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News (178)
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Palestine: Israel Escalates Home Demolitions (again) |
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By :Maureen Murphy, The Electronic Intifada |
| 08 July 2020 |
Home Demolitions Spike Ahead of Annexation
Israel’s formal annexation of occupied land may be put on hold, but the forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank marches on.
Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the territory spiked last month, according to the human rights group B’Tselem.
Nearly 45 homes were destroyed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem
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Urban Farming Benefits in Nairobi |
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By :Carolyn Fry, CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems |
| 03 July 2020 |
Understanding Nairobi’s urban agriculture sector helps to enhance equality and climate resilience
Food makes up almost half of trading in the vibrant informal sector of Kenya`s capital city. Every day, farmers, processors and traders sell goods that are either locally generated or brought in from up-country. An estimated 250,000 households generate
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Record Number of Land Conflicts in Brazil in 2019 |
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By :Real World Radio |
| 14 May 2020 |
There were five conflicts per day, representing a 23% increase from 2018, and 32 defenders murdered during the year.
Throughout 2019, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) recorded 1833 conflicts in the countryside (averaging five per day), 23% more than in 2018. This is the highest number on CPT records in the
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World Distracted, Amazon Keeps Burning |
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By :Agence France-Presse |
| 09 May 2020 |
With world distracted, the Amazon rainforest continues to burn
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit a new high in the first four months of this year, with 1,202 square kilometres of forest wiped out
That was a 55 per cent increase from the same period last year, and the highest figure for
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Guatemala: Evicting Maya Q’eqchi` amid COVID-19 |
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By :Minority Rights Group International |
| 21 April 2020 |
Violent attempt to evict Maya Q’eqchi villagers despite COVID-19 crisis in Guatemala
On 13 April 2020, private security forces suspected of working for Industria Chiquibul, S.A., an agribusiness engaged in the harvesting and extraction of palm oil, attempted to evict 200 indigenous peasant families from their homes in Tierra Blanca, municipality
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BADIL Palestinian Rights Course |
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By :BADIL |
| 10 April 2020 |
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
BADIL`s second International Mobilization Course: The Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, West Bank, Palestine, 17 July - 28 July 2020.
This course is an opportunity for international advocates, activists, mobilizers, policy officers and interested individuals, to gain a deeper understanding of a human
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COVID-19: Solidarity with Food Producers |
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By :HIC-HLRN, IPC |
| 07 April 2020 |
The COVID19 crisis is rapidly expanding and deepening, highlighting and exacerbating existing inequalities including wealth, health, race and gender. In many countries it will develop into a deep social and economic crisis where the most vulnerable will again suffer the most – with no access to healthcare, losing their jobs
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Kenya: Women Resist Custom for a Fair Share |
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By :David Muchui, The Nation |
| 25 March 2020 |
Widows fight customs, biased laws denying them share of family wealth
In Summary
In Meru County and elsewhere, thousands of widows are at the mercy of ruthless in-laws and corrupt government officers.
Human Rights Watch cites discriminatory laws and customs as some of the factors that continue to fuel the violation of women’s
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UN Invites Corporate Capture of Food Systems |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 23 March 2020 |
The UN has increasingly involved corporations in UN decision making, a trend made obvious in the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. This time, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) has formed an alliance with the corporate world—outside of the framework of UN Charter-based specialized agencies—to set the global agenda for further corporate capture of
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Liberia: New Land Law Partial Victory |
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By :Jennifer O’Mahony, Mongabay Series: Global Forests, Global Palm Oil |
| 22 March 2020 |
New Land Law hailed as victory, but critics say it’s not enough
Areas allocated to rubber, oil palm and logging concessions cover around a quarter of Liberia’s total land mass.
Liberian activists and the international community have warned that land disputes on oil palm concessions were becoming a time bomb for conflict
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IPC on post-2020 Biodiversity Strategy |
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By :IPC |
| 18 March 2020 |
Don’t let agribusiness take over the Post – 2020 Biodiversity Strategy
The International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) delegation of small-scale food producers participated at the Second meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Rome, from 24
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COVID-19: We Need a Human Rights Habitat |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 17 March 2020 |
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised and responsible governments have enforced that we stay at home stay, frequently wash our hands often with soap and warm water, maintain social distancing and keep our immune system strong, these live-saving measures are impossible for vulnerable people
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Kashmir: India to "Reclaim" Encroached Land |
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By :Safwat Zargar, scroll.in |
| 15 March 2020 |
The Jammu and Kashmir government [under Indian occupation] plans to reclaim at least 1 lakh [100,000] hectares of encroached state land and village commons by the end of this month. About 65% of this land falls in the Jammu division of the newly created Union Territory, revenue department officials told
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Kenya: 500 Taita Taveta Families to Be Evicted |
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By :Brian Ocharo, The Nation |
| 12 March 2020 |
More than 500 families are now facing eviction from land said to belong to former assistant minister Basil Criticos.
This comes after Mr Criticos renewed his plans to repossess the 1,000 hectares of land in Taita Taveta County which he claims was illegally allocated to the residents.
The former Taveta MP on
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Missouri Farmer Wins $265m Monsanto/BASF Claim |
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By :Carey Gillam, Sierra |
| 25 February 2020 |
Missouri Farmer Wins $265 Million Verdict against Monsanto. Jury finds that, because of dicamba, a peach farmer is going out of business
A Missouri peach farmer notched a rare courtroom victory this month, defeating the former Monsanto Co. and chemical giant BASF in the first of what is expected to be
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Uganda: Thousands Homeless for Land Privatization |
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By :Bill Oketch, Daily monitor |
| 25 February 2020 |
More than 35,000 people from 20 villages are homeless after being evicted from about 9,300 acres of land in Kiryandongo District to pave way for large scale farming.
No one seemingly knows the exact year when the government allegedly gave the land to agricultural companies for large scale farming.
The government says
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Bolsonaro`s Ambiguous Amazon Plan |
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By :Luciana Coelho and Gustavo Uribe, Folha de São Paulo |
| 10 February 2020 |
Bolsonaro`s Proposed Amazon Plan Is Vague and Uncertain. Officials improvised the proposed project on eve of Davos event to appease critics.
SÃO PAULO and BRASÍLIA—Bolsonaro`s finalized his plan for the Amazon right before the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland. The government wanted to alleviate investor doubts about the government`s inaction in forest
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HIC-HLRN: New Ways to Work with UN Habitat |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 February 2020 |
ABU DHABI—At a networking event in the 10th World Urban Forum (WUF) to consider a new UN Habitat “Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism for Sustainable Development,” HIC-HLRN presented its contribution to the current discussion about the eventual methods and functions of UN Habitat’s partnership with civil society, local governments and authorities, and
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Brazil: President Opens Indigenous Land to Mining |
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By :Amazon Watch |
| 06 February 2020 |
Illegal Bill to Permit Mining on Indigenous Territories Proposed by Bolsonaro to Brazil`s Congress
Yesterday, marking his 400th day in office, Brazil`s extreme-right President Jair Bolsonaro proposed new legislation that would permit industrial mining, oil and gas projects, and hydroelectric dams on protected indigenous lands. The bill – which brazenly violates Brazil`s constitution
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U.S. Farm Bankruptcies Hit an Eight-year High |
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By :P.J. Huffstutter, Reuters |
| 30 January 2020 |
CHICAGO—U.S. farm bankruptcy rates jumped 20% in 2019 - to an eight-year high - as financial woes in the U.S. agricultural economy continued, in spite of massive federal bail-out funding, according to federal court data.
According to data released this week by the United States Courts, family farmers filed 595 Chapter
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South Africa: Women’s Landmark Property Rights Ruling |
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By :Kim Harrisberg, Thomson Reuters Foundation |
| 29 January 2020 |
For black women married before 1988, the husband owned all matrimonial assets and could sell them without consulting his wife - until a landmark win this month overturned the law
JOHANNESBURG—Facing destitution when her marriage broke down, 72-year-old Agnes Sithole went to court to challenge a sexist law - and won
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How Chevron Crushes an Environment Defender |
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By :Sharon Lerner, The Intercept |
| 29 January 2020 |
How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment against Chevron Lost Everything
Last August, during the second-hottest year on record, while the fires in the Amazon rainforest were raging, the ice sheet in Greenland was melting, and Greta Thunberg was being greeted by adoring crowds across the U.S., something else happened
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Wealth Inequality, not Over-population Causes Climate Crisis |
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By :The Conversation |
| 28 January 2020 |
Stop blaming population growth for climate change. The real culprit is wealth inequality. Consumption by the world’s richest 10% makes up half of the planet’s consumption-based CO₂ emissions. Why we should be wary of blaming ‘overpopulation’ for the climate crisis
The annual World Economic Forum in Davos brought together representatives from government and
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CSOs Blast UN’s Corporate Take-over |
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By :FIAN and various CSOs |
| 16 January 2020 |
WEF takeover of UN strongly condemned. With the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos around the corner, hundreds of CSOs reiterate condemnation of the partnership between the corporate world with the UN.
As corporate executives fly into Davos for the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF),
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The Future of Africa`s Food Security |
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By :Busani Bafana, Inter Press Service |
| 09 January 2020 |
IBADAN, Nigeria—Africa will starve or survive on expensive food imports because it is not growing new farmers, research shows. And the challenge remains among researchers, policy makers, public and private sector actors to get African youth interested in agriculture on a continent where a growing number of people go to
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Brazil: New Decree to Support Land Grabs |
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By :Sputnik News |
| 12 December 2019 |
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signs a decree giving title to smallholder farmers, but may encourage land grabbing.
President Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree on Tuesday that will allow tens of thousands of small farmers finally to earn title to the land they cultivate, fulfilling a campaign promise to the agricultural sector
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India: Protesting > 40K Trees Cut for Mine, Police Crack Down |
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By :Newsclick Report |
| 12 December 2019 |
India: Talabira Odisha: Over 40,000 trees removed to pave way for Adani’s Mine. Heavy police force is present on the site to completely cordon off the region. Activists are terming the removal of the trees as a grave violation of community forest rights.
The green lungs of industrial Odisha’s Sambalpur are
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Kashmir: A Land without Internet |
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By :Peerzada Ashiq, The Hindu |
| 08 December 2019 |
In a land without Internet, the communication blackout is forcing young entrepreneurs out of Kashmir Valley. With the Internet blackout stretching for more than 120 days in Jammu and Kashmir, start-ups that began with much fanfare are closing down. Peerzada Ashiq reports on young Kashmiri entrepreneurs who are leaving behind
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‘Amazon Completely Lawless’: Bolsonaro’s 1st Year |
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By :Matt Sandy. The New York Times |
| 05 December 2019 |
Deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest, an important buffer against climate change, has soared under President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
RIO DE JANEIRO—When the smoke cleared, the Amazon could breathe easy again.
For months, black clouds had hung over the rainforest as work crews burned and chain-sawed through it. Now the rainy
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Kenya: Village Struggles with Industrial Giant |
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By :Lotte Hughes and Daniel Lepariyo, The Star |
| 01 November 2019 |
David v Goliath: A small village’s struggle with an industrial giant
Known as Kambi Turkana to its largely Maasai neighbours, Lorropil has 47 residents, including Turkana, Samburu, Kikuyu, Il Chamus, Kisii and Kalenjin. Akiira Geothermal Ltd claims these destitute people are ‘squatters’ who have only recently moved onto the land in
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Framing the Inquiry into Land Inequality |
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By :Arantxa Guereña and Marc Wegerif |
| 30 October 2019 |
The International Land Coalition (ILC) has launched a research project on land inequality in the world, beginning with an exercise of framing the approach the many related complexities of land inequality. The result of that initial effort is a coherent framework for research and action with suggested themes and questions for
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20 Firms Emit a Third of All Carbon |
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By :Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts, The Guardian |
| 09 October 2019 |
New data show how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers
The Guardian today reveals the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern
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What`s Destroying the Amazon? |
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By :Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay News |
| 23 August 2019 |
Since 1978 over 750,000 square kilometers (289,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. Why is Earth`s largest rainforest being destroyed?
For most of human history, deforestation in the Amazon was primarily the product of subsistence farmers who cut down trees to produce
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Brazil: Amazon on Fire |
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By :CBS News |
| 21 August 2019 |
On Monday afternoon, the City of São Paulo, Brazil, went dark — but it wasn`t some strange cosmic event. Powerful winds carried the smoke from forest fires burning nearly 1,700 miles away, reported the BBC. Almost 73,000 fires have been detected by Brazil`s space research center INPE, according to Reuters. It`s a
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Kashmir: Land Grab and Political Disempowerment |
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By :Subodh Varma, News Click |
| 11 August 2019 |
Land Grab, Political Disempowerment Are Twin Pillars of J&K Changes
Pursued through repressive clampdown, cloaked in rhetoric of ‘development’.
Buried deep within the new law that divided Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, lie provisions that reveal the real intent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. These changes, affecting political
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PHROC Rebukes Donor States over UNRWA Cuts |
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By :Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) |
| 04 August 2019 |
Palestinian Refugees must not suffer the consequences of alleged misconduct. Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) criticizes funding cuts to UNRWA over ethics evaluation.
PHROC: Support UNRWA and Ensure Refugee Rights under International Law
A ten-page report was issued by the ethics office of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
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RCEP Trade Deal to Intensify Asia Land Grabs |
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By :GRAIN |
| 12 July 2019 |
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed mega-trade agreement that involves 10 countries of Southeast Asia and six of their trading partners.[1] If adopted, it will be the biggest trade deal in the world. RCEP will not just change rules on the export and import of goods and services;
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HRBA at UN Habitat Assembly |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 29 May 2019 |
“Human Rights-based Approaches to Meeting Sustainable Development
Goals and New Urban Agenda Targets for Women, Youth and Children”
UN Habitat Assembly, 29 May 2019, 13:15–14:45, United Nations at Nairobi, Classroom 6
Featuring presentations by panelists from University of East London, UN Habitat, Habitat International Coalition’s Housing and Land Rights Network, Huairou Commission,
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"People-centered Partnership" @ 1st UNHA |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 28 May 2019 |
Visions of People-centered Partnership”: HIC-HLRN at the first UN Habitat Assembly, Nairobi, 27 May 2019
NAIROBI—On 27 May 2019, Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network organized a side event at the first UN Habitat Assembly (Nairobi) in collaboration with UN Habitat’s stakeholder Youth Caucus. The inter-active event sought
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Zimbabwe Farmers Hawking to Survive |
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By :Jeffrey Moyo, IPS |
| 28 May 2019 |
Zimbabwe’s Resettled Farmers Hawking Cigarettes to Survive
MARONDERA, Zimbabwe—Subsistence farmer Rogers Hove proudly brandishes a worn-out letter for his five-hectare piece of land he obtained from government following the chaotic land seizures from white commercial farmers over two decades ago. What matters most to him, he says, “is to see my
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World Bank’s Attack on Small Farmers |
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By :AfricaFocus Bulletin |
| 27 May 2019 |
Editor`s Note:
“Enabling the Business of Agriculture,” promoted by the World Bank, and now enhanced with a new sub-indicator on land policy, is presented as a way to advance agricultural development, particularly in Africa. In reality, notes a new report from the Oakland Institute, it gives an additional push to a
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South Africa Confronts Apartheid Land Legacy |
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By :Christopher Clark, The Atlantic |
| 03 May 2019 |
ZOLANI, South Africa—On the outskirts of this overcrowded township in South Africa’s Cape Winelands, Phumlani Zota, a 32-year-old pig farmer, sifted through piles of waste in a refuse dump beneath the Langeberg mountains, filling a burlap sack with scraps of food for his livestock. “There is not enough land here,”
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DRC: Failed Agro-Industrial Park Model |
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By :Oakland Institute and HLRN |
| 25 April 2019 |
The Bukanga Lonzo Debacle: The Failure of Agro-Industrial Parks in DRC is a new report of the Oakland Institute that exposes the numerous land rights violations and human rights abuses, pollution and health hazards, misspent funds, charges of embezzlement and corruption, and legal action since the establishment and collapse of
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South Africa: Land Reform Report Rejected |
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By :Mfuneko Toyana; editing by Kirsten Donovan, Reuters |
| 19 April 2019 |
JOHANNESBURG--South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s push to reduce rural poverty and quell growing anger over unequal access to property faces further delays after a member of an advisory panel on the issue on Friday rejected key aspects of the plan.
Land ownership is a controversial and emotive issue in South Africa
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India’s Unrelenting Forced-eviction Crisis |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 09 April 2019 |
New report highlights the unrelenting crisis of forced evictions, finds over 200,000 persons evicted in India in 2018. Over 114 houses demolished every day, 23 people evicted every hour.
On the eve of India’s General Elections, Housing and Land Rights Network India (HLRN) held a press conference in New Delhi today
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Sahel: Displacement Crisis |
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By :UN News |
| 05 March 2019 |
Drastic deterioration in security across Burkina Faso as 70,000 flee their homes in past two months, UN warns
The landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso is facing “unprecedented” displacement, triggered by armed groups and intercommunal clashes, and exacerbated by long-term food insecurity, UN aid officials said on Tuesday.
According to the
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ICJ Chagos Island Opinion: from Brexit to Chexit? |
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By :Marko Milanovic, European Journal of International Law blog |
| 28 February 2019 |
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its Chagos Islands Advisory Opinion, and UK loses badly
The ICJ has ruled that Britain acted illegally when it imposed territorial controls on the Chagos Islands without the consent of Mauritius. The ruling may hinder US operations in Diego Garcia, where it holds an
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USA: Court Rules IFC Not Immune |
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By :Diane Desierto, European Journal of International Law blog |
| 28 February 2019 |
SCOTUS decision in Jam et al v. International Finance Corporation (IFC) denies absolute immunity to IFC…with caveats
When it rains, it somehow pours.
February 2019 ended up being such a landmark month for international law adjudication. A day after the International Court of Justice released its landmark Chagos Advisory Opinion (finely discussed by
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Vanishing Biodiversity Threatens Our Food |
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By :FAO |
| 23 February 2019 |
The biodiversity that is crucial for our food and agriculture is disappearing by the day
FAO launches the first-ever global report on the state of biodiversity that underpins our food systems
ROME—The first-ever report of its kind presents mounting and worrying evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing
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Petition to Stop Land Grabbing in Sierra Leone |
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By :Okland Institute |
| 21 February 2019 |
Stop the criminalisation of land rights defenders!
Oakland, CA—One month after violent incidents in the SOCFIN plantations in Sierra Leone leading to brutal repression by security forces, the death of two people and 15 people arrested, Sierra Leonean and international civil society organisations urge the government of Sierra Leone and the
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Mining Grabs Up Land in Central America |
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By :Edgardo Ayala, Inter press Service |
| 19 February 2019 |
SAN SALVADOR, Feb 19 2019 (IPS) - Like an octopus, metals mining has been spreading its tentacles throughout Central America and dealing a blow to the region’s agriculture and natural ecosystems, according to affected villagers, activists and a new report on the problem.
“Where the mining company is operating was land
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Fighting Displaces 100K in Burkina Faso |
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By :Reuters |
| 19 February 2019 |
UN: Fighting, Instability Have Displaced 100,000 in Burkina Faso
GENEVA—More than 100,000 people have been displaced by factional fighting and lawlessness in Burkina Faso, most within the past two months, according to a U.N. report published Tuesday.
"Burkina Faso is, for the first time in its history, facing massive internal displacement,"
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Zim: Govt to Evict 1,000 Resettled Villagers |
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By :Tatenda Chitagu, Newsday |
| 10 February 2019 |
About 1,000 families from Sikato resettlement in Masvingo West constituency are facing an uncertain future after being served with seven-day eviction notices to vacate the land which they occupied at the height of the land reform programme in 2000.
The families, from seven villages; Muza, Chikutuva, Manunure, Makasva, Banga, Sithole and
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AU Summit on Displacement Crisis |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 February 2019 |
Already 55 years ago, the Organization of African States was born with the purpose of peace and unity in what is now the African Union (AU), the largest regional organization on earth. This year, the 32nd regular annual AU summit at Addis Ababa (10–11 February 2019) focuses on another distinguishing
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Eating within Planetary Proportions |
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By :HLRN |
| 30 January 2019 |
The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health has convened 37 of the worlds’ leading scientists to reach a scientific consensus that defines a healthy and sustainable diet within the limits of our global ecosystem. Their conclusions contribute to the specificity needed to align human behavior with the goal of sustaining the human
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India: Refugees Get Land Titles |
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By :Rina Chandran,Thomson Reuters Foundation |
| 29 January 2019 |
Refugees in India`s West Bengal get land titles amid citizenship row.
India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which spells out refugee rights and state responsibilities to protect them.
BANGKOK—Authorities in India`s West Bengal state have given land titles to about 30,000 refugees who have lived in settlement
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World Bank Schemes to Privatize the Commons |
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By :Oakland Institute |
| 24 January 2019 |
The Highest Bidder Takes It All: The World Bank’s Scheme to Privatize the Commons details how the Bank’s prescribes reforms, via a new land indicator in the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, promotes large-scale land acquisitions and the expansion of agribusinesses in the developing world. This new indicator is
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Land Grabbing Worsens Climate Change |
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By :Fredrick Mugira, Annika Mcginnis, Pulitzer center |
| 10 January 2019 |
In Uganda, there were at least 17 “land grabs” since 2000 with contracts totaling 74,831 hectares of land, according to Land Matrix data.
A new report has linked land grabbing to worsening climate change, calling on governments to secure community land rights to protect the world’s natural resources such as “forests”
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China: Land Reforms Must Be Grounded in Law |
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By :Ren Qiuyu Caixin global |
| 25 December 2018 |
China is making new progress in revising its Land Administration Law. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is set to deliberate on proposed amendments to the Land Administration Law and other draft legislation during its seventh meeting from Dec. 23-29. At the same time, it will also discuss
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S A: Reviews Land-Expropriation Bill |
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By :Linda Ensor, BusinessDay |
| 24 December 2018 |
The draft Expropriation Bill gazetted by public works minister Thulas Nxesi last week for public comment was a disappointment and would not accelerate land reform, the Land Access Movement of SA (Lamosa) said.
It believes the proposed legislation lacks justice and provides no equity for homeland dwellers.
Lamosa, a federation of rural
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Zuma Complicit in Zimbabwe Land Grabs |
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By :Chris Bateman, Biznews |
| 19 December 2018 |
CAPE TOWN — They say it takes a strong constitution to become a country’s president, but it also takes a strong Constitution to bring to account an almost omnipotent president. Or former president, shall we say. One who came to believe that he could get away with almost anything once
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Leading Landless Women |
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By :Fredrick Mugira,Pulitzer center |
| 13 December 2018 |
Up to 10.3 million hectares of land has been acquired by investors from individuals, communities and governments in the 11 Nile basin countries since 2000. That is according to Land Matrix, a global and independent land monitoring initiative.
Apart from private investors, Land Matrix data shows that several countries outside of
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We`re Celebrating 70th Human Rights Day |
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By :HLRN |
| 10 December 2018 |
Declaration on Human Rights Day and the Right to the City
We, social movements, civil society and local governments’ organizations are committed to social justice through the promotion, defense and fulfillment of all human rights related to habitat, including the Human Right to Adequate Housing, Land and the Right to the
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UN Peasants’ Rights Declaration Adopted in GA |
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By :HLRN |
| 20 November 2018 |
NEW YORK—The UN General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) passed a draft that would have the Assembly adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. This vote assures that the Declaration will enter the next edition of Human Rights:
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Land Rights, Companies and Social Justice |
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By :Chris Jochnick, SSIR.org |
| 24 October 2018 |
In 2004, the Newmont Mining Corporation hired me to investigate human rights accusations facing its gold mine operation in Peru, despite the company feeling like it had done everything right. It got the necessary government approvals, made legal land purchases, and launched various philanthropic initiatives, yet widespread protestscontinued to disrupt its efforts.
After meeting
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Ethiopia Takes Land Back |
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By :Chiamaka Ihekwoaba, the nerve africa |
| 01 October 2018 |
Ethiopia has revoked a total of 412.6 hectares of land held by investors, including Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi for failure to create jobs and develop the city, as promised when the lands were awarded to them, head of Addis Ababa Land Bank Tesfaye Tilahun told the Voice of
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UNHRC Adopts Peasant Rights Declaration |
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By :La Via Campesina |
| 30 September 2018 |
UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights declaration in Geneva
GENEVA—Seventeen years of long and arduous negotiations later, peasants and other people working in rural areas are only a step away from having a UN Declaration that could defend and protect their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, local
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Evicted Apaa Residents Accuse UN of Neglect |
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By :Witness radio |
| 07 August 2018 |
Gulu. Hundreds of locals who have for the last one month camped at the UN premises in Gulu Municipality seeking its intervention over the ongoing evictions in Apaa Village, Itirikwa Sub-county, Adjumani District have accused UN officials of neglect.
The locals say since July 11 when they issued a letter to
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Laos: “Substandard construction” Causes Dam Collapse |
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By :Kocha Olarn, Sandi Sidhu and Ben Westcott, CNN |
| 27 July 2018 |
Minister says “substandard construction” caused Laos dam to collapse. 25,000 people evacuated.
The collapse of Laos dam that triggered massive flooding and devastation was due to "substandard construction," the country`s Minister of Energy and Mines said Thursday.
According to the state-run Laos News Agency, Minister Khammany Inthirath told reporters at a news
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Uganda: Amuru Land Grab Apaa Village Evictions |
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By :Minbane.wordpress.com |
| 20 July 2018 |
That the Northern Uganda have been in deep end of the stick in many eyes is evident, by how lax the state has been to take care of their needs and their rights. That can now be proven by the forceful evictions from land in Apaa Village in Amuru District/Adjumani
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World Bank Evaluation: Things Fall Apart |
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By :Sophie Edwards, Devex |
| 18 June 2018 |
World Bank failing to follow watchdog advice, says IEG report
WASHINGTON — World Bank managers are failing to properly implement, and in some cases ignoring, the recommendations of its own independent watchdog, according to evaluators.
In a report presented Thursday, the Independent Evaluation Group, the body tasked with evaluating the performance of all parts of the World
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World Bank Evaluation: Things Fall Apart |
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By :Sophie Edwards, Devex |
| 18 June 2018 |
World Bank failing to follow watchdog advice, says IEG report
WASHINGTON — World Bank managers are failing to properly implement, and in some cases ignoring, the recommendations of its own independent watchdog, according to evaluators.
In a report presented Thursday, the Independent Evaluation Group, the body tasked with evaluating the performance of all parts of the World
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Uganda: In Defence of Land Grabbing |
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By :Andrew M. Mwenda, Independent Uganda |
| 28 May 2018 |
Our country has a new villain: the land grabber! In the popular imagination, this is a rich and powerful individual grabbing land from poor helpless victims. There are strong incentives for journalists, academics, politicians, activists, pundits, etc. to position themselves as champions of the poor masses against the rich and
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Another Mozambique Land Grab |
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By :Timothy A. Wise, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute |
| 23 May 2018 |
Growing Resistance: The Rise and Fall of Another Mozambique Land Grab
The rice fields of Xai-Xai, three hours up the coast from Maputo, are vast, coming into view as we descended onto the alluvial plain from the villages that dot the hills above. They stretch across the plains toward the Indian Ocean
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Land Ownership Isn’t Enough to Empower Women |
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By :Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, The Conversation.com |
| 14 May 2018 |
In the agricultural sector – the major employer for poor people in Africa – assets like land and livestock are owned and controlled mainly by men.
It makes sense, then, that many donors, national governments and civil society groups believe rebalancing asset and land ownership in favour of women will greatly empower women.
The argument is
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Ethiopia: New Deal with Iconic Land Grabber Karuturi |
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By :Anywaa Survival Organisation |
| 07 May 2018 |
Reading, United Kingdom - The Anywaa Survival Organisation (ASO) is outraged by recent news reports that the Ethiopian government is providing a new lease of lands to disgraced land grabber Karuturi Global Ltd.
Karuturi`s disastrous 300,000 hectares (ha) farm project in Ethiopia`s western Gambela region is the most vivid example of the Ethiopian government`s
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HICtionary Newly Updated |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 06 May 2018 |
HIC-HLRN has just updated the HICtionary: Key Habitat Terms from A to Z. This reference work is the result of deliberation and debate across multiple specializations, regions and cultures within the membership of Habitat International Coalition (HIC). The purpose of that debate—and this reference work—have been to consolidate and harmonize
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Five Alarming Land Grabbing Cases |
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By :iwgia.org |
| 19 April 2018 |
Extractive industries remain a concrete threat to indigenous communities and this year`s The Indigenous World 2018 describes many cases of land grabbing from indigenous peoples. In this article we take a closer look at some of the examples.
In many countries forced evictions and land grabbing in the name of conservation, development
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Smallholder Farmers` Rights are Women`s Rights |
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By :Barbara Adams, Global Policy Watch |
| 20 March 2018 |
Most farms in developing and least developed countries are small, generally plots of less than two hectares of land. Smallholder farmers manage over 80% of the world’s estimated 500 million small farms and provide over 80% of the food consumed in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, contributing significantly to poverty reduction
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DR Congo: Terror in Ituri |
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By :Thijs Van Laer, Congo Research Group |
| 05 March 2018 |
Over sixty people killed, thousands of houses burned down and more than 100,000 displaced people, including 42,000 refugees in neighbouring Uganda. Those are the consequences so far of the violence in the northeastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since December 2017.
The violence marks a counterpoint to
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South Africa: Confiscating White Farmers` Lands |
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By :The Independent |
| 01 March 2018 |
South Africa‘s parliament has passed a motion that could lead to the seizure of land from white farmers without paying them compensation.
Passed by an overwhelming majority of 241 votes to 83 votes against, the proposal to amend Section 25 of the constitution would allow expropriation of land without any financial
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1st Arab Conference on Land Governance |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 28 February 2018 |
Dubai Land Department announces the conclusion of the first Arab land governance conference
The conference, organized in partnership with the World Bank, the Global Land Tool Network, UN-HABITAT, the League of Arab States and the Arab Surveying Association, was attended by more than 300 participants, representing several regional and international bodies.
Dubai
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DRC Violence Displaces Thousands of Children |
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By :VoA |
| 24 February 2018 |
Thousands of Children Displaced by Ethnic Violence in DRC’s Ituri Province. GENEVA—The U.N. children’s fund reports at least 90,000 children have been forced to flee their homes in the face of escalating inter-communal violence in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province. Ituri’s Djugu territory in northeastern D.R.C. has been the
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Pakistan: Empowering Sindh’s Landless Farmers |
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By :Amin Ahmed, Dawn |
| 05 February 2018 |
$5m project aims to empower Sindh’s landless farmers
An internationally funded project was launched in Sindh last week in an attempt to improve land tenancy for landless farmers.
Landless farmers (or haris) in the province usually have access to land as tenants through paperless agreements between them and landlords. Without having any
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South Africa Shouldn’t Copy Mugabe’s Land Reform |
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By :Economist.com |
| 25 January 2018 |
Of the many grievances from South Africa’s decades of white rule, the theft of land still smarts more than most. The “Natives Land Act” of 1913 set aside 90% of the country for whites, who made up less than a third of its people. Over the next eight decades a
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India: Landless Farmers to Access Land |
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By :Prabhudatta Mishra, Financial Express |
| 24 January 2018 |
Landless cultivators to be farmers too! Change of definition to extend assorted benefits to 14 cr currently excluded
Change of definition to extend assorted benefits to 14 crore currently excluded.
Over 14 crore (140 million) households who cultivate on land owned by others under a formal lease agreement or even under a
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New UN Declaration on Peasant Rights |
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By :Shivani Chaudhry, HLRN India/Open Global Rights |
| 04 January 2018 |
A new UN declaration could finally protect rural and landless peoples. The UN has drafted a groundbreaking declaration that has the potential to protect the human rights of peasants, rural workers and landless people. There is room, however, to strengthen its provisions.
Despite their significant contributions to food security, sustainable development,
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Brazil: Solidarity against Landless Camp Evictions |
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By :MST and Via Campesina |
| 14 December 2017 |
An aggressive attack is being waged against Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), the Landless Workers Movement, in the northern State of Pará, Brazil.
Large-scale landowners along with local judicial authorities, mainstream media and the Brazilian military police are targeting MST camps throughout the country. In Marabá, located in the
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Learning Journey on Agroecology in Lebanon |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 28 November 2017 |
HIC-HLRN was invited to participate to the Learning Journey on Local Solidarity Partnerships for Agroecology in Lebanon from 22 to 25 November 2017, organized by Urgenci, the international network for community supported agriculture with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The Learning Journey
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Tribute to Patterson Kuria Gathuru |
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By :HLRN |
| 15 November 2017 |
Our colleague and friend, Patterson Kuria Gathuru, left us on 15 November 2017. He is known to us as the Habitat International Coalition’s co-member on the IPC, advocating the issues and human rights of the urban food-insecure constituency. Many of you also know him as an IPC colleague in this
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Out of Africa: Human Rights Habitat Struggles |
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By :Marie Huchzermeyer, CUBES/Wits Univ. and Joseph Schechla, HLRN |
| 07 November 2017 |
From Africa to the World: Struggling for Human Rights to Housing, Land and the City
Mid-October 2017, Nairobi was host to an intense engagement on housing rights, social justice and the right to the city. This was amid political turmoil in Kenyan towns and cities, and unrelated to this but largely
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New Report: India`s Farm Widows |
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By :HLRN-India and Prakriti Resource Centre for Women and Development |
| 15 October 2017 |
Report on farm widows of Maharashtra highlights human rights violations
recommends urgent state intervention to prevent social and economic exclusion
NEW DELHI—A study released today by Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) India (New Delhi), and Prakriti Resource Centre for Women and Development (Nagpur) reveals the acute vulnerability of farm widows
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Algeria Eliminates Last Antipersonnel Landmines |
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By :Algeria Eliminates Last Antipersonnel Landmines (ICBL) |
| 19 September 2017 |
On 18 September 2017, Algeria celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty by destroying its last antipersonnel landmines. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines congratulates Algeria for fulfilling treaty obligation.
Algeria had reported retaining 5,970 antipersonnel landmines for training purposes, permitted under Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty. After
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Food Companies Threaten Environmental Activists |
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By :Oxfam International |
| 07 September 2017 |
Despite committing to deforestation-free supply chains, the top 10 food and beverage companies lack policies to protect the activists and communities caring for the environment from intimidation, threats and attacks, according to a new Oxfam report.
Commercial farming of some everyday food ingredients, like soy and palm oil, are driving massive
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The Cost of Land Grabbing in Mozambique |
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By :Burag Gurden, Pambazuka News |
| 31 August 2017 |
The cost of land grabbing in Mozambique`s Tete Province
Tete Province is very rich in coal. An estimated 23 billion tons of mostly untapped coal lies beneath Tete. It is expected to become the region’s energy powerhouse built on coal and hydroelectricity. However, local farmer communities have been on the losing
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UN Reports on Rakhine Living Conditions |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 23 August 2017 |
After one year of consultations held across Rakhine State (Myanmar) and in other parts of the country and the region, the UN’s Advisory Commission on Rakhine State submitted its final report to national authorities on 23 August.
The Commission, chaired by Kofi Annan, has put forward recommendations to surmount the
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Nicaragua: Future Canal Threatens Mass Eviction |
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By :Amnesty International |
| 03 August 2017 |
Nicaragua: Country’s future for sale as canal threatens thousands with forced eviction
The Nicaraguan government must stop placing business before the future of the country and its people, Amnesty International said in a new report today looking at a secretive deal that will lead to the construction of a canal
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Global Peasant Movement Convene at Bilbao |
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By :Huffington Post |
| 28 July 2017 |
Global Peasant Movement Assesses and Responds to a Heated Political Moment
Four years ago, La Vía Campesina brought its peasant activists from around the world to Jakarta for its VI International Conference. The gathering was held in a padepokan, a Javanese center reserved for the teaching and exchanging of knowledge and
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“Spotlight” on UN High-Level Forum, SDGs |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 10 July 2017 |
As the UN High-Level Forum opens in New York, a global civil society report spotlights the role of big business in hindering development and deepening economic and social disparity.
Unbridled privatization, corporate capture and mass-scale tax abuse are blocking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, argues a new report by a
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Mafia-like Networks |
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By :Djeralar Miankeol, dandc.eu |
| 18 June 2017 |
In many developing countries, land grabbing takes place on a large scale, either for the purposes of mining or agriculture. This loss of land is disastrous for the affected village communities. Awareness of the problem is growing, however, and there are more and more tools and guidelines available to soften
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Irrawaddy Farmers Claims their Confiscated Land |
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By :Salai Thant Zin, IrrawaddY Division |
| 14 June 2017 |
Farmers in Irrawaddy Division’s Myaungmya Township demanded the divisional government return more than 200 acres of land confiscated, and subsequently abandoned, by Myanmar’s military to its original owners, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Light Infantry Battalion No. 93 of Myanmar’s Tatmadaw confiscated 249 acres of cashew plantations from 32 local
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India: Landless Women Attacked in Odisha |
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By :Ranjana Padhi, The Wire |
| 02 May 2017 |
The powers that be in Sipasarubali, Odisha work to take over forest land to build a beach resort, villagers who are trying to fight them are under attack.
Puri, Odisha: On April 28, a friend and I went to Gola and Gopinathpur villages in Odisha to meet activists who, in the early 1990s, had
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Mobilization Call: 60 Years after Treaty of Rome |
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By :La Via Campesina |
| 14 March 2017 |
For healthy and quality food, decent work, and a just and sustainable agricultural policy in a Europe of the People and of Solidarity.
We call on ECVC’s member organizations, allied groups, grassroots networks, and the whole peasant and food sovereignty movement in Europe to mobilize this 25 March – on the
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Toward a UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants |
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By :La via Campesina |
| 09 March 2017 |
The need for a UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas is all the more urgent and evident in the 21st century. Despite years of campaigning for a better recognition and protection of the rights of peasants, displacements and criminalization continue affecting hundreds
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Women Land and Human Rights Defenders |
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By :Osprey Orielle Lake, Emily Arasim, Common Dreams |
| 07 March 2017 |
Across the wide world, women are rising up to protect the Earth, one another, and the common good.
Women around the world stand at the forefront of rising movements to defend and protect the health of water, land, air and diverse communities. On this International Women’s Day, it is vital to
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Rule of Law and Women Food and Land Rights |
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By :IDLO |
| 07 March 2017 |
We live in a world of abundance, yet ensuring food security remains challenging. Women are responsible for more than half of global food production. Yet they account for 70 per cent of the world’s hungry and are disproportionately affected by malnutrition.
Achieving food security is not only a question of ensuring
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Land Rights Changing Women’s World of Work |
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By :Monique Barbut, IPS Agency |
| 06 March 2017 |
BONN, Mar 6 2017 (IPS) - International Women’s Day this year focuses on economic empowerment in the changing world of work. The vision is to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls by 2030. Girls’ aged three will become adults with a legal right to work in 2030.
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Report: Forced Evictions Fuel Land Disputes |
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By :Kieran Guilbert, Rights Resources |
| 09 February 2017 |
DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Forced evictions of local communities from their lands by foreign companies fuel around two-thirds of land ownership disputes across Africa, often sparking strikes or violence which can prove costly to investors, activists said on Thursday.
Pushing people off their land drives more conflict over land rights
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Report: Land Rights in a Turbulent World |
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By :Rights and Resources Initiative |
| 09 February 2017 |
Acknowledgment that insecure land rights among the world’s Indigenous Peoples and local communities contribute to conflict, discourage investment, and impede progress on global goals of sustainable development, poverty reduction, and climate change mitigation is growing. In 2016, this consensus found a powerful new ally: major institutional investors are beginning to
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Colombia: Seeking Justice from Chiquita Banana Wars |
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By :Matt Kennard and Nick MacWilliam, In These Times |
| 27 January 2017 |
Chiquita made a killing from Colombia’s civil war. Will their victims finally see justice? A long-running case against the banana giant is moving forward in U.S. court.
Getting an interview with Anabel (not her real name) is not easy. In Colombia, witnessing paramilitary violence against your family generally means you keep
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World Bank’s Agriculture Initiative Criticized |
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By :Brettonwoods Project |
| 18 January 2017 |
Civil society has called on the World Bank to terminate its Enabling the Business of Agriculture initiative.
In mid-January, 157 organisations and individuals sent a letter to World Bank president Jim Yong Kim calling for the termination of the Bank’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture initiative (EBA, see Bulletin May 2014,
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Sri Lanka: Clashes over Land in China Port Deal |
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By :abc.net.au |
| 07 January 2017 |
Sri Lankan police used water cannons to try to break up violent clashes between government supporters and villagers marching against what they say is a plan to take over private land for an industrial zone in which China will have a major stake.
Key points:
Clash takes place as Prime Minister attends
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Brazil: Eucalyptus War on Quilombo Lands |
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By :Luisa Torre and Patrik Camporez Macao, Al Jazeera |
| 05 January 2017 |
Brazil`s quilombos face eucalyptus giant in land war. "They stole our forests and our water. We took our medicine from the forest. Now, they put police and dogs at our door."
ESPIRITO SANTO, Brazil—In Sape do Norte, in the far north of Espirito Santo, Brazil, 32 communities refer to the 111,000 hectares
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ECJ Rejects Morocco`s Western Sahara Claim |
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By :Dominic Dudley, Forbes |
| 21 December 2016 |
European Court of Justice dismisses Morocco`s claim to Western Sahara, throwing EU trade deal into doubt. The ruling on the bloc`s trade deals with Morocco means they do not apply to Western Sahara, which occupied territory is notable for its fish stocks, mineral extraction, agricultural exports and potential oil reserves.
Morocco’s
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Myanmar: AI Reports “crimes against humanity” |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 19 December 2016 |
A new report by Amnesty International (AI) documents a campaign of violence by the Myanmar security forces against Rohingya since 9 October 2016. Soldiers and police have randomly fired on and killed civilians, raped women and girls, torched whole villages and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya men without any information about their
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Mexico: Ranchers, Indigenous Contest Land |
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By :Tracy Barnett, Thomas Reuters Foundation |
| 19 December 2016 |
Both sides say the government is responsible for the dispute in Mexico`s Sierra Madre mountain range - but the government won`t get involved
LA YESCA, Mexico—Audelina Villagrana has run her ranch in Mexico`s Western Sierra Madre Mountains on her own since the death of her husband 23 years ago, herding livestock,
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Land Rights Defender Killings Tripled in 2016 |
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By :PANAP |
| 10 December 2016 |
2015 had been the worst year on record for killings of land and environmental defenders who are struggling to protect land, forests and rivers from privately interested takers. But, in 2016, roughly 16 land rights advocates have been killed each month from January through November.
PENANG, Malaysia—Advocacy group PAN Asia Pacific
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Nigerian King Sues Shell in London |
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By :Alice Ritchie, Phys.org |
| 22 November 2016 |
Nigerian tribal king Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi has flown to London for a High Court hearing in which lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills
King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi holds up a plastic bottle containing contaminated water from his community
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Sierra Leone: Land Grabbing of Forests |
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By :Ishmael Kindama Dumbuya, Standard TimePress |
| 10 November 2016 |
Land grabbing around the Western Area Peninsular Forest Reserve is presently intensifying primarily for housing purposes. The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security is directly responsible for the protection of forests in the country and through the dedicated collaboration of the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone as focal
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Namibia: Land Grabbing Continues at Katima |
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By :Lugeretzia Kooper, Namibian News |
| 09 November 2016 |
THE grabbing of council land at Katima Mulilo has increased due to the influx of people from rural areas to the town in search of employment opportunities, town mayor Regina Mwiya-Simataa said in a press release last Friday.
Although Mwiya-Simataa conceded that the council had been slow in delivering land to
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Afghan Law on PPPs Allows Land-Grabbing |
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By :Heart of Asia |
| 09 November 2016 |
Due to pressure from the World Bank and some other foreigners, President Ghani endorsed the Law on Public-Private Partnership through a legislative decree about three weeks ago, but the law, according to jurists, doesn’t accord with Afghan context, and paves the ground for land usurpation.
Some well-placed sources revealed to The
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Uganda: Reject State-organised Land Grabbing |
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By :Kizza Besigye, Daily Monitor |
| 08 November 2016 |
Grabbing with Impunity
A significant portion of my 2016 presidential campaign underscored the need for immediate actions to halt the land-grabbing scourge. Land grabbing, here refers to large-scale land acquisitions, mainly, by foreign agribusiness invest ors, or the extraction industry—that are often preceded by grabbing of the land by government (including
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Myanmar: Kayin Farmers Fighting Land Grabs |
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By :Su Phyo Win and Myat Nyein Aye, Myanmar Times |
| 04 November 2016 |
Kayin State villagers are losing their land and are routinely persecuted through threats, arson and arbitrary arrest if they attempt to fight the unlawful seizures, according to a report released by an international rights group yesterday.
Around 70 percent of the people in Kayin State rely on land for their livelihood,
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Stop European Money Fueling Land Grabs |
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By :Peter Drury, Global Witnesses |
| 04 November 2016 |
Around the world, companies and speculators are engaged in a frantic rush for land. Millions of hectares are being bought up, citizens violently turfed off their land and critical ecosystems irrevocably damaged, in order to feed growing demand for fuel, food and raw materials.
At its worst, this is fatal. According
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Our Precious Urban Lives |
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By :Lisa Pryor, The New York Times |
| 29 October 2016 |
SYDNEY, Australia—Down the hill from my house, there is an old building with a saw-toothed roof that once warehoused trams, back when the bay was heavy with industrial waste and working-class people could afford to buy a home this close to the city and harbor of Sydney.
Now that building has
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Murder and Eviction: New Era of Global Land Rush |
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By :Oxfam international |
| 26 September 2016 |
Millions of people face being displaced from their homes as new data shows land sales covering an area the size of Germany are now under contract, warns Oxfam.
Seventy-five percent of the more than 1500 land deals sought over the last sixteen years now have contracts and their intended projects are getting
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Sri Lanka: Land Grab, Eviction of Fisherfolk |
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By :Oxfam International |
| 26 September 2016 |
In 2010, 350 families of farmers and fisherfolk living in Paanama, a coastal village in the east of Sri Lanka, were forcibly and violently evicted from lands they had cultivated and lived on for over forty years. These lands were taken over by the military to establish camps, and they
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Colombia: Land Conflict to Civil War to Peace? |
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By :VoA and others |
| 24 September 2016 |
Land conflicts feared in wake of Colombia peace accord
BOGOTÁ—Conflicts over land in Colombia are likely to increase following a peace deal to end half a century of war as once no-go areas in the Andean country open up for business and development projects, land rights experts said.
The government and rebel
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Thailand: Karens to Appeal Eviction Verdict |
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By :Forest Peoples Programme |
| 13 September 2016 |
Karens to appeal court verdict legalizing their forced evictions; indigenous organizations call for effective redress
Karen representatives today vowed to appeal against the recent Thai court verdict that ruled the authorities did not break the law in burning their properties to forcefully evict them from Kaeng Krachan National Park. Indigenous rights
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Haiti Aid Betrayal: Gifting the Trojan Peanut |
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By :Al Jazeera News and agencies |
| 29 August 2016 |
Over 50 groups of farmers and aid workers seek to stop planned 500-tonne shipment that US officials term a donation.
Peanut producers in Haiti have united to block the delivery of a 500-tonne shipment of nuts from the US.
They say the shipment threatens to undermine the livelihood of thousands of people
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Kenya: Save School from Evictor |
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By :Victoria Green, thestar.co.ke |
| 08 August 2016 |
The governance of land, the most lucrative asset in Kenya, has become an impediment to the economic, political, and social development of Kenya and Kenyans. Large scale corruption in land governance is highlighted daily, from unfortunate family disputes to allegations of land grabbing by former officials and recently, Presidents.
Public institutions,
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WB Retreat from Indigenous Rights |
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By :Gretchen Gordon and Prabindra Shakya, telesurtv.net |
| 08 August 2016 |
There are many within World Bank staff and management who see Indigenous peoples as obstacles to development.
While recent years have shown a steady advancement in recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples, last week the World Bank adopted a new policy framework that threatens to undermine this progress and put
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USA: Protests over GMO Label Law |
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By :Ryan Rifai, Al Jazeera |
| 04 August 2016 |
US food safety campaigners outraged over GMO label law
Campaigners say new law allows producers to obscure GMO content on food packaging
Many believe GMOs and pesticides are harmful to people`s health and the environment [EPA]
Food safety organisations in the US have condemned a new law they say will allow food
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World Bank Policies Imperil Land Defenders |
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By :Cyril Mychalejko, teleSUR |
| 04 August 2016 |
Just 5 months since the murder of Honduran environmental defender Berta Caceres, the Bank is passing new safeguards that do more harm than good.
The World Bank is expected to approve Thursday its new “Environmental and Social Framework” which civil society groups say weakens human rights protections and will likely endanger the very communities the safeguards are intended to protect.
At issue
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HIC Addresses Habitat III PrepCom3 |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 27 July 2016 |
The “New Urban Agenda,” from its inception, is inconsistent with historic agreements, today’s global priorities and the “world we need.” Particular interests have narrowed the Habitat Agenda to urban priorities, subordinated rural areas and ignored issues of forced migration, presuming that urbanization is “inevitable” and beyond human will or policy
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To Farm or Not to Farm? This Is the Question |
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By :Baher Kamal, Inter Press Services |
| 19 July 2016 |
The dilemma is critical: on the one hand, there is an absolute need to produce more food for the world’s steadily growing population; on the other, there is pressing urgency to halt -and further revert- the increasing trend to deplete the forests, which are as necessary for human survival as
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UN: Agriculture and Forestry for Food Security |
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By :UN News Center |
| 18 July 2016 |
Agriculture and forestry can improve food security, according to a new United Nations report released today, at the start of World Forest Week.
Farming is globally the most significant driver of deforestation, but promoting a more positive interaction between agriculture and forestry can build sustainable agricultural systems and improve food systems,
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India Mine Displaced 400 Adivasi Families |
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By :Elizabeth Puranam, Al Jazeera |
| 07 July 2016 |
The mine that displaced India`s indigenous people. About 400 Adivasi families once lived near the Chaal coal mine, but blasting and water contamination forced them to leave
The earth-shattering sound of dynamite welcomed us to the small village of Lath, which sits on the edge of an open-cast coal mine.
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MEQ Issues New Report, Maintains Old Inertia |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 01 July 2016 |
In line with their decision announced in Munich on 12 February 2016 and underlining their commitment to support a comprehensive, just, and lasting resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the representatives of the Middle East Quartet (MEQ) has issued its 2016 report today. The report issued by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
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Biotech/Nobel-laureates v. Anti-GMO Greenpeace |
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By :Jonathan Latham, PhD, Independent Science News |
| 01 July 2016 |
107 Nobel Laureate Attack on Greenpeace Traced Back to Biotech PR Operators
WASHINGTON—Greenpeace was denied entrance yesterday (June 30) to a National Press Club Event in Washington, DC of 107 Nobel Laureates. The event was ostensibly organised by a scientific group calling itself Support Precision Agriculture to publicise a letter signed
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Israel: Water as a Tool to Dominate Palestinians |
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By :Camilla Corradin, Al Jazeera |
| 20 June 2016 |
Israel deliberately denies Palestinians control over their water sources and sets the ground for water domination.
Occupied West Bank—As temperatures rise and summer months approach, yet again this year, thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are being deprived of their most basic need - access to water - as
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Standing up to TNC Land Grab in Sierra Leone |
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By :HLRN |
| 16 June 2016 |
HLRN has joined over 40 civil society organizations to express deep concern over the impact of a monoculture agricultural project that involves the dispossession of the people living in Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District in Sierra Leone.
The project is the subject of an investment by SOCFIN Agricultural Company Sierra Leone Ltd.
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USA: Pennsylvania Town Defeats Nestlé |
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By :Alexis Bonogofsky, Truthout |
| 16 June 2016 |
Pennsylvania’s Kunkletown defeats Nestlé`s attempt to privatize its water
Eric Andreaus, a hydrogeologist and spokesperson for Nestlé Waters North America, stood up during a monthly Eldred Township meeting in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, on 8 June 2016, and announced that Nestlé was abandoning its plans to extract 73 million gallons of water
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Brazil: Fundão Dam Devastation |
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By :Ingrid Fadnes, Al Jazeera |
| 14 June 2016 |
MARIANA, Brazil—On November 5, 2015, the Fundao dam burst in the inland municipality of Mariana in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The Brazilian mining company Samarco, owned by two of the world`s biggest mining corporations, Vale SA and BHP Billiton, operated the dam.
Tcharly do Barmo Batista, a 23-year-old father,
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Zimbabwe Diamond-displaced Villagers Seek Help |
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By :Reuters |
| 13 June 2016 |
Zimbabwe Villagers Displaced by Diamond Mining Seek Government Help. More than 1,000 families were moved from their village in 2009.
MUTARE, Zimbabwe—Villagers relocated to a sprawling government-owned farm complex in eastern Zimbabwe to make way for the nation’s biggest diamond field are hoping that President Robert Mugabe’s move to take control
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New Policy on Smallholders` Market Access |
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By :CFS |
| 09 June 2016 |
The Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Connecting Smallholders to Markets of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) convened from 8-9 June 2016, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), in Rome, Italy. Building on the outcomes of the 2015 High-Level Forum on
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Food Experts: “Adopt Agroecology, or Fail” |
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By :IPES-Food |
| 02 June 2016 |
BRUSSLES/TRONDHEIM—Input-intensive crop monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots must be consigned to the past in order to put global food systems onto sustainable footing, according to the world’s foremost experts on food security, agro-ecosystems and nutrition.
The solution is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices, whether the starting point is
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Nigeria: Herdsmen, Land Use and Human Rights |
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By :Spaces 4 Change |
| 01 June 2016 |
Fulani herdsmen, herdsmen, hoodlums, intruders from Chad and neighbouring countries, or whatever appellation ascribed to their murderous activities, these names emit fumes of terror, anguish and fear. The fear they evoke is well founded. What started out as recurrent violent clashes between nomadic herdsmen and their host farming communities in
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Kenya: Protesting Land-grabbing ODM Chief |
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By :Elizabeth Asasha, Citizen Digital |
| 24 May 2016 |
More than 500 residents of Oljorai Scheme in Gilgil have staged demonstrations to protest against the move by Nakuru County ODM Chairman, Peter Ole Osono, to block the registration of squatters and subsequent allocation of land.
The irked protesters claim Osono filed a suit against the National Land Commission (NLC) after
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Climate Changing and Food Production in Africa |
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By :albanydailystar.com |
| 21 May 2016 |
Africa’s food crops are currently in danger. Climate change is challenging food security in many parts of the world including Africa and if timed transformation in the continent isn’t carried out, there could be an impact on the food production in the region. African crops are facing due to climate
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Myanmar: Plan to Build Hydro-Power Dam |
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By :Sa Isue, Karen News |
| 09 May 2016 |
In an effort to create more understanding on the proposed hydro-power dam on Baw Ka Hta River in Kyaukyi Township, the Karen National Union held a consultation meeting with community organizations on May 6 in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The Baw Ka Hta hydro-power dam project, located in
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Myanmar: Human Rights Should Be "Top Priority" |
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By :Karen News |
| 09 May 2016 |
Prominent human rights advocacy organization, Human Rights Watch calls for new civilian government to push for human rights reforms.
In a statement released today, Human Rights Watch has called on the new National League for Democracy government to make human rights a “top priority.”
Mr. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights
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Namibia: Evicted Family Squats on Roadside |
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By :Luqman Cloete, Namibian News |
| 09 May 2016 |
A FAMILY has become destitute after government bought a farm in the Maltahöhe district on which they had lived and worked for more than 24 years.
They have been living in a corrugated iron zinc shack on the roadside about 15 kilometres from Maltahöhe with their 148 small livestock, four horses,
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Counting Costs in Congo |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 01 May 2016 |
This week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), thirty community leaders and field researchers from the villages of the Inga Valley met to consider their fate in view of the planned Inga3 project that proposes to inundate their communities. Organized locally by Association Droit et Developpement (ADEV) the communities’
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Myanmar: Confiscated Land Claim |
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By :Nan Wai Phyo Zar, Karen News |
| 29 April 2016 |
Villagers in Doo Tha Htoo District Karen State are demanding to be paid full compensation for their lands they allege were illegally taken by one of Burma’s largest companies.
Residents of Shwe Yaung Pya village and surrounding villages in Thaton Township have made it clear that they want to get paid
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4 Tibetan Land Defenders Get Suspended Sentence |
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By :Tibetan Center for Rights and Democracy |
| 14 April 2016 |
Four Tibetan men have been given suspended jail sentences for petitioning against government confiscation of their land in Ka Bharma nomadic camp in Thangkor (Ch: Tangke) Township in Dzoege (Ch: Ruoergai) County, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The four Tibetans are identified as Phurkho, Rinchen
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World Bank Accountability @ Spring Meetings |
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By :Oakland Institute |
| 12 April 2016 |
World Bank Accountability on Forced Resettlements Must be a Priority at Its Spring Meetings
Oakland, CA—World Bank accountability on forced resettlements resulting from its programs must be front and center at its spring meetings, taking place this week in Washington DC.
Between 2004 and 2013, nearly 3.4 million people were physically or economically
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Panama: Ngäbe Communities Facing Evictions |
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By :Jennifer Kennedy, International Solidarity |
| 08 April 2016 |
The Barro Blanco Dam will have a disastrous effect on Ngäbe communities inside the Comarca Ngäbe-Bugle and campesino communities also living on the banks of the river.
Ngäbe communities in western Panama are calling for support from the international community after officials from the Honduran-owned energy company, GENISA, warn that they
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Israeli Plunder of Palestinian Homes “Concerns” U.S. |
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By :David Alexander, Reuters |
| 02 April 2016 |
Crackdown on what Israel claims is illegal construction has already pitied Jerusalem against the EU, who funds some of the structures.
JERUSALEM—The United States is "concerned" about Israel`s demolition of Arab buildings in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, a State Department spokeswoman said on Friday, adding that it raised questions
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Greek Farmers Resist Austerity, Impoverishment |
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By :Associated Press |
| 12 February 2016 |
Farmers descend on Greek capital for protest against planned tax rises and pension reforms
Athens—Farmers wielding shepherds’ staffs have clashed with riot police in central Athens as thousands headed to the Greek capital for a two-day protest against the government’s plans to impose tax rises and pension system reforms.
About 800 farmers
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HLRN-India Launches Habitat III Status Report |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 05 February 2016 |
New Delhi—On Friday, Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) launched its first Habitat III country report titled, Housing and Land Rights in India: Status Report for Habitat III. The United Nations (UN) Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)—the third bidecennial international conference on habitat issues—will be held
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HIC-critics on Habitat III Policy Papers |
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By :HIC |
| 05 February 2016 |
Since the very early stages of the Habitat III preparations, Habitat International Coalition (HIC) has called for the integrity of the Habitat II (1996) commitments and modalities; this demand has three related aspects:
• Processes must uphold the Habitat II-established principle to be as inclusive as possible;
• Maintain the Habitat Agenda,
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W. African Caravan for Land, Water and Seeds |
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By :The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles – West Africa |
| 25 January 2016 |
The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles – West Africa invites you to join the West African Caravan for Land, Water and Seeds, which will mobilize 15 countries of the sub-region in March 2016 in order to
Ø Sensitize the populations of the West African countries about land, water
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Ethiopia`s Development Crackdown on Dissent |
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By :Charles Stratford, Al Jazeera |
| 10 January 2016 |
Rights groups say 140 people killed in recent weeks as government moves forward with controversial development plans.
Wolonkomi, Ethiopia—Security forces have killed at least 140 people during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Ethiopia in recent weeks, activists and rights groups say.
The protests by members of the country`s largest ethnic group,
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Ethiopia: Reacts to Sudan Land-giveaway Rumour |
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By :Tesfa-Alem Tekle, Sudan Tribune |
| 25 December 2015 |
December 25, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn dismissed on Friday circulating rumours that his government secretly gave away part of the Horn of Africa’s territories to stakeholders in neighbouring Sudan.
Desalegn’s remarks came while responding to queries raised by members of the House of People’s Representatives
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COP21: Land & Water Convergence Speaks |
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By :Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles |
| 08 December 2015 |
Parallel to the climate conference in Paris, social movements and allies within the “Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles” stand up for climate justice and real solutions to the climate crisis. This alliance of struggles has delivered its message to the COP21 currently meeting at Paris. Their statement follows.
The
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HIC Takes on COP21 |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 05 December 2015 |
HIC is participating in the current Conference of Parties, also known as COP21, which is gathering the 195 countries that have joined and ratified the UN Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. In an effort address climate change, the states and organizations convened are
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Philippines: 2 Yrs. after Haiyan, Still Waiting |
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By :Astrid Zweynert, Thomson Reuters Foundation |
| 08 November 2015 |
Nearly 2 Years After Typhoon Haiyan, Many Still Waiting for Rehousing in Safer Areas. Experts are calling for a closer monitoring system of how aid funds are being spent.
TACLOBAN, Philippines—Arsenjo Francisco has lived near the sea all his life, but the retired Filipino fisherman lost his love of the ocean
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Syria War Prompts 1st Doomsday Seed Vault Draw |
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By :Laura Wagner and EarthSky |
| 23 September 2015 |
The Syrian Civil War prompts the first withdrawal from the "Doomsday Seed Vault" in the Arctic
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened on 26 February 2008. Carved into the Arctic permafrost and filled with samples of the world`s most important seeds, it`s a Noah`s Ark of food crops to be used
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Burundi: Who Has the Right to Land? |
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By :OHCHR news |
| 18 September 2015 |
Burundi is currently volatile with an ongoing political crisis. The country, which only emerged from an ethnic conflict 10 years ago, still reels from the past upheavals.
The coming of peace to Burundi after decades of civil war has also meant the coming of a dilemma: what can be done about
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HIC Reviews Habitat III Issue Papers |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 31 July 2015 |
Habitat International Coalition has just issued its compilation of inputs from Members and officers following their review of the Habitat III Issue Papers. The 22 thematic contributions from technical experts selected by the UN-Habitat/Habitat III Secretariat have been drafted as a framework for the debate leading up to the Third
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Turkey: Plundering Istanbul’s “Lungs” |
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By :Northern Forest Defense |
| 25 May 2015 |
The Istanbul-based Northern Forests Defense (NFD) movement has published two new reports in English to expose the hazards of current plans for the construction of the Turkish city’s new airport complex. The NFD is a public-interest initiative that advocates the protection of the ecologically interconnected and diverse area north of
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Myanmar: Protests over Land Confiscation |
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By :Lun Min Mang, Myanmartimes.com |
| 22 May 2015 |
Angry farmers are deserting the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in Bago Region, claiming their local MP broke a promise to help them get their land back. Yesterday, 170 USDP members in Nattalin Township, Bago Region, resigned en masse.
Of more than 800 acres of farmland in Nattalin seized in
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Myanmar: Villagers Protest Hydropower Dam |
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By :Nan Wai Pyo Zar, Karen News |
| 19 May 2015 |
The villagers from the Palet Wa region in Thandaung Township lost their homes and land to a hydro-power dam in Htantabin Township are protesting and demanding their lands are returned from the companies.
More than a 100 villagers and representatives from community-based-organizations demonstrated at Thaukyekat No.2 site to staged a protest
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Do RAI Principles Meet the Task? |
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By :Sylvia Kay, rightingfinance |
| 06 May 2015 |
On 15 October 2014, the Member States of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), hosted at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approved the “Principles on Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems.” (“RAI” or “RAI Principles”)
In a recent assessment of the principles, the Transnational Institute (TNI) exposes
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CFS Develops Protracted-crisis Policy |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 01 May 2015 |
In October of this year, the Committee on Global Food Security is expected to adopt the new Framework of Action [to ensure] Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises. That global policy promises to usher in a new approach that formally operationalizes humanitarian, development and human rights principles combined to
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Twiga Farm: Story of a Kenyan Land Grab |
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By :Leila van Rinsum, Pambazuka News |
| 08 October 2014 |
Landless citizens of a location just outside Nairobi have been fighting for their rights to land since Kenya’s independence 50 years ago. Successive governments – including those of two presidents, Jomo Kenyatta and his son Uhuru, who come from the area – have failed to give these people justice.
On Tuesday,
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Islamic State Evicts Iraq farmers |
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By :Sophie Cousins, AlJazeera |
| 29 July 2014 |
The group`s takeover of farms in Qaraqosh, 30km from Mosul, has caused fear among residents, and a jump in food prices.
Qaraqosh—In the dark of night, on a farm about 30km southeast of Iraq`s second largest city, Mosul, Sabah Zura Sukkariyya woke to the sound of a truckload of gunmen arriving
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