Kigali Workshop : 12th-14th February 2013

The FAO will be organizing a regional workshop to raise awareness on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. The meeting will take place in Kigali, Rwanda on 12-14 February 2013.

The workshop aims at raising awareness of the Guidelines and discussing their application in regions. The objectives are to:

· Present the Guidelines and relevant regional initiatives;

· Discuss and analyze the application of the Guidelines in the regional and national contexts of governance of tenure;

· Discuss and identify actions and ways forward to improve governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; and

· Link with existing initiatives to create networks at regional and national levels.

About the guidelines

The FAO Voluntary Guidelines represent an unprecedented international agreement on the governance of tenure, which places secure access to land, fisheries and forests firmly in the context of food security. The Guidelines are based on an inclusive, transparent consultation process started by FAO and then finalized through intergovernmental negotiations led by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which involved also civil society organizations, private sector representatives, academics and researchers, and international organizations. The Guidelines were officially endorsed by CFS at its Thirty-eighth (Special) Session on 11 May 2012. The Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure Governance, a brochure on the initiative and a brief document explaining the development process, contents and purpose of the Guidelines are attached for your convenience.

More on the guidelines can be obtained on FAO's site www.fao.org/nr/tenure

It is hoped that the workshop will help participants drawn from across the region to reflect and formulate how best to apply the guidelines within their jurisdictions to promote economies and livelihoods.