Food and Agriculture Organisation Technical and
Awareness Raising Workshop

on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security

Bangkok, Thailand, 13 – 15 August 2013

The Workshop is part of FAO’s strategy to raise awareness on the Voluntary Guidelines and to discuss the implementation and use, particularly at the national and local levels. The regional focus of this Workshop is Asia. The final two edition of this series of regional Workshops will be in Bogota, Columbia (16 – 18 September 2013) and Sofia, Bulgaria (29 – 31 October 2013).

The Workshop aimed at supporting activities and actions to improve governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests with the following objectives-

• Present and discuss the contents and development of the Voluntary Guidelines;

• Discuss and analyse the use of the Voluntary Guidelines in a range of countries and contexts;

• Discuss and propose actions to implement the Voluntary Guidelines and to improve governance of tenure; and

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

The Workshop provides for multi-stakeholder dialogue, bringing together stakeholders (governments, civil society, academia and professionals) to share knowledge, information, experiences and practices on the responsible governance of tenure at the local and national levels. FIG was invited to support and participate in the Workshop and was represented by the President. A presentation “The International Federation of Surveyors and the Voluntary Guidelines” was made on the first day of the Workshop.

The presentation outlined various FIG activities to promote and raise awareness of the Voluntary Guidelines amongst FIG’s worldwide professional community since 11 May 2012, when the United Nations Committee on World Food Security endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines. The presentation also highlighted a number of collaborative activities including with FAO, considering issues such as state land management and the development of partnerships, networks and capacity with surveyor, academia and related professionals towards improved governance of tenure.

Our professional community should appreciate that the Voluntary Guidelines address a wide range of issues including the recognition and protection of legitimate tenure rights, even under informal systems; promotes best practices for recording and transfer of tenure rights; managing expropriations and restitution of land to people; rights of indigenous communities; ensuring that investment in agricultural lands occur responsibly and transparently; dealing with the expansion of cities into rural areas. These are all within the Profession’s competencies and practices, a Profession that has a vision to extend the use and usefulness of the profession for the benefit of humanity.

Participants at the Workshop was informed that FIG is a federation of national member associations and organizations from over 120 countries, covering the whole range of professional fields in surveying, provides an international forum for discussion and development promoting professional practice and standards and aims to ensure that the disciplines of surveying and all who practise them meet the needs of the markets and communities that they serve.

CheeHai TEO
August 2013

10 October 2013