In a landmark decision the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) today endorsed a set of far-reaching global guidelines aimed at helping governments safeguard the rights of people to own or access land, forests and fisheries.
The guidelines address a wide range of other issues as well, however, including:
- Recognition and protection of legitimate tenure rights, even under informal systems
- Best practices for registration and transfer of tenure rights
- Making sure that tenure administrative systems are accessible and affordable
- Managing expropriations and restitution of land to people who were forcibly evicted in the past
- Rights of indigenous communities
- Ensuring that investment in agricultural lands occurs responsibly and transparently
- Mechanisms for resolving disputes over tenure rights
- Dealing with the expansion of cities into rural areas
