Global Conference on "Securing Rights to Land for Peace and Food Security"

Under the theme of "Land for Peace and Food Security" a 3 day International Conference was organised from the 21st of April 2009. A total of 250 global actors from 44 countries including CSOs, policy-makers, land activists, land deprived people, researchers, and farmer organizations participated in the conference. The major objective of the conference was to raise the profile of land access and tenure issues globally, including raising awareness of their links to peace and food security, and raising awareness of land issues in Nepal as well as in the Asian region. The Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" inaugurated the opening session expressing that (Read More)without fair and equitable distribution of land and other productive natural resources to the large number of marginalized populace lasting peace and prosperity of Nepal would be a mere day-dream.

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International Law and Justice's mission to Nepal (2nd News)

Ms. Elizabeth Wickeri, Adjunct Professor of Law and Crowley Fellow in International Human Rights from Leitner Centre for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School New York City along with other 4 professors and 9 Law students came on a two week land rights fact finding mission in Nepal from 10th - 22nd May, 2009 with the collaboration of Community Self Reliance Centre. They have focused their work on documenting the context and challenges in securing human rights for landless, tenant and Haliya people and exploring the particular concerns of landless women, Dalits, ethnic minorities, and indigenous groups. They have also generated keen interest in learning how the Government of Nepal and human rights institutions are considering these issues in the post conflict settling, and what the international community can do to support it.

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Agitation and conflict in Siraha (3rd News)
 

The land deprived people and squatters had been occupying a barren land of a community forest in Rajaji Chure, Siraha since decades. However, a team of police personnel led by the Chief Officer of District Forest Office had set 84 huts of the squatters on fire, on the 18th of February 2009 evicting them from the land they were occupying. This had led to the land deprived people staging a sit-in protest stating that the government evicted them from the land in an inhuman way and without any prior notice. After days of sit in protest and continuous pressure from different human rights organisations, and civil societies a committee comprising of Chief Officer of District Forest Office, chair of community forest, representative from DLRF and a local NGO had been formed to probe into the matter peacefully.

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