Promoting principles and good practices in land governance in Me Kong region

The 3rd Mekong Subregional Land Forum was successfully held with more than 700 registrations. CISDOMA actively participated and contributed significantly in promoting application of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenures (VGGT), Responsible Agriculture Investments (RAI), and Free-Prior-Informed Consent (FPIC) into ensuring benefits for disadvantaged communities practices. 

Following the success of 2 Forums in 2016 and 2018, the Mekong Region Land Governance Project (MRLG) cooperated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Land Portal to organized the Third Mekong Land Forum online on May 26-27/6. 

The theme of the forum is “Land Use Rights in Forest Landscapes in the Greater Mekong Subregion” which focuses on two main topics: (1) promoting recognition of customary rights and (2)  responsible investment practices”. The forum attracted more than 700 registered participants including representatives of government agencies, private sector, NGOs, development agencies, research institutes and international organizations… from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries. 

Sessions at the Forum focused on two topics: (1) presenting case studies related to challenges in securing land and forest use rights, especially of ethnic minority communities. and (2) the impact of agribusiness investment in each country of the Mekong sub-region, as well as other part of the ASEAN region in the context of the Covid 19 epidemic. 

At the forum, international instruments and good practices were introduced such as FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenures (VGGT), Free – Prior – Informed Consent (FPIC) and ASEAN Guidelines on Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forest (ASEAN-RAI). A key  message that consistently come out from the discussions that:  land governance in the forest landscape of the Mekong Region will be more equitable, and more sustainable when complying with the guiding principles guided in these tools. 

Since 2016, CISDOMA has implemented several field projects, researches and surveys in the field of land management. Some of the main projects such as: Strengthening equal land rights of ethnic minority women through legal literacy and legal support in Hoa Binh and Nghe An, the project “Strengthening access to, management and use of customary land and forest of ethnic minorities” in Lao Cai and Kon Tum provinces. In addition, CISDOMA has also been conducting several surveys and studies on the recognition and practice of customary tenures, research on accumulation and concentration of agricultural land… At the same time, CISDOMA has actively participated in networking with the Forest Land Alliance (FORLAND), Agricultural Alliance (AgriCo), Land Alliance (LANDA), Asian Farmers Association (AFA), MRLG and other partners; engaged with Government agencies such as General Department of Land Management (in MONRE), General Department of Forestry (in MARD), with enterprises and organizations to promote recognition of customary land/forest tenures  and application of the RAI in practice. 

At this Mekong Land Forum, CISDOMA actively participated and hosted 2 in-depth discussions on FPIC application and on the opportunities to promote RAI in practice. 

With lessons learned from the actual implementation of field projects, and the results of research on land rights for ethnic minorities, CISDOMA is continuing to actively participate in the process of contributing inputs and recommendations to the review and revision Land Law in 2013 and other legal documents, towards protecting the interests of small-scale farmers and ethnic minorities. 

Hỗ trợ kỹ thuật cho VRG để áp dụng các nguyên tắc của RAI và FPIC trong quản lý rừng bền vững

The 3rd Mekong Subregional Land Forum was successfully held with more than 700 delegates registered to attend. CISDOMA actively participates and contributes a lot of experience in promoting responsible land governance, ensuring benefits for disadvantaged communities.

Following the success of 2 Forums in 2016 and 2018, the Mekong Subregion Land Governance Project (MRLG) cooperated with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Land Portal to organize the Land Forum. The 3rd Mekong sub-region in the form of online on May 26-27/6.

The theme of the forum is “Land Use Rights in Forest Landscapes in the Greater Mekong Subregion” which focuses on two main topics: (1) promoting recognition of customary rights and (2) ) responsible investment practices”. The forum has attracted more than 700 registered participants including representatives of government agencies, private sector, NGOs, development agencies, research institutes and international organizations… from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam and some other countries.

Discussion sessions at the Forum revolved around two topics: (1) presenting research on typical cases related to challenges in securing land and forest use rights, especially of ethnic minority communities. and (2) the impact of agribusiness investment in each country of the Mekong sub-region, the ASEAN region in the context of the Covid 19 epidemic.

At the forum, a number of international tools and good practice were introduced such as FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Aquaculture and Forests (VGGT), voluntary consensus principle, which was informed Fully informed advance notice (FPIC) and responsible investment guide in food, forestry and agriculture (ASEAN-RAI). Discussions at the forum also reached a consistent message: Land governance in the forest landscape of the Mekong River region will be more equitable, favorable and sustainable when considering and complying with the guiding principles. included in these tools.

Since 2016, CISDOMA has implemented many field projects and researches and surveys in the field of land management. In which, there are a number of projects such as: Strengthening land equality rights of ethnic minority women through legal communication and legal support in Hoa Binh and Nghe An, the project “Strengthening access to, management and use of land” land and forest use based on customary law of ethnic minorities” in Lao Cai and Kon Tum provinces. In addition, CISDOMA has also been conducting many surveys and studies on the recognition and exercise of the right to access, manage and use natural resources according to custom, research on accumulation and concentration of agricultural land… At the same time, CISDOMA also actively participates in the activities of Forest Land Alliance (FORLAND), Agricultural Alliance (AgriCo), Land Alliance (LANDA), Asian Farmers Association (AFA), MRLG and other partners. Government cooperation such as General Department of Land Management (MONRE), General Department of Forestry (MARD) and domestic and foreign enterprises and organizations to promote recognition of customary land/forest use rights and apply Use the principles of Responsible Agricultural Investment.

At this Mekong Subregional Land Forum, CISDOMA participated as an active member of the Forum, presented and hosted 2 in-depth discussions on FPIC application and opportunities to promote responsible investment. duties in agriculture.

With lessons learned from the actual implementation of field projects, and the results of research on land rights for ethnic minorities, CISDOMA is continuing to actively participate in the process of contributing ideas in the process of repairing land rights. change the Land Law in 2013 and guiding documents in the direction of protecting the interests of small-scale farmers and ethnic minorities.