CFS Policy Convergence Products Database

When redistributive reforms are being considered, States may, if so desired, conduct assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those reforms could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. This assessment process should be conducted consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Assessments may be used as a basis to determine the measures needed to support beneficiaries and improve the redistributive programme.

States should ensure that redistributive land reform programmes provide the full measure of support required by beneficiaries, such as access to credit, crop insurance, inputs, markets, technical assistance in rural extension, farm development and housing. The provision of support services should be coordinated with the movement on the land by the beneficiaries. The full costs of land reforms, including costs of support services, should be identified in advance and included in relevant budgets.

States may consider land ceilings as a policy option in the context of implementing redistributive reforms.

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of [...]

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food [...]

States may consider using implementing agencies to resolve disputes within their technical expertise, such as those responsible for surveying to resolve boundary disputes between individual parcels within national contexts. Decisions should be delivered in writing and based on objective reasoning, and there should be a right to appeal to the judicial authorities.

In providing dispute resolution mechanisms, States should strive to provide legal assistance to vulnerable and marginalized persons to ensure safe access for all to justice without discrimination. Judicial authorities and other bodies should ensure that their staff have the necessary skills and competencies to provide such services.

States may consider introducing specialized tribunals or bodies that deal solely with disputes over tenure rights, and creating expert positions within the judicial authorities to deal with technical matters. States may also consider special tribunals to deal with disputes over regulated spatial planning, surveys and valuation.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights.

Spatial planning should take duly into account the need to promote diversified sustainable management of land, fisheries and forests, including agro-ecological approaches and sustainable intensification, and to meet the challenges of climate change and food security.

States and other parties should contribute to the understanding of transboundary tenure issues affecting communities, such as with rangelands or seasonal migration routes of pastoralists, and fishing grounds of small-scale fishers, which lie across international boundaries.

States should endeavour to prevent corruption in dispute resolution processes.

Align humanitarian and development policies and actions and enhance resilience, by: i) Responding flexibly to evolving situations on the basis of assessed need and vulnerability, shared country-led objectives, and comprehensive understandings of risk and livelihood systems; ii) Coordinating actions, including through existing mechanisms, that support national policies and actions promoting food security and nutrition; iii) Understanding, using, and supporting the existing capacities, knowledge, practice, and experience of affected households and communities as entry points for policies [...]

Strive to ensure the protection of those affected or at risk in protracted crises, underscoring the importance of upholding Human Rights obligations and International Humanitarian Law as applicable, by: i) Promoting the safety and dignity of members of affected and at risk populations, vulnerable and marginalized groups, as well as people living in vulnerable situations to allow them to receive essential assistance and secure their livelihoods; ii) Protecting against all forms of gender-based violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse, particularly towards refugees and IDPs, to allow [...]

Improve the nutritional status of members of affected and at risk populations, vulnerable and marginalized groups, as well as people living in vulnerable situations, over the short, medium and long term, by: i) Paying particular attention to nutritional needs during the first 1,000 days after conception, and of pregnant and lactating women, women of reproductive age and adolescent girls, infants, children under five, the elderly and people with disability; ii) Supporting nutrition-specific policies and actions, in particular exclusive breastfeeding up to six months where possible, and [...]

Enable the provision of food and nutrition assistance and livelihood support, by: i) Promoting and facilitating unimpeded, safe and rapid access to affected communities in order to provide humanitarian food and livelihoods assistance in all situations of conflict, occupation, terrorism, or man-made and natural disasters; ii) Following the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence to promote and facilitate unimpeded access; iii) Promoting the safety and security of people providing humanitarian assistance and livelihood support; iv) Supporting the [...]

States are encouraged to set up multi-stakeholder platforms and frameworks at local, national and regional levels or use such existing platforms and frameworks to collaborate on the implementation of these Guidelines; to monitor and evaluate the implementation in their jurisdictions; and to evaluate the impact on improved governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests, and on improving food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, and sustainable development. This process should be inclusive, participatory, [...]

The Committee on World Food Security should be the global forum where all relevant actors learn from each other's experiences, and assess progress toward the implementation of these Guidelines and their relevance, effectiveness and impact. Therefore, the Secretariat of the Committee on World Food Security, in collaboration with the Advisory Group, should report to the Committee on World Food Security on the progress of the implementation of these Guidelines, as well as evaluate their impact and their contribution to the improvement of tenure governance. Such reports should be universal [...]

Development partners, specialized agencies of the United Nations, and regional organizations are encouraged to support voluntary efforts by States to implement these Guidelines, including through South-South cooperation. Such support could include technical cooperation, financial assistance, institutional capacity development, knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences, assistance in developing national tenure policies and transfer of technology.

All parties, including civil society organizations and the private sector, are encouraged to use collaborative efforts to promote and implement these Guidelines in accordance with national priorities and contexts. All parties are encouraged to disseminate information on responsible tenure governance in order to improve practices.