Twenty-four Senegalese and international civil society organizations, on the initiative of CICODEV Africa, have committed to accompanying local communities in securing land tenure. This will be achieved through a better knowledge, for civil society organizations, of regional and continental mechanisms for the protection of land rights defenders.
By Alioune Badara NDIAYE(Correspondent) – Members of about twenty organizations of the society have considered Friday, the management of land issues, through a workshop organized at Lac Rose. The meeting, which served as a restitution of the work of a study conducted on the issue, also allowed the various actors concerned to develop new orientations. The objective of the workshop was to contribute to the strengthening of Senegalese civil society actors in the support and accompaniment of local communities in the defense and securing of their land rights, noted, in this regard, the document handed over by the organizers. “Land transactions do not generally respect local land governance logics (…) these lands are generally attributed to private investors, with the main concern of satisfying their demand for land, without a thorough and prior examination of the purpose of the investments envisaged on the populations, nor a good management of the economic, social and environmental impacts”, the document lamented.
Amadou Kanouté, Executive Director of CICODEV-Africa noted, in presenting the results of the study: “There is a strong disparity between the normative framework, the legislative instruments and the practice on the ground. The practice on the ground is more marked by expropriations, intimidation of land and environmental defenders, imprisonment… It is in the face of this that the study says that we must revisit and reinvent our strategies.” For a proper handling of the issue by the Framework for Reflection and Action on Land in Senegal (Crafs), of which Cicodev is a member, the study recommended broadening the scope of actors. “The study tells us that we need to open up to other actors, who have other intervention techniques,” said Kanouté, citing Article 19 to newcomers, Legs Africa, faith-based organizations Jamra and Caritas … “This approach, we must take ownership in the definition of new strategies, to properly defend the communities,” noted the director of CICODEV.
In addition to Senegal, the study funded by the Alliance for Food Security in Africa (Afsa) involves four other African countries, namely Mali, Cameroon, Togo and Benin. “This is the return of the Senegalese team, but at the same time, many similarities exist between what we have seen here and in other African countries,” said Kanouté, assuring that it is time to co-plan joint actions, for a good management of the issue at the regional level. “If we have achieved victories at the national level with the Crafs, we must continue the battles at the continental level, particularly at the level of the African Union and Afsa which is a network of networks (…) The idea is to see how we can plan together, in view of the issues and challenges that have been identified by the study, to ensure new strategies including new actors who, directly or indirectly, are working on land issues,” he said.
The director of CICODEV has, in this register, convened three elements posed by the AU which works, during this week, on its new land strategy, and which resounds like a victory in this fight. These are the rational use of land, the favor to women in the control of land and the prior informed consent of communities, as a prerequisite before being dispossessed.
Twenty-four Senegalese and international civil society organizations, on the initiative of CICODEV Africa, have committed to accompanying local communities in securing land tenure. This will be achieved through a better knowledge, for civil society organizations, of regional and continental mechanisms for the protection of land rights defenders.
By Alioune Badara NDIAYE(Correspondent) – Members of about twenty organizations of the society have considered Friday, the management of land issues, through a workshop organized at Lac Rose. The meeting, which served as a restitution of the work of a study conducted on the issue, also allowed the various actors concerned to develop new orientations. The objective of the workshop was to contribute to the strengthening of Senegalese civil society actors in the support and accompaniment of local communities in the defense and securing of their land rights, noted, in this regard, the document handed over by the organizers. “Land transactions do not generally respect local land governance logics (…) these lands are generally attributed to private investors, with the main concern of satisfying their demand for land, without a thorough and prior examination of the purpose of the investments envisaged on the populations, nor a good management of the economic, social and environmental impacts”, the document lamented.
Amadou Kanouté, Executive Director of CICODEV-Africa noted, in presenting the results of the study: “There is a strong disparity between the normative framework, the legislative instruments and the practice on the ground. The practice on the ground is more marked by expropriations, intimidation of land and environmental defenders, imprisonment… It is in the face of this that the study says that we must revisit and reinvent our strategies.” For a proper handling of the issue by the Framework for Reflection and Action on Land in Senegal (Crafs), of which Cicodev is a member, the study recommended broadening the scope of actors. “The study tells us that we need to open up to other actors, who have other intervention techniques,” said Kanouté, citing Article 19 to newcomers, Legs Africa, faith-based organizations Jamra and Caritas … “This approach, we must take ownership in the definition of new strategies, to properly defend the communities,” noted the director of CICODEV.
In addition to Senegal, the study funded by the Alliance for Food Security in Africa (Afsa) involves four other African countries, namely Mali, Cameroon, Togo and Benin. “This is the return of the Senegalese team, but at the same time, many similarities exist between what we have seen here and in other African countries,” said Kanouté, assuring that it is time to co-plan joint actions, for a good management of the issue at the regional level. “If we have achieved victories at the national level with the Crafs, we must continue the battles at the continental level, particularly at the level of the African Union and Afsa which is a network of networks (…) The idea is to see how we can plan together, in view of the issues and challenges that have been identified by the study, to ensure new strategies including new actors who, directly or indirectly, are working on land issues,” he said.
The director of CICODEV has, in this register, convened three elements posed by the AU which works, during this week, on its new land strategy, and which resounds like a victory in this fight. These are the rational use of land, the favor to women in the control of land and the prior informed consent of communities, as a prerequisite before being dispossessed.