News on Land

WINDHOEK - According to the latest updated statistics, there are 308 informal settlements in Namibia with a staggering 228 000 shacks accommodating about 995 000 people in urban areas.

This was revealed by Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia’s national facilitator Edith Mbanga, who says this means close to 40 percent of the Namibia population are now living in shacks in urban areas, predominantly in Windhoek.
Mbanga made the revelations this week during the second national land conference while delivering a presentation on ‘Land for the Urban Poor’.

A Recent UN Declaration Offers Recognition of Human Rights in Rural Areas

On 28 September, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), meeting in Geneva, passed a resolution which calls for the UN General Assembly to adopt the “United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.” This proposed declaration includes a number of rights, and specifically mentions that water resources in mountain ecosystems should be protected against pollution from mining activities.

The expropriation of land without compensation is dominating debate on land reform, but speakers at a conference on land reform on Wednesday said there are deeper and more imperative challenges to tackle to ensure South Africans access to land. 

Changing the law to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation will have little impact on land reform unless the government first tackles systemic problems within its own institutions that have hampered land reform in the democratic era.

In Brazil, indigenous and traditional communities are fighting for their land in the face of threats from big businesses, mining and environmental destruction. In some cases, the peoples' very survival is at stake.

In early 2018, Ageu Lobo Perreira was on the run. He'd received word that his life and the lives of two other members of the traditional Amazon riverside community he leads were in danger.

Organizations claim the reform would legalize lands illegally seized from Indigenous, Campesino and Afro-Colombian communities.

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) demanded the Tribunal of Bogota to halt a proposed reform bill on the Law of Land and to “protect the fundamental right to territory and previous consultation for indigenous people.”

KOTA KINABALU: The Dusun Begahak people in Lahad Datu are crying foul over what they claim as unfair treatment of indigenous people by the state government, past and present, after their ancestral land was given to Felda.

Speaking to FMT, Robin Balud, a representative of the small community, said the conflict started 36 years ago when the then Berjaya government decided to grant 120,000ha of prime agricultural land in Tungku to Felda.

“Somehow, the land also included some 2,400ha of our native customary right (NCR) land.

The Ignacio Huilipan Indigenous community won back 97 hectares from a major Chilean conglomerate Tuesday, setting precedent for native land rights.

In a historic ruling, a Chilean judge ruled that a major national lumber company has to give back nearly 100 hectares to the Ignacio Huilipan Indigenous community the company had illegally claimed as its own.

Most of Zimbabwe’s economic challenges, including a ballooning budget deficit, a huge trade deficit and crippling foreign currency shortages, can be traced back to how the southern African country handled land reform, a leading economist has said. 

Zimbabwe embarked on a land reform programme in 2000, but came under fire for the manner in which it was conducted.

The country was a self-sufficient food producer prior to its land reform programme, but now imports many of its goods.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – A half mile from the din of the Global Climate Action Summit and its 4,000 attendees in San Francisco, indigenous peoples from around the world came together in a small space for a kind of summit of their own.

They spoke different languages. They wore unique clothing. But the tenor of their voices and the expressions on their faces conveyed a similar message: They are the “guardians of the forests,” not their national governments. As such, they have a vital role to play in the battle against climate change.

Monrovia – The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), a local civil society organization that advocates for the participation of local communities in decision-making processes on natural resources, has welcomed the passage into law of the landmark Land Right Bill.

According to Ms. Nora Bowier, SDI Coordinator, the groundbreaking legislation will be a transformative milestone of the post-conflict era in promoting citizens’ participation in the decision-making process.

Human Rights Organizations have requested state officials launch an impartial investigation into the murder.

The memory of Mexican activist Jesus Javier Ramos Arreola will only strengthen the activist’s cause to stall construction of the New Mexican International Airport (NAIM).

The activist was dedicated to the defense of a strip of stony ground called Cerro del Tenayo, the location destined for the new international airport. Residents say the hill was home to several archaeological remains as well as diminishing species of flora and fauna.