Declaration
Background
From October 30th to November 2nd 2007, we, the representatives of ILC members and partners from 17 African countries, and regional and international organizations working on land issues in Africa, convened in Nairobi. In presentations and open discussions, we shared our diverse experiences, expertise, and perspectives. In order to strengthen our work as a coalition in Africa, and leverage our collective potential to address land tenure issues on the Africa continent, we sought to:
- Share our experiences working to strengthen land rights
- Identify priority issues to collectively address over the next four years
- Develop a process to decentralize the work of the ILC in the Africa region
We recognize that a coordinated and collaborative effort is needed to address the significant challenges of promoting secure access to land for women and men in our continent, including:
- Lack of a lobbying platforms where voices of politically, socially and economically marginalised groups, including women, pastoralists, indigenous peoples and common property resource-users, are heard
- Insufficient capacity of all actors to understand pro-poor policies & processes and adequately challenge dominant frameworks
- Inadequate human and financial resources and partnerships
- Inappropriate policies and laws that may conflict with community interests
- Insufficient mechanisms to appropriately transform, strengthen and secure customary tenure rights
- Lack of coordination and harmony among CSOs
- Lack of a vision of national development which integrates appropriate land and agrarian principles in support of the poor
In overcoming these challenges, we recognize that there are particular aspects of our work on land issues that we can better achieve through collaborative action than working as individual organizations. We therefore express our intention to collaborate, according to the different strengths, capacities, experiences and priorities of our respective organizations on the following activity areas:
Successfully influence governments and other policy-makers to build pro-poor land reform
- Develop opportunities for CSO engagement with the AUC/UNECA/AfDB-led process of formulating Africa-wide land policy guidelines
- Improve research to inform policy processes, lobbying and advocacy
- Develop tools and strategies to influence land policy
- Advocate with governments on issues of landless people, the urban poor and urban slums
- Promote land and broader reforms
Mobilize people and build alliances for successful advocacy
- Build alliances among rural stakeholders (including waged agricultural workers, pastoralists and small farmers)
- Establish and strengthen global partnership on land issues
Focus on thematic areas of particular interest to ILC members and partners
- Improve access to, and control over, land for women and other marginalised land-users.
- Defend the rights of indigenous people through national, regional, and international mechanisms.
- Develop focused thematic approaches in the broader ILC strategy
Develop the skills and expertise of people and organizations for effective action
- Develop the capacity of organizations and governments to prevent and manage land conflicts.
- Build the capacity of civil-society to engage in land issues.
- Expand the use of participatory GIS/community mapping of indigenous peoples' and local communities land and territorial rights and interests
Decentralisation
In seeking to work more effectively together as members and partners of ILC towards common objectives, we have begun to define new modalities for our coalition. A stronger regional approach in Africa within the context of a global coalition will require a greater role in the guidance and functions of ILC to be taken within Africa. This will involve devolving some governance functions, decentralizing some support functions of the secretariat, and promoting a stronger involvement by members in the functioning of ILC in the region. While many aspects of this process will be progressively defined by members and partners, we resolve that:
- A steering group is set up representing ILC members and partners in guiding and overseeing the regionalization process of ILC in Africa.
- UEFA (representing central Africa)
- KLA (representing east Africa)
- ZERO (representing southern Africa)
- LandNet West Africa (representing west Africa)
- AfDB/AUC/UNECA (representing IGOs)
- A node for coordinating ILC functions in the region will be set up, hosted by Kenya Land Alliance
- Build the membership throughout Africa
- Oversee the devolution of ILC, including decentralized secretariat support
- Develop a plan, including objectives, timeline, roles and responsibilities, for developing the ILC node and its secretariat functions
- Develop networks in the various Africa regions that share and exchange information and expertise in order to strengthen their work on land issues
- Ensure accreditation and linkage to relevant bodies, agencies in particular AU and Regional Economic Commissions
- Strengthen collaboration with farmers' organizations, indigenous peoples' and pastoralists' movements, and other social movements in the region
- Mobilize needed resources
- Identify and work with focal organisations for each thematic work area in the region
- Oversee strategic development and work planning for the African region
- Prepare for Africa regional input into the 2009 Assembly of Members