FNs Fødevare- og Landbrugsorganisation (FAO) begejstret for international aftale, der for første gang udstikker retningslinjer for ikke mindst fattige menneskers rettigheder til jord, fiskerivande og skove – og det er der god brug for.
Aftalen er nemlig det første internationale regelsæt mod “landgrabbing”, eller jordtyveri, som er et voksende fænomen i mange u-lande, hvor fattige tvangsflyttes fra jord, de bor på og dyrker, fordi jorden er opkøbt af rige koncerner eller enkeltpersoner.
ROME, 11 May 2012: In a landmark decision the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Friday endorsed a set of far-reaching global guidelines aimed at helping governments safeguard the rights of people to own or access (få adgang til) land, forests and fisheries.
The new “Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security” outline principles and practices that governments can refer to when making laws and administering land, fisheries and forests rights.
The guidelines are based on a consultation process started by FAO in 2009 and then finalized through CFS-led intergovernmental negotiations that included participation of government officials, civil society organizations, private sector representatives, international organizations and academics.
The aim of the guidelines: to promote food security and sustainable development by improving secure access to land, fisheries and forests and protecting the rights of millions of often very poor people.
Historic and far-reaching
“Giving poor and vulnerable people secure and equitable rights to access land and other natural resources is a key condition in the fight against hunger and poverty”, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
“It is a historic breakthrough that countries have agreed on these first-ever global land tenure guidelines. We now have a shared vision. It is a starting point that will help improve the often dire situation of the hungry and poor.”
Much public debate has focused on the so-called ‘land-grabbing’ phenomenon, which is one of the issues that are dealt with in these guidelines.
While the guidelines acknowledge that responsible investments by the public and private sectors are essential for improving food security, they also recommend that safeguards be put in place to protect tenure rights of local people from risks that could arise from large-scale land acquisitions (erhvervelse), and also to protect human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment.
Investment models exist that do not result in the large-scale acquisition of land, and these alternative models should be promoted. Investments should also promote policy objectives such as boosting local food security and promoting food security, poverty eradication and job creation, and “provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable.”
Wide range of issues
The guidelines address a wide range of other issues as well, however, including:
* Recognition and protection of legitimate tenure rights (svarer til at få skøde på jorden), even under informal systems
* Best practices for registration and transfer of tenure rights
* Making sure that tenure administrative systems are accessible and affordable
* Managing expropriations and restitution (erstatning) of land to people who were forcibly evicted in the past
* Rights of indigenous communities
* Ensuring that investment in agricultural lands occurs responsibly and transparently
* Mechanisms for resolving disputes over tenure rights
* Dealing with the expansion of cities into rural areas
“Some of the issues addressed by the Voluntary Guidelines go back centuries even. The fact that these guidelines tackle those entrenched issues as well as newer concerns is what makes them so significant,” said Graziano da Silva
Next steps
Læs videre og se link til retningslinjerne på
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/142587/icode
Kilde: www.fao.org
