1. World Bank conference on Land and Poverty
Challenges and Opportunities for the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance on Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean
Bres Aurelie
Land Tenure and Natural Resources officer
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean
World Bank conference on Land and Poverty
20-24 March 2017
Washington, DC

2. Overview
Overlook on land tenure trends in Latin Americas and the Caribbean
Range of uses of the VGGT
Implementation of the VGGT: contrasted country level cases
Outlook on the implementation of the VGGT in the region

3. Overlook on land tenure regional trends
Strong asymmetrical distribution of land
high Gini coefficient at regional level: 0,79 (from 0,75 CA to 0,85 SA)
Land concentration reshaped over the last century
Challenging access to land for
Women (GLRD: from 8% Guatemala to 31 % Peru)
Indigenous People
Small farmers (highest rates of disappearance of smallholdings)
High level of informality of tenure rights

4. Improved Tenure Governance
States - Government Agencies - Civil Society - Private Sector - Academia
VGGT Implementation
Range of use of the VGGT
Improved Tenure Governance
Provide access to justice
Safeguard and protect against threats
Prevent disputes, conflicts and corruption
Recognize
and
Respect tenure right
Monitoring & evaluation
Promote and facilitate enjoyment of rights
capacity developement
Design / revise policies and laws
Assess legal / policy / institutional framework
Assess reality on the ground
Provide inclusive space for dialogue

5. Provide inclusive space for dialogue
Range of use of the VGGT
Provide inclusive space for dialogue
Capacity Development
26.2 “state are encouraged to set up (or use existing) multistakeholders platforms at local, national and regional… to collaborate on the implementation of the VGGT”
Type of impacts:
Unlocking negotiations and generation of momentum
Supporting emergence or strenghtening political leadership
Comprehensive curriculum of:
technical guides
E learning module
tailor made training programme

6. Provide inclusive space for dialogue
Range of use of the VGGT
Provide inclusive space for dialogue
Capacity Development
Monitoring & evaluation
Assess reality on the ground
Assess legal / policy / institutional framework
Design policies and laws
Experiences at:
country level by some actors
multicountries level (FAO - EU transversal programme)
CFS level
Against principles of reponsible governance or specific guidelines
Guatemala, Madagascar, Senegal, Sierra Leone
Legal: legal assessment in Sierra Leone / Legal Assessment Tool for gender- equitable land tenure
Policy: multistakeholder assessment

7. VGGT implementation in Guatemala
From 2013 to 2014:
Under the lead of the Secretary for agrarian issue (Secrataria de Asuntos Agrarios) and presidential commission for rural development
process of formulation and adoption of an agrarian policy (October 2014)
Series of capacity development and dialogues events on the VGGT gathering 140 participants from 53 different organizations
Four component policy: (i) access to land; ii) tenure related conflicts resolution; iii) security and legal certainty of tenure; and iv) access to other resources

8. Guatemala: from a policy to its implementation
From 2015 to 2016:
Civil society training program on the VGGT and on gender – equity for land management. Over two years, 400 persons trained through experiential learning approach.
Enhancing the responsible governance for communal lands through communication for development with the group for the promotion of communal lands, creation of a series of communication material and the definition of the needs to reach responsible local governance
Open tenure for local registration of tenure rights: a group of representatives from national Cadaster and civil society where trained on open tenure – mobile app to register rights- and implemented in territory managed under communal tenure
Existing good practices on governance of tenure: process of recollection and analysis of existing GP.
2017:
enhancing the recognition of communal land
Support for agrarian policy implementation

9. VGGT implementation in Colombia
2013: Raising awareness regional workshop held in Bogota
From 2014 to 2016: support to the victims’ land restitution unit (Unidad administrativa de restitucion de tierras despojadas) to implement the ley 1448 of 2011 (Ley de la victimas y restitucion de tierras) in line with VGGT chapter 14 on Restitution.  10 pilot areas for a total of Ha and 2800 families.
From 2015 onwards: raising awareness events in partnership with the Universidad Externado as expert meetings and raising awareness days in rural areas.
2016: Support to the Unidad de Planificacion Rural y Agropecuaria to study the phenomenon of lands concentration in its size and mechanisms.

10. Colombia: facing multiple challenges with the VGGT
From 2016 onwards:
Acuerdos de Paz: Hacia un Nuevo Campo Colombiano: Reforma Rural Integral
VGGT capacity development and diffusion led by civil society (Fensuagro). New training phase will focus on strengthening capacities within the existing dialogue of platform Cumbre Agraria, to deepen the knowledge of CSOs leaders and government representatives
Support towards the recognition of smallholders rights in the national parks.
Support to the National Land Agency to the process of massive regularization and to conduct joint analysis of the Zonas de Reservas Campesinas

11. Outlook on VGGT implementation in LAC
Two country motors with different uses of the VGGT in accordance of needs.
Other countries are having related activities and starting specific projects: Caribbean (St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada and Guyana), Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), South America (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay)
Keeping the momentum:
enlarging number of actors involved
documenting good practices
Supporting exchanges of practices
Generating communities of practices on specific issues

12. Information resources
Thank you for your attention
Information resources
FAO Governance of Tenure page:
FAO Governance of tenure e learning module page:
Guatemala: enhancing recognition of communal lands Buenas practicas de gobernanza de tenencia:
Colombia: