Issues relating to land and land reform have been moving up the agenda of rural poverty and food security in recent years with the increasing acceptance that the prerequisites for broad-based and equitable development include the essential need for people to have access to land and other natural resources. Access needs to be on an equitable basis allowing the poor and the disadvantaged, including women, to secure the assets needed for them and their families to generate sustainable livelihoods.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Germany, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Finland, GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), UN-Habitat, World Bank and UNDP, and IPC (International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty), Food First International Action Network (FIAN), ILC (International Land Coalition), FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private se

In this issue of the NR Newsletter, we welcome 2012 as the UN-declared International Year of Energy for All, an opportunity to concentrate global attention on the challenges facing both developed and developing countries when addressing access to and efficient use of sustainable energy sources. We also take a look at an interesting land tenure project that aims to bring advanced technology land registration systems to developing countries, through low-cost open-source software.

This document reports on the regional consultation for Southern America (including Mexico), held in Brasilia on 20 and 21 of May 2010 with the support of the Government of Brazil and preceded by a civil society meeting composed of organizations integrating the International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC), whose recommendations have been annexed at this document.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

La FAO junto con varios asociados está desarrollando las Directrices voluntarias sobre la gobernanza responsable de la tenencia de la tierra y de otros recursos naturales. Las directrices voluntarias intentan proporcionar a los Estados, a la sociedad civil y al sector privado la orientación práctica sobre la gobernanza responsable de la tenencia como medios para aliviar el hambre y la pobreza, mejorar el medio ambiente, apoyar el desarrollo económico nacional y local, y reformar la administración pública.

Document de travail sur les régimes fonciers 19. Ce rapport a été écrit faisant partie du processus global de consultation et d’élaboration des Directives Volontaires et vise à contribuer à la préparation subséquente du Guide Technique pour le Genre. Le rapport contextualise et définit le genre dans le cadre des Directives Volontaires, explique ce que signifie gouvernance foncière d’une prospective genre et identifie et analyse les principaux thèmes et questions.

This month, we invite you to participate in the e-consultation on Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. Following a lengthy regional consultation process, additional input is being requested prior to the drafting of the Zero Draft Guidelines. FAO Headquarters marked World Water Day 2011, examining the urgent need for safe water supplies for the world’s rapidly growing urban populations.

The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme officials in Ethiopia.

Land Tenure Working Paper 19. The present paper is written as part of the overall Voluntary Guidelines consultation and development process and is a contribution to the subsequent preparation of the Gender Technical Guide. It contextualises and defines gender for the Voluntary Guidelines, discusses what governance of tenure means from a gender perspective and identifies and analyses key issues and themes. It then summarises recommendations relevant to gender before drawing some conclusions for the development process of the Voluntary Guidelines.