A/HRC/37/64
workers in the textile and footwear industries by 11 per cent in 2018. The Government also
suspended the drafting of a controversial bill on labour dispute resolution.
38.
Through its economic and social rights programme, OHCHR continued to work on
issues relating to the rights to adequate housing and to an adequate standard of living, to
help prevent forced evictions and to promote security of tenure and a better understanding
of the role of business in respecting human rights, including with regard to indigenous
communities.
39.
OHCHR has continued to assist those subject to resettlement as a result of land
clearing for new construction and plantations. In October and December, OHCHR, in
partnership with provincial authorities and local NGOs, organized two workshops, in
Sihanoukville and Kampot, on land and housing rights, focusing on evictions and relocation
procedures and on the responsibilities of business enterprises in this context.
40.
As part of the resettlement process or to provide land to the landless poor and
veterans, the Government has been issuing social land concessions to individuals and
families subject to resettlement. In December, OHCHR finalized a study assessing the
impact of such concessions on rural livelihoods, for publication in 2018. The study should
serve as a basis for advocacy with relevant national and local authorities for the
improvement of existing social land concessions and ahead of the establishment of new
ones.
41.
OHCHR continued to work with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban
Construction and Planning, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Interior,
local authorities and civil society organizations to support efforts by indigenous peoples to
secure collective land titles and to provide legal aid to communities that had been subjected
to alleged land rights violations.
42.
In August, OHCHR supported an indigenous community in Mondulkiri in adopting
its community by-law as a key step in the process of obtaining collective land titles. An
event to formally mark the adoption of the by-law was attended by more than 100
participants and chaired by the provincial governor. OHCHR collaborated fruitfully with
the Ministry of Rural Development and the Koh Kong local authorities for the issuance, in
October, of the indigenous identity registration of four communities in the Areng Valley,
the site of a number of high-profile land disputes in recent years. This experience was
video-recorded to produce a video to help inform other communities about the collective
land title process, how they can use it and how they can benefit from it. The video was
launched in December.
43.
In addition, in October and November, OHCHR organized two regional seminars on
the collective land title process for 140 local authorities and 20 indigenous representatives.
In August, it organized a training workshop on national and international standards relating
to the rights of indigenous peoples for approximately 35 Chorng indigenous representatives
from Pursat Province.
44.
OHCHR has also been working to assist the Government and business enterprises to
provide adequate remedies for cases of violations and abuse of land and housing rights. In
August, OHCHR partnered with the NGO Independent Mediation Group to provide
technical support to indigenous Bunong communities from the village of Busra, Mondulkiri
Province, affected by an economic land concession during the pre-mediation period of the
dispute resolution accepted by the company. The support included the provision of training
on legal rights to land, mediation rules, representation skills, negotiation skills and options
weighing.
45.
In November, OHCHR and the NGO Community Legal Education Centre launched
a “peace table” process for the Runta Ek community in Seam Reap Province, who were in
conflict with the Apsara Authority, which is responsible for the protection and management
of the region of Angkor, in relation to land issues.
46.
OHCHR has continued to promote the dissemination of public information on
economic and other land concessions through technical and financial support to the Open
Development Cambodia website. This support has helped to revise and update the database
of economic land concession profiles and maps on the open source website, including
7
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents