A/HRC/27/43 41. The Government reported in April 2014 that almost 2.3 million land titles had been delivered under the country’s Land Administration Sub-Sector Program throughout 24 provinces. OHCHR case work is specifically focused on the promotion of tenure security and the prevention of eviction and resettlement, including the promotion of equitable consultation processes, the securing of adequate compensation and, when necessary, the improvement of planning for relocation. Living standards at relocation sites, including access to employment and basic facilities and services essential for health, security and nutrition, were assessed. Conditions at relocation sites monitored by OHCHR generally remained poor. OHCHR advocated for the right of access to safe water and sanitation and, in collaboration with local civil society organizations, provided water filters to 190 families in seven communities who were identified as urban poor communities lacking appropriate sources of clean drinking water. 42. On the promotion of indigenous peoples’ land rights, OHCHR worked closely with the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Interior. In collaboration with ILO and other development partners, it monitored and supported efforts nationwide by indigenous peoples to organize and obtain recognition as legal entities, and to apply for collective land titles, as set out in domestic law. The process for applying for communal land titles is complex, expensive and slow and thus inaccessible for most indigenous communities. Significant gains have been made in granting recognition to indigenous communities as legal entities by the Ministry of Rural Development. Nevertheless, the exploitation of land inhabited by indigenous peoples, including through the granting of land concessions, has outpaced the establishment of secure tenure for most communities. The State regularly fails to consult with indigenous peoples or to obtain their free and informed consent prior to adopting administrative measures or projects which may affect the enjoyment of their land and other rights. The Land Law, which gives a legal basis to indigenous identity, also recognizes the State’s right to issue land concessions; between the competing demands of protecting the legal identity of indigenous peoples 3 and granting economic land concessions,4 priority has been given to land concessions. 43. Where necessary and possible, OHCHR provided legal assistance to communities in completing registration as legal entities with the Government, and to submit their applications for collective land titles. For instance, OHCHR provided financial and technical support to three communities of Suoy indigenous people in Aoral district (Kampong Speu province), one Por community in Samlot district (Battambang province) and seven Phnong villages in Bousra commune (Mondulkiri province). OHCHR coorganized, in April 2014, the National Workshop on Indigenous Communal Land Titles 3 4 The number of communal land titles issued to indigenous communities since 2001 amount to eight, according to the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). GIZ has been providing capacity development to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and supporting the design and implementation of the Cambodian Land Administration, Management and Distribution Program. For details, see: http://giz-cambodia.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/FactSheet-Land-Rightsfinal-09.01.pdf. In contrast, the number of economic land concessions granted since 2001 number in the hundreds. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has stated that 118 economic land concessions were issued, covering a total of 1,204,750 hectares, prior to the ban in May 2012 (see www.elc.maff.gov.kh/). NGOs such as Open Development Cambodia and LICADHO estimate that the true number is far higher. Open Development Cambodia estimate that 343 economic land concessions have been issued (see www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/company-profiles/economicland-concessions/). LICADHO estimates that a total of 2.1 million hectares of land has been transferred mostly from subsistence farmers into the hands of industrial agriculture firms (see www.licadho-cambodia.org/concession_timelapse/). 11