The Tenure Facility 2018-2022 - The Tenure Facility 2018-2022, Ecosystems, new strategy 2022

General

Reprogrammed funds to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 The proposed intervention is a core support of SEK 190 million 2018-2022 to The Tenure Facility (TF), of which SEK 130 million from the Strategy for Globally Sustainable Economic Development, and SEK 60 million from Strategy for Sustainable Environment, Climate, Oceans and Use of Natural Resources. The contribution is also highly relevant to the Strategy for Human Rights, Democratization and Rule of Law. In addition, the European Commission plans to channel EUR 7 million via Sida in a delegated cooperation agreement for core support. This support is planned for 2019-2021. The TF aims to secure land and forest rights for Indigenous peoples and local communities in the developing world by providing project support to the communities, civil society, and to some extent to governments. Government support and involvement is always required for a project to be accepted. This proposed intervention will be the first considerable direct support to this new organization. It has approximately the same annual amount as the previous phase, that was channeled through RRI. Thus far, it has received direct funding from the Ford Foundation, 3 MUSD in 2017 and 2018.Access to land and natural resources for rural poor is often based on customary tenure, which tends to be insecure due to a lack of political, legal and administrative recognition, and contradictions between the formal and informal systems. This leads to a situation of insecurity for these local communities that affects most aspects of life, such as access to and/or security of livelyhoods, including food, water, housing and source of income, political rights to participate in processes that concern the land you live on and the land you have used for generations, the social rights and traditions that relate to the community; how you take decisions, plan your production, etcetera. Collective tenure is often not considered in the legal systems, and insecure collective tenure often concerns forest. Therefore, both RRI and the TF have a focus on forest lands, although grazelands and agricultural lands also can be considered for support. Fortunately, the global advocacy over the last decades - by RRI and others - for the political and legal recognition of communal land rights for indigenous peoples (IPs) and local communities have resulted in considerable advances and adapted legal frameworks in many countries. However, all this leeway did not give secure tenure on the ground, since there is a void in implementation and in administrative recognition. The lack of implementation should not automatically be interpreted as a lack of political will or of resources – but often a lack of capacity, information and experience. It is a new field of work for government administration as well as for NGOs and communities. RRI concluded that a special focus on the practical aspects of implementation was needed. The TF offers the following kinds of support:Scale up implementation of land and forest tenure reform policies and legislation by:– Providing support to establish legitimate tenure rights in areas where traditional communal rights are not formally recognized– Providing support for community mapping, demarcation, and registration efforts– Strengthening the capacity of national organizations to provide land tenure related services to reach disadvantaged and vulnerable groups Enable governments and communities to test new models, strategies and approaches by:– Testing practical solutions to implementation challenges– Assisting governments and communities to overcome administrative obstacles to land rights recognition and titling– Building capacity of government agencies responsible for titling and protecting indigenous and community rights

Objectives

The Tenure Facility´s five-year Strategic Framework 2018 2022, committed to three overarching outcomes. Outcome 1: The land and forest rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are made more secure by governments in targeted developing countries. Outcome 2: Practical approaches for implementing and scaling land and forest tenure reforms are distilled, shared and leveraged by practitioners, IPLCs, governments and other stakeholders. Outcome 3: The Tenure Facility continuously improves its operating model to meet Outcomes1 and 2 through increasingly efficient and effective means.