Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – As the global community scrambles to tackle multiple crises, the call for responsible land governance is more crucial than ever before. For the first time, a new Human Rights and Land Navigator online tool systematically maps the linkages between binding human rights standards and the global guidelines to secure land rights for all.
With the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), TMG Research, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Malawi Human Rights Commission launched the tool during a side event at the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP15), the world’s biggest drylands conference, on May 12th in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The free, user-friendly online tool supports the implementation of the milestone Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) by detailing the binding human rights on which they are based. These guidelines were endorsed by the UN in 2012 and enjoyed widespread uptake by governments over the past decade, but the application is weak in many countries, and land-related human rights violations continue. The tool’s developers have established linkages between the guidelines and more than 20 human rights and 12 human rights instruments, which stakeholders can retrieve by applying different filter options.
“Achieving food security and adaptation to climate change requires investment in landscape restoration at scale. But as long as legitimate tenure rights are not considered, restoration efforts risk to fail. As a first step, we need to place people’s rights at the center of restoration efforts. This tool makes the connection between human rights and specific land issues visible for the first time,” says Alexander Müller, Managing Director of TMG Research.
Watch the livestream of the launch event Rights, Rewards and Responsibilities: Achieving Restoration Objectives through Safeguarding Legitimate Tenure Rights, on 12 May 2022 at 13:00 (GMT).
Learn more:
- Legitimate Tenure Rights for Food Security, Climate Resilience, and Ecosystem Restoration: A brief overview of TMG Research’s approach to responsible and inclusive land governance
- Explore the Human Rights & Land Navigator
- More about TMG’s Land Governance Programme
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About TMG Research gGmbH
The global community has made major strides in setting goals to limit global warming, and achieve sustainable development for all. However, action on these goals is insufficient and questions remain on how to achieve them. Together with our global and local partners, we conduct action-oriented research and initiate social innovations to deliver on these goals. Thereby we contribute to change processes that strengthen governance for sustainability. TMG Research gGmbH is an international not-for-profit think tank headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with an African regional office in Nairobi, Kenya.
About the Global Landscapes Forum
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable & resilient landscapes.
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