Towards a culture of good governance: Implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure Marcela Villarreal, Ph.D. Director of the Partnerships, Advocacy, Capacity Development and Tenure Division, FAO

Implementation of the VGGT is creating a new governance model that may well have strong spillover effects in areas beyond land, fisheries and forestry, as it helps build a culture where the formulation and implementation of policies is necessarily participatory, transparent and with clear accountabilities VGGT: approved by Committee of Food Security in 2012. Implemented in over 60 countries

Committee on World Food Security Allowed the development of a globally relevant negotiated document with a broad consensus and a strong sense of ownership among governments, civil society and private sector Facilitated a dialogue among actors who deal with governance of tenure at national, regional and global levels Provided the stage to establish or expand networks and partnerships across actors and regions at global and local levels

What is Good Governance? Participation and voice: all women and men should have a voice in the decisions that will affect their lives directly or indirectly through intermediate institutions that represent their intention Transparency: all relevant information is open, available and accessible to all Accountability: all decision makers are accountable Rule of law: legal frameworks should be fair and enforced regardless of power, influence or wealth This principle has its foundation in the equality of all persons, and presupposes the respect of freedom of association and speech, as well as the possibility for all to develop their capacities to participate in an active and meaningful way. Participation and voice: all women and men should have a voice in the decisions that will affect their lives. REGARDLESS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERISTIC Accountability to the public, whether they are in government, the private sector, civil society organizations or any part of society

Sierra Leone: National Land Policy National Land Policy, November 2015 full set VGGT principles and refers to the VGGT in more than 90 paragraphs Multi-stakeholder platform: >100 state/ non-state actors from land, fisheries and forests national and local government representatives, traditional leaders, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, international development actors Institutional framework for action/ ownership /follow-up and implementation of Platform recommendations Multi-stakeholder Technical Working Group Steering Committee that liaises with the government Inter-Ministerial Task Force: Ministries of : Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security; Fisheries and Marine Resources; Land, Country Planning and the Environment; Justice, and Local Government and Rural Development

Sierra Leone Inter-ministerial committee Capacity Development Results First time in the country Other areas nutrition and food security, benefitting from this approach Capacity Development Multi year programme Results Inclusion of gender-responsive tenure governance principles in framework to regulate investments at district level Learning programme put in place for safeguarding land tenure rights in large agricultural investments across different government sectors

Senegal: Land Tenure Reform Process of reform based on the VGGT principles and process National multi-actor platform supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment, FAO, the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (IPAR), and the National Council for Consultation and Rural Cooperation (CNCR) Multi-stakeholder Steering Committee co-chaired by government and civil society National Commission on Land Reform, Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Ministry of Livestock and Animal Production, National Agency to Promote Investments and civil society organizations

Mongolia: Law on pastureland Highly sensitive issue characterized by a high level of tension and conflict Multi-stakeholder, multi-level, gender-sensitive process, with multi-stakeholder technical group coordinated by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a local NGO Partnerships among CSOs, private sector, academia, farmers organizations and government around food security and nutrition VGGT-based framework for assessing forest tenure was developed and tested to evaluate forest tenure related policies, laws, institutions, and administration

Mongolia: Capacity development Multi-year learning programme based on capacity needs assessment Focus on conflict resolution Critical mass from all actors formed National capacity for developing cross-sectoral policy frameworks increased Enhanced capacity to effectively address gender issues in tenure through “Governing land for women and men” programme

FAO e-learning programme on VGGTs Introduction to the VGGT Addressing conflicts over the tenure of natural resources Addressing corruption in the tenure of land, fisheries and forestry Addressing tenure issues in natural disasters Governing land for women and men Spatial planning in the context of responsible tenure How to monitor and promote policy changes on governance of tenure Respecting Free, Prior and Informed Consent

Factors for successful implementation of VGGT Political will from the Government at all levels and sectors: involving sectors as important as involving different actors Institutional framework with clear mandates, roles and responsibilities to ensure effective follow-up and implementation of the recommendations made by the multi-stakeholder platform An inclusive and consensus-building steering committee Multi-stakeholder platform that guarantees voice to all relevant stakeholders at central as well as decentralized levels Development of the capacities of all actors to participate effectively in the platform and to perform their roles and responsibilities Strong accountability mechanisms for all actors engaged in the process, including the United Nations Political will from the government in order to drive necessary policy and legal reforms as well as to include all relevant stakeholders

Challenges for VGGT successful implementation Low private sector engagement in several countries, central to ensure responsible investments Low participation of other key constituents such as indigenous peoples, youth, some marginalized groups Ensuring equal gender participation Actors have differing capacities, awareness and understanding Lack of recognition of civil society actors by some governments Decentralized participation: costly, strong coordination mechanisms necessary Length of time to set up a multi-stakeholder platform Length of time to set up a multi-stakeholder platform, although its results pay in time

Conclusions Process itself contributes to create the basis of a culture change towards good governance Recognition of the legitimacy of the voice of all stakeholders in policy decisions: basis of culture of respect and shared power Create trust among stakeholders, especially in post-conflict situations. Co-chairing important Capacity development: essential The principle of inclusion and effective and meaningful participation rests on the assumption that all actors have the necessary capacities to participate equally Gender Enables real accountability

Conclusions VGGT implementation process is contributing to enshrine principles of participation, transparency and accountability With strong accountability system, soft law can act as binding law instrument

Thank you for your attention