This publication provides an overview of the findings of a review of land tenure security in Asia and the Pacific region in collaboration with key partners. It highlights the major land challenges, barriers and opportunities as the basis for future decisions about partnerships and engagement in the land sector at sub-regional and country level. The findings are based on an extensive literature review, interviews, a questionnaire, validation at several multi-stakeholder meetings and peer review.

Encroaching on Land and Livelihoods examines whether national expropriation laws in 30 countries across Asia and Africa follow the international standards established in Section 16 of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs). Section 16 of the VGGTs establishes standards on expropriation, compensation, and resettlement to ensure tenure security and responsible land governance. The UN Committee on World Food Security officially endorsed the VGGTs in 2012.

Secure tenure rights and control over land for women and men farmers are key to boosting smallholder productivity, rural development and food security. However, in many parts of the world, men and women have inadequate access to secure property rights over land. Women are particularly disadvantaged: even though they constitute on average 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, women’s ownership of agricultural land remains significantly lower than that of men.

 It is well recognized that secure land and property rights for all are essential to reducing poverty because they underpin economic development and social inclusion. Secure land tenure and property rights enable people in urban and rural areas to invest in improved homes and livelihoods. Although many countries have completely restructured their legal and regulatory framework related to land and they have tried to harmonize modern statutory law with customary ones, millions of people around the world still have insecure land tenure and property rights.

As indigenous peoples continue to gain more space in the UN system, the real challenge is ensuring the full recognition, respect, protection and exercise of their rights at all levels—and especially at the grassroots level. The UN system therefore needs to put into action its commitment in making the UN a “home” for indigenous peoples.

In the Mekong region, conflicts between local communities and large scale land concessions are widespread. They are often difficult to solve. In Cambodia, an innovative approach to conflict resolution was tested in a case involving a private company, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), and several indigenous communities who lost some of their customary lands and forests when the company obtained a concession to grow rubber in the Province of Ratanakiri. The approach was developed by CSOs Equitable Cambodia (EC) and Inclusive Development International (IDI) with the support of QDF funding from MRLG.

Information leaflet on the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) on Self-Determination.

Issue poster about Indigenous Peoples in Asia and their common experiences and issues.

Issue poster about the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and Indigenous Peoples.

2015 was the worst year on record for killings of land and environmental defenders – people struggling to protect their land, forests and rivers

More than three people were killed a week in 2015 defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries. For our new report On Dangerous Ground we documented 185 killings across 16 countries – by far the highest annual death toll on record and more than double the number of journalists killed in the same period.

This issue brief highlights the challenges indigenous peoples experience in securing their customary land rights in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Philippines; hence, this publication specifies recommendations for the government and CSOs in strengthening the recognition to indigenous peoples' rights.

This compilation of scoping studies on indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Philippines reveals how the basic bond of indigenous peoples to land are threatened by forces far more powerful than they are equipped to face.