Land governance advocates thrust towards a people-centered land governance in Asia

More than 80 representatives from 40 International Land Coalition (ILC) members and other land governance advocates gathered in the ILC Asia Regional Assembly and Knowledge Exchange in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 6-7 October 2015.

Recognizing the importance of securing lands in the face of economic growth, Asia members developed their three-year workplans in implementing the ILC global strategy integrating the 10 commitments to people-centered land governance.

ILC Philippine members – Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), ANGOC, The People’s Campaign for Agrarian Reform Network (AR Now!), Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID), National Confederation of Small Farmers’ and Fishers’ Organizations (PAKISAMA), Task Force Mapalad (TFM), and Xavier Science Foundation, Inc. (XSF), have committed to the following points:

• Secure Tenure Rights
• Strong Small-Scale Farming Systems
• Transparent And Accountable Information
• Effective Actions Against Land Grabbing
• Protected Land Rights Defenders

Further, this event brought solidarity among members to demand for ‘Land Rights Now!’ and be engaged in existing frameworks such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (VGGT) and the newly adopted Global Development Agenda 20:30 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and the monitoring of potential threats to the coalition’s mission such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the extractive industries.

This event was organized by ILC Asia and hosted by Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP).

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