Network Support Programme

The Network Support Programme, previously a component of ARnet, aims to establish and strengthen civil-society networks at the country level to identify a common agenda, set working methods and implement plans of action. The purpose of the networking programme is to assist and link otherwise disparate civil-society and community-based organizations, to pursue the fulfilment of their needs from a position of collective strength, based on a united strategy, to improve their members' access to land and related productive resources. Among other goals, it is expected that an organized network will be more effective in the creation of dialogue, a voice in policy formulation and a path to educate and inform local communities on pertinent issues, thus permitting them to influence local decision-making.

Networks are a basis for collective action, collective power and collective protection. Collective support is vital to the poor in their struggle to gain secure access to land. It cannot be overlooked that the struggle for more secure access to land and resources has been not only challenging but, in some places, also life threatening.

Based on the Coalition's experience, the following activities are particularly relevant:

• develop a capacity for reciprocal learning, exchange of expertise and comparative research and analysis;

• facilitate national-level and regional cooperation among like-minded groups in the area of land policy development;

• facilitate exchanges of information and materials through workshops, consultations, exchange visits and electronic interaction to capture emerging visions on land for development; and

• encourage collaborative research.

Scaling Up network activities

The following are four main areas in which networks currently associated with the International Land Coalition, are striving to increase their impact:

• shape public policies and to raise awareness of the contribution that can be made by CSOs if governments foster the confidence to join with CSOs as partners;

• build up public support and understanding about key resource issues and the relationship between secure access rights and sustainable natural resource management;

• expand geographical expansion scope and volume of activities in order to boost the relevance and collective influence of the networks; and

• strengthen the community-based organizations that comprise the networks and open channels so as to involve the rural poor on a country-wide basis in the pursuit of issues of common concern.