Civil Society Organizations’ joint reaction to the Guidelines on Land, Fisheries and Forests

11 May 2012 Land, Water and Territories

Rome 11 May 2012

For immediate release

Tenure Guidelines are a first step, but much more is needed to ensure peoples’ rights to land and natural resources

Civil Society Organizations’ joint reaction to the Guidelines on Land, Fisheries and Forests delivered today by the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) A first essential step has been made, but there’s still a long road ahead before peoples’ rights to land, fisheries and forests are fully recognized and respected.

Civil Society Organizations actively involved in the negotiations on the guidelines believe that they represent significant progress made in the governance of natural resources and food security. The guidelines are the result of multi-year-discussions between governments and civil society representatives and reaffirm basic human rights principles such as human dignity, non-discrimination, equity and justice when applied to tenure. Nonetheless, they fall short on issues that are key to the livelihoods of small scale food producers, failing to sufficiently challenge practices such as land and water grabbing, which contribute to food insecurity, violation of human rights and degradation of environment.

The new instrument developed by the CFS rightly recognizes the key role of women, peasant farmers, fishing communities, pastoralists and indigenous peoples. The negotiation process itself, which included consultation and participation of social movements and other civil society organizations, can be considered an achievement in itself. Representatives of small-scale food producers were invited to have their say at all stages, bringing real life experience into the negotiations. The process proved able to bring a wide range of voices to the debate, making it easier to find solutions to difficult and contentious issues, such as tenure of land, fisheries and forests. This way of working should serve as an example to the entire UN system.

 

However, the guidelines fall short on a number of crucial issues, thus failing to provide a comprehensive set of rules to counter effectively widespread grabbing of natural resources. The text is too weak in prioritizing essential support to small-scale producers, who are the absolute priority if governments are to achieve sustainable development. It’s also disappointing that the guidelines fail to further protect the rights of indigenous peoples already recognized by international instruments and don’t include water as a land resource.

While Civil Society Organizations still disagree with several parts of the text, they will work to ensure that the guidelines are implemented in a way that strengthens the rights of small-scale food producers and commit to use them as a tool to advance their struggles. CSOs call on governments and intergovernmental organizations to implement the guidelines effectively and urgently to contribute to a sustainable and equitable governance of natural resources.

List of Civil Society Organizations:

INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL

Action Aid

ANGOC

Arab Network for Food Sovereignty

Asian Rural Women’s Coalition

Brot Fuer die Welt

CIDSE

Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA)

FIAN International

FIMARC (International Federation of Adult Rural Catholic Movements)

Food Sovereignty Network South Asia (FSNSA)

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI)

GROOTS

International Huairou Commission: Women, Homes, and Community

International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)

Institute of Hunger Studies

International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

International Food Security Network (IFSN)

La Via Campesina

MIJARC (International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth)

Oxfam

Peuples Solidaires en association avec ActionAid

REDSAN-PALOP (Regional Civil Society for Food Security in the Portuguese-African Countries)

Share The World’s Resources

USC Canada

WHY Hunger

WOCAN

World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous People (WAMIP)

World Forum of Fishharversters and Fishworkers (WFF)

World Rural Forum (WRF)

 

NATIONAL

ACTUAR – Association for Cooperation and Development, Portugal

Associazione Università per la cooperazione e lo sviluppo, Italy

CCFD-Terre Solidaire, France

Crocevia, Italy

Collectif pour la Défense des Terres Malgaches – TANY (Madagascar/France)

Federación Agraria Argentina y Mujeres Federadas Argentinas, Argentina

Focus on the Global South, India, Philippines, Thailand

Institute for Motivating Self-Employment (IMSE), India

Instituto Mayor Campesino (INCA), Colombia

La Unidad de la Fuerza Indígena y Campesina (UFIC), México

MARAG, India

Mazingira Institute, Kenya

Movimento de la Juventud Kuna (MJK), Panama

Portuguese National Farmers Confederation, Portugal

ReAlimentar – Portuguese Civil Society Network for Food Security, Portugal

Spire, Norway

SWISSAID, Switzerland

Terra Nuova, Italy

The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, Jordan

Transnational Institute, Netherlands

UK Food Group, UK

 

Spokespeople available:

Angel Strappazzon, Farmers – Argentina – Language: Spanish

Rehema Bavuma, Fisherfolk – Uganda – Language: English

Ujjaini Halim, Fisherfolk – India – Language: English

Lalji Desai, Pastoralists – India – Language: English

Sofia Monsalve, FIAN – Colombia– Langagues: Spanish, English

Other CSO representatives from Actionaid, FIAN and Oxfam [+others] will be available in Rome for interviews in different languages including French and German.

Media Contact in Rome: Ashley von Anrep, +39 3397904006 – Ashley.vonanrep@csm4cfs.org

 

 

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