A/HRC/39/37
30.
In May 2018, the country office supported the Ministry of Land Management, Urban
Planning and Construction in organizing a pilot training programme on dispute resolution
mechanisms for 13 indigenous communities located in Ratanakiri Province that had already
had communal land titles issued to them in previous years, to enable them to protect their
land against encroachment.
31.
The country office continued to work closely with the three main ministries involved
in the communal land titling process as well as with local authorities, civil society
organizations and indigenous communities to support the issuance of collective land titles.
In October and November 2017, the office organized two regional seminars on the
communal land titling process for 140 local authorities and 20 indigenous peoples’
representatives.
32.
The country office also supported the three ministries, their local departments and
the indigenous communities with specific communal land titling processes. Among other
results, two Bunong indigenous communities in Mondulkiri and Kratié Provinces adopted
community by-laws, in August 2017 and April 2018 respectively, as part of the second step
in the communal land titling process. In October, three Jorng communities in the Areng
Valley of Koh Kong Province — the site of a number of high-profile land disputes in recent
years — received their indigenous identity certificates. This experience was recorded, to
produce a video to help inform other communities about how they can use and benefit from
the communal land titling process. 6
33.
The OHCHR office in Guatemala organized a high-level training course for political
and legal advisers from 16 relevant government institutions, including the property registry
and the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples,
on international standards related to land, a healthy environment and indigenous peoples.
34.
With the financial assistance of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery, the National Council of Displaced Guatemalans 7
implemented a project in the country’s Sayaxché region that provided social and legal
support to 300 Q’eqchi’ Maya victims of land dispossession and environmental
contamination generated by the palm oil industry.
35.
The OHCHR presence in Kenya engaged with indigenous communities, as part of
the national steering committee developing the policy on business and human rights, to
collect their views on what the policy should contain regarding the land rights of
indigenous peoples, environmental rights, issues of forced evictions and access to remedies.
The information was included in a report on stakeholder consultations. In May 2017,
OHCHR facilitated a session on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as
part of the steering committee.
36.
The OHCHR presence in Kenya also supported the Ogiek community for its
engagement with the task force set up in November 2017 to implement the decision of the
African Court8 and give recommendations for a six-month period. Part of the task force’s
role is to engage with the Ogiek community. However, the task force’s mandate expired
before it could engage with stakeholders and there are ongoing discussions on allocating
more time for consultations.
37.
The OHCHR presence in Kenya continued to monitor the various evictions of
members of the Sengwer community from the Embobut Forest between December 2017
and February 2018, consulting with stakeholders and providing information to the special
procedures of the Human Rights Council.
38.
The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, during her official
country visits undertaken in November 2017 at the invitation of the Government of Mexico
and in May 2018 at the invitation of the Government of Guatemala, focused on economic
6
7
8
6
See https://youtu.be/F7atg5Ps8q0.
Consejo Nacional de Desplazados de Guatemala.
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya, Application No. 006/2012
(2017).
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents