Neil Sorensen joined the Land Portal as its Communications Specialist in October 2015. He has extensive experience leading communications for international organizations and developing relationships with civil society, donors, intergovernmental agencies, the media and the private sector. Previously, Neil worked for the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) as a Governing Bodies Officer and Strategic Adviser to the Secretary of IFAD. He has also led communications for three international organizations, including the International Land Coalition, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). He holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as well as a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in German and Sociology from St. Cloud State University.
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Landmark decision: Brazil Supreme Court sides with Indigenous land rights
- Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) has unanimously accepted an appeal by the Guarani Kaiowá Indigenous people and agreed to review the process around a past case that cancelled the demarcation of their Indigenous territory.
- The Guarani Kaiowá’s decades-long fight for land rights to their ancestral territory, the Guyraroká land in Mato Grosso do Sul state, had been suspended by a 2014 ruling halting the territory’s demarcation process.
- The STF’s decision to review the process in the 2014 case, which hadn’t allowed for Indigenous consultati
Creating Equal Ground: Conversation with Indigenous Women Leaders on the Challenges and Approaches for Securing Women’s Land and Natural Resource Rights
April 13, 2021
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
Online
This event will be available in English, French, and Spanish.
5 Lessons for Securing Women’s Collective Land Rights
The ability to own land and access natural resources allows women to secure food for their families, increase their agricultural productivity and livelihoods, and help drive local economies. Land rights empower women to have a say in matters that affect their lives, families and communities — everything from deciding what crops to plant to investing in children’s education and health.
On Equal Ground: Promising Practices for Realizing Women’s Rights in Collectively Held Lands
Sustainable land governance requires that all members of a community, both women and men, have equal rights and say in decisions that affect their collectively-held lands. Unfortunately, women around the world have less land ownership and weaker land rights than men – but this can change, and this report shows ways how that can be done.
Shining a Spotlight
From 2013 to 2016, Oxfam's Behind the Brands campaign called on the world’s 10 biggest food and beverage companies to adopt stronger social and environmental sourcing policies and spurred significant commitments on women’s empowerment, land rights and climate change. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic worsens inequality and food insecurity around the world, we assess whether the companies have taken meaningful steps to implement the commitments they made in response to the campaign.
4 Ways Indigenous and Community Lands Can Reduce Emissions
Countries are largely missing out on a key strategy to fight climate change.
Don’t forget the smallholder! Finding inclusivity in land investments
This is the report of a webinar which took place on 25th February 2021 organized by the Land Portal Foundation.
Policy Brief: Forest governance by indigenous and tribal peoples
Indigenous and tribal peoples control about one third of Latin America and the Caribbean’s forests. Supporting their efforts to control, sustainably manage, and benefit from these forests can greatly help to solve the problems of climate change, loss of biological and cultural diversity, rural vulnerability, and food insecurity.
New UN report shows evidence that Indigenous and Tribal Peoples are the best guardians of the forests of Latin America and the Caribbean
Improving tenure of forests by Indigenous and Tribal Peoples can lower deforestation rates and biodiversity loss, avoiding C02 emissions, but more investment is urgently needed to address rising threats.
25 March 2021, Santiago Chile - Deforestation rates in Latin America and the Caribbean are significantly lower in Indigenous and Tribal territories where governments have formally recognized collective land rights, and improving the tenure security of these territories is an efficient and cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions.