Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land andother Natural Resources Initiative

Paul Munro-Faure, Principal Officer, Climate, Energy and Tenure Division, FAO

Growing Pressure onNatural Resources

• Further, but uneven population growth.• Urbanization, and changing food production, distribution and consumption.• Increased mobility of goods, capital and labour in countries and across borders.• Climate change.• Increasing demands on agriculture to provide food and energy resources.

Importance of Tenure

• Access to land and natural resources and the security of tenure form the foundation for:– Food security– Social stability– Economic growth– Poverty Reduction

Importance of Governance of Tenure

Problems in governance cause:• Weak frameworks and

institutions.• Low capacities, incentives and

motivation. Weak governance of land and

natural resources can undermine all development

Affects mainly the poor - vulnerable

The Global Corruption Barometer 2009;

Transparency International

• > 73 000 people

• 69 countries

• Questions about corruption in the land sector

The Global Corruption Barometer 2009; Transparency International

• Approx. 15% of the people who contacted land authorities in the previous 12 months reported paying a bribe

• 14 % of respondents in lowest income level quartile had paid a bribe.

• 9 % of highest income level quartile had paid a bribe.

The Global Corruption Barometer 2009; Transparency International

Actual experience of paying bribes in any form with land services (buying, selling, inheriting, renting) is significant.

Perception of the payment of bribes to obtain favourable decisions from land authorities is commonplace to varying degrees.

These actual experiences and perceptions exist to a greater or lesser degree in almost all countries, and in all regions.

Half of respondents in high-income countries consider bribery in land management to be serious, almost 8 in 10 in low-income countries held this view.

• Building from:– Right to Food Voluntary

Guidelines– International Conference on

Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) process

• Helping countries to improve the governance of tenure of land and other natural resources.

Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other

Natural Resources Initiative

FAO Voluntary Guidelines

FAO Voluntary Guidelines

• Set out principles and standards.• Provide a framework for policies,

legislation and programmes.• Do not establish legally binding

obligations.• Do not replace existing national or

international laws, treaties or agreements.

FAO; Knowledge Center in Tenure

• Technical Advisory in all FAO regions, for example:– China PRC; Farmland security of

tenure and land registration with the World Bank.

– Ethiopia; Responding to request to advise on matters of large scale land acquisition.

– Kyrgyz Republic; Cooperation with the World Bank supporting self-financing, corruption free, land administration.

FAO ; NormativeResource in Tenure

• Recognized major technical publications in all FAO languages– Land administration– Good Governance– Post Violent Conflicts– Land Consolidation– Disaster Risk Management– Compulsory Purchase and

Compensation– Gender, Indigenous, Tenure

Regular normative partners include IFAD, WB, HABITAT, GTZ and UNDP.

FAO’s Planning Framework for 2010-13

• Strategic Objective F - Sustainable management of land ...

• Organizational result F4– An international

framework ... for responsible governance of ... tenure of land and ... with other natural resources ...

– Support for the development of consensus on voluntary guidelines ...

Funding for Preparation

• Donors (Germany, IFAD, Finland)– Total USD 4,7 million

for 2009 - 2012

• FAO regular program• Growing partnership

Partners to Voluntary Guidelines

Consultations on Requirements

• 2009 - 2010– 10 regional meetings– 4 small civil society

meetings– 1 civil society review

meeting – 1 private sector

meeting – e-Consultation(s)

Consultation Schedule 2010

• 25-26 January, Private sector, London, UK• 22-24 March, Europe, Bucharest, Romania

• 02-04 May, Near East and North Africa , Amman, Jordan• May, South America, Brazil

• May, Francophone Africa , Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso• June, Caucasus and Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyz R.

• June/July, Asia Pacific, Fiji• June/July, Central America and Caribbean, Panama

• September, East Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Assessments Published

FAO Member Countries Drafting and Review

• 2010– Report to Committee on World

Food Security (CFS)– Preparation

• 2011– Drafting?– Negotiation?– CFS?

Implementation

2012 onwards –• Implementation -

following the example of other FAO Voluntary Guidelines and Codes of Conduct