Land Forum 2019 held
in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Land Forum has given inspiration and rejuvenation to continue our fights for
‘our land –our identity’ and against injustices globally” – Mike Taylor,
Director International Land Coalition
This yearthe Asia Land Forum was organized in Udaipur, India on September 30 – October 3,
2019 by the International Land Coalition (ILC) – Asia. Hosted
by different members every year, this year MARAG, India along with Land Forum India and National Organizing Committee, was the host organization along with the members of Land Forum
India.
The inaugural
day of Asia Land Forum, witnessed more than 1,200 people of 12 countries from
diverse disciplines, regions,
civil society organisations, media, research, and government department coming
together in solidarity with each-other in the struggles for achieving land rights and
sustainable change. On the opening day of the Asia Land Forum, participants
voiced out their struggles in achieving land rights and united to create
sustainable change. Majority of
the participants were communities who are dependent on land and affected by it. The forum was also attended one Indian Member of Parliament,
a Member of Legislative Assembly of the western Indian state of Rajasthan and various
senior social activists and community leaders.
“Asia Land Forum is a platform that is
bridging gap between people’s struggle with their rights”, said Shree Rajagopal PV, eminent
Gandhian from Ekta Parishad, a member of ILC Asia. He further invited the whole
forum to participate in the JaijJagat 2020 campaign.
Sharing his experiences, land rights activist Mr Lalji
Desai said, “Our fight for rights has always been on the principles of
non-violence. This forum strengthens our belief in justice through peace”.
policy makers are addressing, and provided an extensive regional learning
exchange for all. The day opened with the plenary attended by the members of International
Land Coalition from Asia where they discussed some of the rising challenges in
striving for agrarian reforms faced by the communities who depend on land and
forest-based resources for their livelihood vis-a-vis the achievements in
agrarian reform in Asia.
the communities struggling for their and rights in Asia, which has now become a
global concern of people, who are dependent on land. The proceedings of the day
reiterated that there cannot be a standardized approach to land reforms. Contextual
understanding and region-specific policies are required with appropriate
political will of the governments to bring in land reforms. The need to
elaborate the efforts to engage with youth and women in pursuing people
centered land governance in Asia was underlined. It was also highlighted that availability and
transparency of land data and information is fundamental to support these
efforts. They discussed that to bring the people centered land
governance, the community and women needs to be at the center. The principle of
Free, Prior and Informed Consent was reiterated to be included in all land laws
and policies.
partnership and ways of working, the members emphasized
on gender just coalition. The representatives of pastoralist’s organization from
Central Asia and South Asia said that the communities in their region are
facing large scale investment on pastoral lands that threatens not only their
livelihoods but also their cultural identity.
agreeing to stand against the injustices, and violence due to claiming the land
rights. The Udaipur Declaration recognized that “As a result of large-scale
investment practice land conflicts are spreading in various countries in Asia,
resulting in rapid criminalisation of farmers, dalits and Indigenous peoples” also
that “This neoliberal economic model is also counter-productive with the global
agenda of climate mitigation and adaptation, so that the target of avoiding
rising global temperatures by 1.5 degrees will be increasingly difficult.”The
declaration is a commitment for the members to support people, women and youth
centered land governance where farmers, local communities and Indigenous
Peoples’ access, control, ownership and management of land and natural
resources.
the members went to four villages in Udaipur District, Rajasthan to visit rural
and tribal communities and learn from their stories of getting land rights, and
also to hear their struggles.
‘The struggles that the community of
Sagatadi village is doing, is not different from our struggles in Mangolia, as
global coalition we stand together. The villagers today taught us the lessons
of sustaining the pasture land that they are doing from last 30 years. This is
rare and splendid’’, said Khijaba Ykhana from Mangolia,
Central Asia.
Sharing his experiences of ALF-2019, Roul
Socrets from Asian Farmers Association, Philippine, said that ‘The four days
were full of energy and learning from the Indian communities, from our Asian
counterparts and from the tribal women, men and youth. This is a reiteration
that the journey towards gender just and people centered land governance is a
long one and we can’t afford to relax in between.’