A/HRC/15/47 the attribution with little control of economic land concessions and rapid high-end urban development. 36. The Office has been working with affected communities, the Government, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and multilateral and bilateral development actors, as well as private companies, to strengthen the legal framework protecting land ownership and housing rights, and improve its fair implementation. It recommended a moratorium on evictions until such a framework is in place. Evictions in rural and urban areas undermine the efforts by the Government to alleviate poverty, and to improve the rule of law and governance. If the Constitution, the land legislation and human rights standards were effectively implemented, many land conflicts or evictions would not take place, and others would be fairly resolved. 37. Although there are no reliable figures, land disputes and evictions affect large numbers of people. The urban poor, small-scale farmers and indigenous communities are the primary victims. Whilst the land management system has resulted so far in the granting of over a million land titles, mostly to small-scale farmers, it has not ensured adequate tenure security for others in dire need, notably poor urban and rural communities, including indigenous peoples. In the urban sector, OHCHR continued to promote a process whereby evictions and resettlement, if considered necessary in the public interest, are undertaken with respect for the rights of affected communities and procedural safeguards. In July 2009 “Group 78” residents were evicted from their land in central Phnom Penh. Many had official documentation proving their right to land titles under the law. Their attempts to obtain titles remained unanswered, as did their efforts to obtain redress. The Office worked with the Municipality in the months prior to the eviction, including supporting peaceful negotiations with the families right up to the day of eviction, thereby avoiding violence. The residents were nevertheless forced to leave their houses, albeit with financial compensation, before their claims to land ownership were determined by the relevant authorities, in violation of the law and procedural safeguards. 38. Together with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), notably UNAIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, and with civil society and humanitarian organizations, the Office worked with the Phnom Penh Municipality and national authorities to promote better standards of resettlement for 42 families whose members were living with HIV, and who were evicted and relocated outside the capital in mid-2009. The case provoked a public outcry, questioning Cambodia’s treatment of persons living with HIV. The UNCT and civil society organizations entered into a cooperation agreement with the Municipality to share the costs of the resettlement, which resulted in major improvements in the living and housing conditions of the families. 39. In July 2009, on the eve of the Group 78 eviction, a joint public statement by major development partners (including the United Nations) recommended that the Government stop forced evictions until a fair and transparent mechanism for resolving land disputes and a comprehensive resettlement policy are developed. These recommendations echoed those previously made by civil society, development partners, OHCHR, and United Nations bodies (the Human Rights Council, the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, and the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing). During the same month, the Government announced its plans to adopt a Circular to regulate illegal settlements, and to develop a law on expropriation and a housing policy. These initiatives were welcomed by the Office, which pursued its efforts to foster support to help bring them to fruition. The Government has drawn attention to these components of an emerging legal framework to regulate land issues, as well as the creation of mechanisms to resolve disputes linked to land (including the Inter-Ministerial Council for Land Policy, and the Cadastral Commissions). 10