Tenure Tracking Tools
In 2023, our Tenure Tracking Program continued its pivotal role in monitoring global progress in the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’, and local communities’ tenure rights. We witnessed significant strides and challenges in securing these rights, and several international developments that offer opportunities to advance them.
For example, the endorsement of the World Committee on Food Security of the Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in October 2023 offers key guidance on including women and girls in decision-making processes on food security; and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) from June 2023 is envisaged as a significant mechanism to ensure compliance of key deforestation-driving commodities with both domestic and international human rights legislation.
As the world progresses on the 2030 Global Agenda, our role in global monitoring of community tenure is increasingly vital. Our recent acquisition of the LandWise Law Library, the launch of a robust Tenure Tool, and the publication of groundbreaking new research further expand our repository of publicly available knowledge, providing valuable and unprecedented data on communities’ rights.
Here are a few highlights of our achievements in 2023.
- Through the ongoing development and promotion of the Tenure Tool and a growing suite of online knowledgesharing platforms, RRI continues to position itself as an essential resource for globally relevant data on the land and resource rights of both communities and the women within them. Currently, the Tenure Tool houses the largest and most comprehensive dataset on the forest tenure rights legally held by Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local communities in 58 countries, and its 2024 expansion to encompass RRI’s Land Tenure and Freshwater Tenure datasets will improve its coverage even further. Since September 2022, the Tool has been accessed over 3,500 times in English, French, and Spanish.
- In September 2023, we acquired the LandWise Law Library, a key legal database on women’s land rights. Initially established by the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights to drive legal and policy reforms benefiting women, the database later transitioned to the nonprofit organization Resource Equity. This acquisition will expand RRI’s role as a legal resource on community rights, meeting the increasing demand for accessible information crucial for advocacy and research.