Ad Hoc Intersessional Working Group

STATEMENT

by Bruce H.Moore
Coordinator
International Land Coalition
29 February 2000

Mr Co-Chairman and Delegates,

A review of the preparatory reports and events to CSD-8 highlights the critical link between poverty and access to productive resources in the search for durable development.

Today, we are encouraged that the G77, the European Union and governments have emphasized the need to improve the access of rural poor to land - as a pre-condition to the implementation of Agenda 21.

In acknowledging the need for secure access, let us also put a human face on the land poor. 350 million rural people in developing countries are estimated to be landless or near-landless. Globally women own only 1% of all property. And, the rights of indigenous peoples and pastoralists are under increasing threats. The resource rights of these people are basic to durable solutions to poverty and sustainable development.

Despite the compelling economic, social and environmental arguments for improving access to land by the poor and strengthening tenure systems, the vested interests of powerful minorities continue to prevail.

The Commission on Sustainable Development can be a catalyst for change. It can make a difference by supporting its member governments to:

• develop the legislative, regulatory and judicial policies and operational instruments for the effective redistribution, recording and legal protection of the resource rights of smallholders and land reform beneficiaries;

• undertake awareness campaigns to inform the landless, near-landless and smallholders of their rights and the ways to achieve change;

• re-dress historical practices that have been biased against women and the ancestral rights of indigenous peoples;

• remove subsidies and policies that adversely affect smallholder farmers;
• provide support to strengthen rural peoples' organizations;

• support the adoption of community-based models of land management;

• develop national land commissions with meaningful participation by the land poor, women, indigenous peoples and lower castes;

• establish land tax systems to encourage the redistribution of under-utilized land and land held for speculative purposes;

• involve user groups in demarcating and protecting traditional tenure systems including common property and pastoralist territories.

Mr. Co-Chairman, The International Land Coalition  is an international innovation. It is governed by IFAD, FAO, WFP, the World Bank, the European Commission and seven regional NGO networks. It is merging the interests of diverse stakeholders into a common strategy. It is collecting, analyzing and disseminating practical knowledge on ways and means to undertake land reform and to increase access by the poor to other productive factors.

The International Land Coalition   stands ready to join with the Commission, its member governments and civil society in these efforts. Our current knowledge network, is sharing the knowledge of civil-society groups in 23 countries from their work in gaining access to land and the inputs to make it productive. Added to this is the work being undertaken by our intergovernmental partners who are examining the ways in which emerging land tenure markets can improve access by the rural poor. This knowledge can be shared more widely in order to support the goal of Agenda 21.

In closing, access to land and other natural resources is cross-cutting to many global agreements. The Commission on Sustainable Development can provide catalytic leadership by promoting the formation of an International Land Watch Program that will support, assess and report on the actions by governments to achieve the land reform and tenurial security requirements as set forth in UN conventions and agreements.

Thank you.