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	Rule of law, justice and security in countries affected by crisis by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)   When countries fail to establish justice, security, and the rule of law peace and stability are the first to suffer.   A breakdown in the rule of law may slow the road to reintegration after a conflict, cause or exacerbate violence and tensions, and fuel criminality and insecurity.   Only when societies are able to implement and abide by the rule of law, can they also achieve other critical milestones, such as inclusive and effective governance and the respect for human rights.   For 1.5 billion people around the world who live in places affected by conflict, violence or high levels of crime, re-establishing justice and security is critical for building peace. In 40 countries, UNDP helps re-establish the rule of law after conflicts or where it has broken down.   Dealing with the legacy of violence: To offer redress for past violence and human rights violations, UNDP provides advice and training to local and national leaders on establishing truth commissions, providing reparations to victims of conflict, and prosecuting conflict-related crimes.   Increasing safety and security for all: UNDP works with communities to discuss and analyze the causes of and possible solutions for the violence and insecurity they face. UNDP also helps curb the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, while ensuring that security actors in crisis situations are professional, accountable and respect human rights.   Building effective justice and security institutions: In crisis contexts, UNDP helps governments to rapidly restore justice and security services. In the long-term, this includes implementing measures for justice and security reform, including through training for justice sector professionals, such as judges and prosecutors, while helping citizens to understand their rights and access the justice system.   UNDP supports mobile courts which resolve disputes in remote or rural communities that are often excluded from the traditional justice system.   Improving justice and security for women: To support and empower women in crisis contexts, UNDP helps improve overall justice and security, tackle impunity for sexual and gender-based violence, and increase women"s participation and leadership in justice and security institutions.   UNDP also engages communities to prevent violence against women and supports legal frameworks that are inclusive and protect women"s rights.   http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/crisispreventionandrecovery/focus_areas/rule-of-law/
	Action on land grabs: Supporting women by Kysseline Chérestal, Catherine Gatundu ActionAid   That land is important to grow food, as a place to build a home and a source of identity, is not up for debate. For poor women and men in rural communities around the world, land is an essential asset as a source of security and livelihoods. Yet, recent data shows that more than 33 million hectares (about 2.5 times the size of England) have been taken away from millions of rural people living in poverty, to make way for biofuels, mining, tourism, and dubious ‘public interest’ projects, threatening their food security, their livelihoods and sometimes their lives.   Women are particularly vulnerable. Although they produce more than half of the food consumed in their countries, they are much less likely to own the land they till, which hinders their ability to participate in decision-making and exercise their rights. Women rarely have control over land, and even in areas where land is owned individually, it is estimated that less than 2% is femaleowned. This puts women and their dependents at a higher risk of losing their land rights through land grabs, resulting in hunger, poverty, and lack of access to basic human rights such as food, education and health.   Land grabs pre-empt land reforms that secure the legitimate land and resource rights of women and other marginalized communities. At ActionAid, we have long supported women in their fight to access and control land. By defending their rights, they (and the communities they belong to) gain the value of the land not only as a productive resource, but as a source of status, political mobilisation, and security for themselves and their descendents.   ActionAid defines land grabs according to the Tirana declaration, characterised by human rights violations, a lack of transparency and a lack of consent by the host community. The impacts are almost always negative and irreversible and include displacement, loss of livelihoods and culture, increased food insecurity for communities, and increased workload for women. Promises of food, jobs, schools, and other benefits are often left unfulfilled.   Instead, communities find themselves going to bed hungry at night, facing competition for an insufficient number of jobs that do not even provide living wages, and living in a degraded environment, where there is increased concentration of land in the hands of a wealthy and powerful minority.   There are many drivers of land grabs around the world, including initiatives touted as green solutions to the energy needs of northern countries. Demand for biofuels in the EU and the US has stimulated a rush for land that is pushing communities aside to make way for biofuel plantations. Serious human rights violations, lack of transparency, and absence of consultation and consent of the communities, have been the hallmark of these transactions.   With no land to grow their own food, women and their communities are forced to depend on the market, as increased demand and reduced supply drives up local food prices, pushing even more people into hunger.   Multinational corporations are key players in land grabbing, often acting in conjunction with governments that create the policies and broker the deals that undermine land rights. Donor governments and international financial institutions play a critical role in land grabs by crafting the policies, financial incentives, and development programmes that place business interests ahead of the interests of local communities.   Among the top governments engaged in large scale land deals are the UK, the USA, many northern investors, China, the Gulf States and others. From Tanzania to Guatemala, ActionAid is supporting communities of women and smallholder farmers to assert their land rights, helping them stand a better chance to resist land grabs. Similar experiences abound in places like Kenya and Haiti, where the tangible benefits of empowered women and communities claiming their rights to land are clear. And we are making progress.   In Haiti, ActionAid works with the Je Nan Je movement (‘Eye to Eye’ in Creole) to resist land grabs affecting nearly one third of the country, where more than 67% of the population rely on local agriculture for food and livelihoods, but the overwhelming majority of the population faces land tenure insecurity. The Je Nan Je platform engages with decision-makers in the US and in Haiti to inform their post-earthquake reconstruction policies and programmes, and has helped introduce legislation in the US and sensitize policy-makers in Haiti to address the land and food security rights of Haitian communities.   In Kenya, ActionAid supported the 20,000-member Dakatcha Woodland community when they were threatened with eviction from their land. The community won the fight when the investor was refused permission to acquire the land.   A number of opportunities also exist at the international level to support women and communities in their fight against land grabs, and for secured access and control over their land and its resources. For instance, we have made progress on biofuels. In October 2012, the European Union announced a proposal to limit the percentage of food crops used towards renewable energy targets. And legislation has been introduced in the US that would reduce the mandates for some crop-based biofuels.   Also crucial is the implementation of the African Union Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy adopted by Africa Heads of States in 2009. The framework offers guidance to guarantee and protect women’s rights to land. The ongoing process of developing principles to guide large scale land based investment must strengthen women’s ability to defend their land rights.   It is vitally important to push donor and host governments, as well as multilateral institutions and corporations, to fully implement the United Nations Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (Tenure Guidelines), which were adopted in 2012 and endorsed by representatives of donor and host governments, civil society organizations, private sector representatives, international organizations and academics.   The Tenure Guidelines establish internationally accepted standards for responsible governance of tenure to improve food security, and are an important tool to support communities so they can assert and defend their land rights against land grabs. The Guidelines recognise that securing land rights is a precondition for sustainable development and food security and that investment in smallholder farmers and by smallholder farmers is preferable to large scale land acquisitions. They recommend that safeguards be put in place to protect the tenure rights of local people from large-scale land transactions.   The CFS has also embarked on the development of principles for responsible agricultural investment. The process was launched in 2012 and is due to conclude in 2014 with endorsement of the principles. The CFS represents the most appropriate place to conduct this process, as the most important multi-stakeholder platform for food security where civil society has a seat at the negotiating table, and those most affected by irresponsible investment can have a voice.   The outcome of this process should include protections for smallholder farmers – most of whom are women – and their land rights that address the specific drivers of land grabs and promote policies that protect communities, particularly women, against them. Responsible investment must follow clear parameters, so that private sector activities are in line with international human rights principles, including the right to food.   All of us must do what we can to influence decision-makers at home and inside multilateral institutions such as the World Bank that play a crucial role in land grabs. We can take action, and advocate alongside communities facing land grabs, campaigning for policies that prioritise land rights and food security and discourage discrimination against women.   We can push governments and businesses to ensure that investment in land does not threaten women’s rights. We can insist that governments prioritise land reforms and investment in rural communities aimed at creating a vibrant and prosperous small scale farming sector, whilst ensuring that women are fully supported with rural support services, tenure security and land rights.   In doing so, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the women who represent 70% of the world’s poor, and the 870 million on our fertile planet who are food insecure, to ensure their fair and effective participation in a land governance framework that puts them first.   http://www.actionaid.org/news/quarter-africans-go-hungry-government-broken-promises-hold-back-food-production Visit the related web page
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