A successful three day forum on the FAO Voluntary Guidelines (VG) on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests closed on Thursday 14th February 2013 here at Kigali.

The meeting, which began on Tuesday 12th February 2013, was officially opened by Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda's Minister for Natural Resources. It was closed by Dr Emmanuel Nkurunziza, Director General, Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA). Mr Andrew Hilton and Ms Anni Arial of FAO Rome facilitated the workshop.

Participants to the forum were drawn from various African Countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Others were from Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Zimbambwe and South Africa. Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and Sierra Leone also had participants. They were drawn government, Civil Society, private sector, professionals, farmers organizations, academia and development partners. The land policy unit of UNECA was also represented

Consultative Process

The Guidelines are the result of an inclusive process of consultations through regional workshops held between 2009 and 2010 in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Jordan, Namibia, Panama, Romania, the Russian Federation, Samoa and Vietnam which brought together 133 countries with representation from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia. The Voluntary guidelines are consistent with and draw on existing regional and international instruments, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that address human rights and tenure rights of land, fisheries and forests. They embrace the principles of human dignity, non-discrimination, equity and justice. Gender equality, holistic and sustainable approach, consultation and participation, rule of law, transparency, accountability and continuous improvement are also embraced in the guidelines. The Guidelines were endorsed by Thirty-Eighth Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in May 2012.

The three day forum recognized the existence of the Regional Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy in Africa, popularly referred to as F & G, which is an African Union endorsed framework for the formulation, implementation and tracking of land policy development in Africa. But the forum familiarized with the content of the Voluntary guidelines and appreciated that it links with the continental framework.

Participants noted that for effective implementation of the guidelines, there will be need for:

• Effective awareness at regional and country level
• Mainstreaming of the VG into existing policies, legislation and programmes
• Sufficient technical and financial resourcing
• Regional and Country level political goodwill

Participants were encouraged to reflect upon the above and explore possibilities of driving implementation at regional and country level in partnership with other actors in their jurisdictions. These guidelines will be best implemented through partnerships between governments, civil society, private sector and development partners.

The African Union, through its member States and Regional Economic Blocks, may need to identify areas of  convergence between these Voluntary Guidelines and its Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa, already under implementation in Africa through through the efforts of the tripartite of the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.