.org | www.landcoalition.org

INTERNATIONAL LAND COALITION (ILC)Secretariat at IFAD

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