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News (245)
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Palestine: Land Day (joint statement) |
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By :NGOs |
| 30 March 2020 |
On Land Day, Civil Society Urges Accountability and the End to Israel’s Illegal Closure of Gaza
For the past two years,[1] Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip have gathered on a near-weekly basis to participate in the Great Return March demonstrations at the Gaza perimeter fence, calling for an end to
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South Africa: Evictions Despite Moratorium |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo |
| 29 March 2020 |
Evictions continue in Durban despite the national moratorium
The national government made a clear promise that there would be no evictions during the national shutdown implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, today, at around 12:30, Calvin Security returned to the Ekuphumeleleni settlement in Mariannhill, which falls under
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Kenya: Women Resist Custom for a Fair Share |
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By :David Muchui, The Nation |
| 25 March 2020 |
Widows fight customs, biased laws denying them share of family wealth
In Summary
In Meru County and elsewhere, thousands of widows are at the mercy of ruthless in-laws and corrupt government officers.
Human Rights Watch cites discriminatory laws and customs as some of the factors that continue to fuel the violation of women’s
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UN Invites Corporate Capture of Food Systems |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 23 March 2020 |
The UN has increasingly involved corporations in UN decision making, a trend made obvious in the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. This time, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) has formed an alliance with the corporate world—outside of the framework of UN Charter-based specialized agencies—to set the global agenda for further corporate capture of
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South Africa: Call for Solidarity amid Crisis |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo |
| 22 March 2020 |
Coronavirus: A Call for Solidarity in a Time of Crisis
Abahlali baseMjondolo has held small meetings with elected leaders in all the provinces where we have members to discuss the coronavirus crisis. The best available scientific information has been shared with our members. We have decided to suspend our entire programme
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ZA/Palestine: Apartheid 60 Yrs after Sharpeville |
| 21 March 2020 |
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Time to Recognise and End Israeli Apartheid over the Palestinian People
21 March 2020
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also marks the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre under apartheid in South Africa, on 21 March 1960. At Sharpeville, police opened
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Bangladesh: Church Evicts Indigenous Families |
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By :Rajshahi, UCA News reporter |
| 18 March 2020 |
Five families of ethnic indigenous Catholics are in a frustrating and helpless situation over an attempted eviction by a church’s officials in northern Bangladesh.
Officials of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Musroil village of Rajshahi District have been pressuring the families to leave the land and property they have been living
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IPC on post-2020 Biodiversity Strategy |
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By :IPC |
| 18 March 2020 |
Don’t let agribusiness take over the Post – 2020 Biodiversity Strategy
The International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) delegation of small-scale food producers participated at the Second meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Rome, from 24
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UN: New Study on Climate-change Impacts |
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By :Chinedum Uwaegbulam, The Guardian |
| 16 March 2020 |
A wide-ranging UN climate report, released on last week, shows that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, as well as on the health and wellbeing of the global population.
The report, The WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019, which
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W. Sahara Sues NZ Fund over “Blood Phosphates” |
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By :Ben Doherty, The Guardian |
| 15 March 2020 |
West Saharan group takes New Zealand superannuation fund to court over `blood phosphate`
Independence movement lodges documents in high court arguing $45bn fund invests in illegally mined fertiliser
The Western Sahara liberation movement has taken New Zealand’s superannuation fund to the country’s highest court over its investments in farms that use phosphate
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Syria: Reparation is a Key for Building Peace |
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By :Ibrahim Hamidi, Asharq Alawsat |
| 15 March 2020 |
Sunday marks the ninth anniversary since the peaceful demonstrations kicked off in Syria calling for democracy. Today, regional and international players coexist in regime-run areas in an interlocking manner that could lead to a military clash at any moment while Syrians remain divided.
The Russian and Turkish armies conducted joint patrols
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Missouri Farmer Wins $265m Claim from Monsanto/BASF |
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By :Carey Gillam, Sierra |
| 25 February 2020 |
Missouri Farmer Wins $265 Million Verdict against Monsanto. Jury finds that, because of dicamba, a peach farmer is going out of business
A Missouri peach farmer notched a rare courtroom victory this month, defeating the former Monsanto Co. and chemical giant BASF in the first of what is expected to be
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UN: A Call to Human Rights “Action” |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 25 February 2020 |
At the opening of this 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, on 24 February 2020, Secretary-General António Guterres finally issued a formal initiative to consolidate human rights action in the fourth year of his five-year term. The much-welcome initiative bears the title The Highest Aspiration: A Call to
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Uganda: Thousands Homeless for Land Privatization |
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By :Bill Oketch, Daily monitor |
| 25 February 2020 |
More than 35,000 people from 20 villages are homeless after being evicted from about 9,300 acres of land in Kiryandongo District to pave way for large scale farming.
No one seemingly knows the exact year when the government allegedly gave the land to agricultural companies for large scale farming.
The government says
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Watch: The Heart of Nuba |
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By :Storyville Global, BBC World |
| 12 February 2020 |
For thirty years, Omar al-Bashir, the former president of Sudan, waged a brutal and bloody war on his own people. This program filmed before al-Bashir was ousted, features Dr. Tom Catena a U.S. doctor and missionary who has been working in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan (South Kordofan) for over
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HIC-HLRN: New Ways to Work with UN Habitat |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 February 2020 |
ABU DHABI—At a networking event in the 10th World Urban Forum (WUF) to consider a new UN Habitat “Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism for Sustainable Development,” HIC-HLRN presented its contribution to the current discussion about the eventual methods and functions of UN Habitat’s partnership with civil society, local governments and authorities, and
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ETOs: German Cement Giant in Occupied Land |
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By :Al Haq and SOMO |
| 04 February 2020 |
The German extraction industry giant, HeidelbergCement is implicated in cross-border organized violations of international law in Palestine.
AMSTERDAM/RAMALLAH—The German multinational HeidelbergCement is complicit in the pillaging of natural resources from the Nahal Raba quarry in the occupied West Bank, with serious human and environmental rights violations against Palestinians, a new report by SOMO and Al-Haq
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Navajo Pres. Sides with Kit Carson on Palestine |
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By :The Red Nation |
| 02 February 2020 |
Navajo Nation President Nez Sides with Kit Carson on Palestine
The [president of the] Navajo Nation’s partnership with Zionist organizations raises historical questions.
Black men fighting for their freedom once drenched the earth with the blood of white men. We know this history. At the same time, our grandfathers carried guns against
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South Africa: Women’s Landmark Property Rights Ruling |
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By :Kim Harrisberg, Thomson Reuters Foundation |
| 29 January 2020 |
For black women married before 1988, the husband owned all matrimonial assets and could sell them without consulting his wife - until a landmark win this month overturned the law
JOHANNESBURG—Facing destitution when her marriage broke down, 72-year-old Agnes Sithole went to court to challenge a sexist law - and won
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Wealth Inequality, not Over-population Causes Climate Crisis |
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By :The Conversation |
| 28 January 2020 |
Stop blaming population growth for climate change. The real culprit is wealth inequality. Consumption by the world’s richest 10% makes up half of the planet’s consumption-based CO₂ emissions. Why we should be wary of blaming ‘overpopulation’ for the climate crisis
The annual World Economic Forum in Davos brought together representatives from government and
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Malawi: Men Still Grab Women`s Land, Despite Law |
| 24 January 2020 |
Malawi men continue to grab land from women - official
Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development director of administration Duncan Chione has said the new land law, which came into effect in 2018, is still facing resistance because men continue to grab land from women.
The official made the remarks in
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States Urge Spain to Respect Saharawi Rights |
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By :Western Sahara Resources Watch (WSRW) |
| 22 January 2020 |
As a matter of extraterritorial human rights obligation, Namibia and East-Timor have today recommended Spain to respect the Saharawi people`s right to free, prior and informed consent before any exploitation of Western Sahara`s natural resources.
Spain today went through its third Universal Periodic Review, a peer review in the
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Peru: Indigenous Win Amazon Oil Battle |
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By :Maria Cervantes, Reuters |
| 22 January 2020 |
Peruvian indigenous group wins suit to block oil exploration in Amazonian region
LIMA—A Peruvian judge ruled that the government exclude an indigenous region of the Amazon near the border with Brazil from any oil exploration and exploitation, a legal group said on Wednesday, in a win for native communities that have
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At WEF, Greta Nails It |
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By :Democracy Now and BBC |
| 21 January 2020 |
The words of 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, addressing world leaders today at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, one year after she first condemned the forum for its inaction on climate change. She spoke just after President Trump addressed the Forum, touting U.S. economic prowess, but
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UN Landmark Case for Climate-displaced |
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By :Amnesty International |
| 20 January 2020 |
UN landmark case for people displaced by climate change
In a ground-breaking asylum case, a UN human rights body has ruled that governments must take into account the human rights violations caused by the climate crisis when considering deportation of asylum seekers, said Amnesty International today.
Ioane Teitiota, a man from the Pacific nation of
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CSOs Blast UN’s Corporate Take-over |
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By :FIAN and various CSOs |
| 16 January 2020 |
WEF takeover of UN strongly condemned. With the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos around the corner, hundreds of CSOs reiterate condemnation of the partnership between the corporate world with the UN.
As corporate executives fly into Davos for the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF),
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Outrage over Siemens Backing Adani Coal |
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By :Deutsche Welle |
| 13 January 2020 |
Climate Activists Outraged as Siemens Backs Adani Coal Mining Project in Australia
Siemens has announced it will remain involved in a controversial coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country continues to be ravaged by bushfires.
The German engineering conglomerate has a contract worth roughly €18 million ($20 million) which requires
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Netherlands: The Right to Climate Protection! |
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By :Lukas Schulze, Buzzfeed News |
| 20 December 2019 |
People have a fundamental right to be protected from climate change, a landmark court ruling says. The Dutch Supreme Court`s decision could have huge repercussions for how other countries tackle rising emissions.
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled Friday that the government must take urgent action on climate change to
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India: Protesting > 40K Trees Cut for Mine, Police Crack Down |
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By :Newsclick Report |
| 12 December 2019 |
India: Talabira Odisha: Over 40,000 trees removed to pave way for Adani’s Mine. Heavy police force is present on the site to completely cordon off the region. Activists are terming the removal of the trees as a grave violation of community forest rights.
The green lungs of industrial Odisha’s Sambalpur are
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13 Countries Vote against Pro-Palestine |
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By :Times of Israel |
| 03 December 2019 |
States led by Germany change their voting pattern in favor of Israel, opposing Division of Palestinian Rights, although motion still passes by wide margin.
Over a dozen countries on Tuesday abruptly changed their voting pattern at the United Nations in Israel’s favor, opposing an annual resolution expressing support for a pro-Palestinian
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India: Gov’t. Rethinks Vicious Forest Act |
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By :Ishan Kukreti, Down to Earth |
| 18 November 2019 |
Government withdraws proposed changes to Indian Forest Act. Minister Prakash Javadekar said draft created misconception among people.
The Union government was withdrawing the officers’ draft of the Indian Forest Act (IFA), 1927 amendment, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Prakash Javadekar told reporters on November 15, 2019.
Inspector General of Forests (Forest
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Report to UNCERD on Israeli Apartheid |
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By :Middle East Monitor |
| 14 November 2019 |
Eight Palestinian, regional and international NGOs have submitted a substantial report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), ahead of the committee’s upcoming review of Israel’s next month.
According to a statement published this week, the NGOs in question were Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq,
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Brazil: Loggers Murder Amazon Forest Defender |
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By :Aljazeera |
| 03 November 2019 |
An indigenous forest defender has been killed and another wounded after they were ambushed by illegal loggers in Brazil`s Amazon forest, according to authorities.
Paulo Paulino Guajajara, a leader of an indigenous group seeking to protect the Arariboia indigenous reserve in Maranhao state from incursions, was shot in the face while on a
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Pakistan: HIC Member Assaulted, Threatened |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 31 October 2019 |
Human Rights Defender Dr. Khadim Hussain Dahot threatened and physically assaulted
Dr. Khadim Hussain Dahot, human rights defender and director of HIC Member organization has been attacked outside his home in Sindh Province, Pakistan. The mob of unidentified men attacking the defender accused him of inciting sectarian violence and committing blasphemy.
Dr.
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Canada: B.C. to Align Laws with UNDRIP |
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By :Stephanie Wood, National Observer |
| 24 October 2019 |
B.C. tables United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples bill today
British Columbia is the first province to begin legislating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a landmark international document on Indigenous rights.
The province is introducing a bill today that will ensure all provincial laws
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HIC-HLRN Joins Partners on Israel`s CERD Review |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 September 2019 |
Habitat International Coalition (HIC) – Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) has partnered with HIC Member organizations Al-Haq and BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights (Palestine), as well as with Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) in submitting a joint report to the UN Committee on
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Adani Coal Takes Native Land as Oz Burns |
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By :Ben Doherty, The Guardian |
| 31 August 2019 |
While Queensland extinguishes native title over Indigenous land to make way for Adani coalmine
Palaszczuk government did not announce decision Wangan and Jagalingou people say makes them trespassers on their own land
The Queensland government has extinguished native title over 1,385 hectares of Wangan and Jagalingou country for the proposed Adani coalmine in
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#StandTogetherNow |
| 12 August 2019 |
In 2015 world leaders signed historic agreements – the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals and the broader 2030 Agenda to push for a more just and sustainable world by 2030. These inter-linked agendas promised to transform the world, to end poverty, to reduce inequality, ensure peace and combat climate
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Women Speak out on Land Rights |
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By :ESCR-Net |
| 02 August 2019 |
Women articulating shared positions and advancing collective action on land and natural resources
In recent years, coordinated by the Working Group on Women and ESCR, grassroots women leaders have been articulating shared positions and advancing collective action on land and natural resources; most recently, via a second exchange and a series
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Indonesian Women Fight Land Grabbing |
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By :Civita Patriana, Forestpeople.com |
| 17 July 2019 |
One night in 2013, in East Borneo, the family of Lusang Arang was surprised by an unexpected visitor at their home. The visitor’s arrival at midnight was not the only thing that surprised the family; what he brought was even more startling: a large bag full of cash. Lusang Arang’s
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RCEP Trade Deal to Intensify Asia Land Grabs |
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By :GRAIN |
| 12 July 2019 |
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed mega-trade agreement that involves 10 countries of Southeast Asia and six of their trading partners.[1] If adopted, it will be the biggest trade deal in the world. RCEP will not just change rules on the export and import of goods and services;
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US Duty Free Support Israeli Settlements |
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By :Bel Trew, The Independent |
| 06 July 2019 |
Exclusive: Falic family poured over a million dollars into Psagot winery, a controversial settlement enterprise monitors say ‘wine-washes’ theft of Palestinian land, threatening hopes of peace
A family of American duty free tycoons that own hundreds of airport stores across the US invested over a million dollars in a controversial Israeli
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HIConcern over Treaty System Neglect |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 21 June 2019 |
The Human Rights Treaty System has long been an island of depoliticized truth seeking within the UN Organization. However, over the years, participants in the UN’s Human Rights Treaty Bodies have grown accustomed to the scarcity of resources and capacity needed to maintain the robust monitoring of the treaty performance
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A New UN Habitat Stakeholder Compact |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 30 May 2019 |
A group of stakeholder organizations in cooperation with UN Habitat have issued a vision statement for what they are calling a “new stakeholder compact” for implementing the New Urban Agenda (2016) in line with the global Sustainable Development Goals. On 30 May 2019, the stakeholders issued their declaration in a
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HRBA at UN Habitat Assembly |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 29 May 2019 |
“Human Rights-based Approaches to Meeting Sustainable Development
Goals and New Urban Agenda Targets for Women, Youth and Children”
UN Habitat Assembly, 29 May 2019, 13:15–14:45, United Nations at Nairobi, Classroom 6
Featuring presentations by panelists from University of East London, UN Habitat, Habitat International Coalition’s Housing and Land Rights Network, Huairou Commission,
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"People-centered Partnership" @ 1st UNHA |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 28 May 2019 |
Visions of People-centered Partnership”: HIC-HLRN at the first UN Habitat Assembly, Nairobi, 27 May 2019
NAIROBI—On 27 May 2019, Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network organized a side event at the first UN Habitat Assembly (Nairobi) in collaboration with UN Habitat’s stakeholder Youth Caucus. The inter-active event sought
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HIC Urges Clarity on UN Habitat Civic Engagement |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 17 May 2019 |
Habitat International Coalition has issued an open letter to UN Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohammed Sharif, calling for clarity in the intended—and indispensable—cooperation of civil society and other stakeholders with the reforming agency.
Since the UN Members States’ adoption of the “New Urban Agenda” as UN Habitat’s normative framework in 2016
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Ecuador: Waorani Block Big Oil Destruction |
| 16 May 2019 |
Amazon tribe wins lawsuit against big oil, saving millions of acres of rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest is well known across the world for being the largest and most dense area of woodland in the world. Spanning across nine countries, the Amazon is home to millions of different animal and plant species,
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Nigeria: 11 killed, Several Homes Destroyed |
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By :Francis Okoye, Leadership.ng |
| 08 May 2019 |
No fewer than 11 persons including 4 soldiers have been killed while several houses and shops razed down when terrorists attacked a military base at Molai Community, an outskirts of Maiduguri . The incident which started at about 6:30pm on Tuesday and lasted for hours forced many residents at the
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Al-Haq International Law Summer School 2019! |
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By :Al-Haq |
| 30 April 2019 |
24 June–8 July 2019
Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law is pleased to announce its Fifth International Law Summer School for post-graduate law students, legal researchers and professionals in the fields of international law and human rights. The training will take place over two weeks in Ramallah, occupied Palestinian territory
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Tibet: China Imprisons Local Land Defenders |
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By :Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) |
| 28 April 2019 |
Nine Tibetans sentenced up to 7 years in prison under China’s “organised crime” crackdown
A notice issued in February 2018 by the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department had criminalised various human rights activities such as local activists espousing causes like economic freedom, right to livelihood, environmental protection, cultural freedom (Article
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USA: Seattle, Insurgent Sanctuary |
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By :Samantha Michaels, Mother Jones |
| 15 April 2019 |
Seattle’s Mayor Had the Perfect Response to Trump’s Threat to Send Immigrants to Sanctuary Cities: “The president’s threats won’t intimidate me.”
On Friday, President Donald Trump said his administration was seriously considering sending undocumented immigrants caught along the border to sanctuary cities around the country as a way to punish Democrats
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Waorani People Sue for Survival against Big Oil |
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By :Reynard Loki, Independent Media Institute |
| 11 April 2019 |
Indigenous peoples go to court to save the Amazon from oil company greed
On 27 February, hundreds of Indigenous Waorani elders, youth and leaders arrived in the city of Puyo, Ecuador. They left their homes deep in the Amazon rainforest to march peacefully through the streets, hold banners, sing songs and,
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India’s Unrelenting Forced-eviction Crisis |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 09 April 2019 |
New report highlights the unrelenting crisis of forced evictions, finds over 200,000 persons evicted in India in 2018. Over 114 houses demolished every day, 23 people evicted every hour.
On the eve of India’s General Elections, Housing and Land Rights Network India (HLRN) held a press conference in New Delhi today
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Adjudicating HRAH in India |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 09 April 2019 |
On the eve of India’s General Elections, Housing and Land Rights Network India (HLRN) held a press conference in New Delhi today to release a new publication: Adjudicating the Human Right to Adequate Housing: Analysis of Important Judgments from Indian High Courts.
As documented by HLRN, India’s courts often have ordered
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India: Over11 million Face Eviction, Displacement |
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By :Rina Chandran, Reuters Foundation |
| 09 April 2019 |
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least 11 million people in India risk being uprooted from their homes and land as authorities build highways and airports and cordon off forests, activists said on Tuesday, undermining a government push to provide housing for all citizens by 2022.
The estimate includes about 1.9
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India Court Orders Adivasi Evictions |
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By :Climate scorecard |
| 07 April 2019 |
Spotlight Activity: Supreme Court Orders An Eviction of Indigenous Communities from Forest Areas
In February this year, India’s apex court, while deciding on a case filed by hardcore wildlife conservation groups, ordered the eviction of millions of indigenous communities, known as tribals or Adavasis from the forests they have been abiding
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Human Right to Adequate Housing v. Blackstone L.P. |
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By :HLRN |
| 26 March 2019 |
Today, UN Special Rapporteur on to Adequate Housing Leilani Farha held a press conference in Copenhagen to speak about letters that she and Surya Deva, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises jointly released to governments and corporations
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India: By Court, Forced Evictions Illegal |
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By :Rina Chandran, thisisplace.org |
| 20 March 2019 |
In a major victory for land rights campaigners, Delhi High Court ruled that forced evictions of slum dwellers without consultation or resettlement plans are illegal.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that forced and unannounced evictions of slum dwellers without consultations or resettlement plans are illegal, striking a major victory for
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USA: Court Challenge to Israel’s Colonies |
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By :Mairav Zonszein, The Nation |
| 18 March 2019 |
In a First, Palestinians Challenge Israel’s Settlement Enterprise—in a US Court
The challenge comes in response to a case filed by Israeli settlers against Airbnb.
Randa Wahbe is a United States citizen with West Bank residency who is studying for a PhD in anthropology at Harvard University. Over the years, the 31-year-old
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Australia: Ngaliwurru & Nungali Native Title Ruling |
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By :RT |
| 15 March 2019 |
Australian Aboriginals to get billions in compensation for land & spiritual loss in landmark case
Aboriginals in Australia have won a ground-breaking case that paves the way for billions of dollars in compensation claims for colonial land loss, as well as loss of spiritual connection.
The High Court of Australia ruled
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ICJ Chagos Island Opinion: from Brexit to Chexit? |
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By :Marko Milanovic, European Journal of International Law blog |
| 28 February 2019 |
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its Chagos Islands Advisory Opinion, and UK loses badly
The ICJ has ruled that Britain acted illegally when it imposed territorial controls on the Chagos Islands without the consent of Mauritius. The ruling may hinder US operations in Diego Garcia, where it holds an
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USA: Court Rules IFC Not Immune |
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By :Diane Desierto, European Journal of International Law blog |
| 28 February 2019 |
SCOTUS decision in Jam et al v. International Finance Corporation (IFC) denies absolute immunity to IFC…with caveats
When it rains, it somehow pours.
February 2019 ended up being such a landmark month for international law adjudication. A day after the International Court of Justice released its landmark Chagos Advisory Opinion (finely discussed by
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Petition to Stop Land Grabbing in Sierra Leone |
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By :Okland Institute |
| 21 February 2019 |
Stop the criminalisation of land rights defenders!
Oakland, CA—One month after violent incidents in the SOCFIN plantations in Sierra Leone leading to brutal repression by security forces, the death of two people and 15 people arrested, Sierra Leonean and international civil society organisations urge the government of Sierra Leone and the
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USA: Providing Homes Cheaper than Homelessness |
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By :Matthew Iglesias, Vox |
| 20 February 2019 |
The most cost-effective way to help the homeless is to give them homes. Addressing housing directly is cheaper than relying on cops and emergency rooms.
Even as the national economy continues its slow-but-steady pace of improvement, data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in December revealed a small
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Mining Grabs Up Land in Central America |
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By :Edgardo Ayala, Inter press Service |
| 19 February 2019 |
SAN SALVADOR, Feb 19 2019 (IPS) - Like an octopus, metals mining has been spreading its tentacles throughout Central America and dealing a blow to the region’s agriculture and natural ecosystems, according to affected villagers, activists and a new report on the problem.
“Where the mining company is operating was land
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Zim: CSOs Pose Resolving Govt Displacements |
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By :Tatenda Chitagu, newsday |
| 13 February 2019 |
The Zimbabwe People’s Land Rights Movement (ZPLRM), a member of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC), has slammed government over planned displacements of thousands of villagers across the country and urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to walk his talk over the irreversibility of the land reform programme.
HIC is an independent international coalition
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Zim: Govt to Evict 1,000 Resettled Villagers |
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By :Tatenda Chitagu, Newsday |
| 10 February 2019 |
About 1,000 families from Sikato resettlement in Masvingo West constituency are facing an uncertain future after being served with seven-day eviction notices to vacate the land which they occupied at the height of the land reform programme in 2000.
The families, from seven villages; Muza, Chikutuva, Manunure, Makasva, Banga, Sithole and
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AU Summit on Displacement Crisis |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 February 2019 |
Already 55 years ago, the Organization of African States was born with the purpose of peace and unity in what is now the African Union (AU), the largest regional organization on earth. This year, the 32nd regular annual AU summit at Addis Ababa (10–11 February 2019) focuses on another distinguishing
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South Africa: Militarizing Repression in Durban |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo |
| 03 February 2019 |
Statement of Abahlali baseMjondolo
Last week, the news was full of reports on the arrival of three of the four Casspirs (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles) that have been ordered by the eThekwini Municipality. We first heard about the order of the Casspirs in 2017, when it was reported that the
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Israel/Palestine: Tourism Accommodates War Crime |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 31 January 2019 |
The Israeli colonies in occupied Palestine constitute a war crime and crime against humanity. They form elements of the serious crime of population transfer, as codified in the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, and which previously was prosecuted at the International Military Tribunals at Nuremburg and Tokyo. The
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Eating within Planetary Proportions |
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By :HLRN |
| 30 January 2019 |
The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health has convened 37 of the worlds’ leading scientists to reach a scientific consensus that defines a healthy and sustainable diet within the limits of our global ecosystem. Their conclusions contribute to the specificity needed to align human behavior with the goal of sustaining the human
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China: Land Reforms Must Be Grounded in Law |
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By :Ren Qiuyu Caixin global |
| 25 December 2018 |
China is making new progress in revising its Land Administration Law. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is set to deliberate on proposed amendments to the Land Administration Law and other draft legislation during its seventh meeting from Dec. 23-29. At the same time, it will also discuss
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S A: Reviews Land-Expropriation Bill |
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By :Linda Ensor, BusinessDay |
| 24 December 2018 |
The draft Expropriation Bill gazetted by public works minister Thulas Nxesi last week for public comment was a disappointment and would not accelerate land reform, the Land Access Movement of SA (Lamosa) said.
It believes the proposed legislation lacks justice and provides no equity for homeland dwellers.
Lamosa, a federation of rural
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Zuma Complicit in Zimbabwe Land Grabs |
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By :Chris Bateman, Biznews |
| 19 December 2018 |
CAPE TOWN — They say it takes a strong constitution to become a country’s president, but it also takes a strong Constitution to bring to account an almost omnipotent president. Or former president, shall we say. One who came to believe that he could get away with almost anything once
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UN Peasants’ Rights Declaration Adopted in GA |
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By :HLRN |
| 20 November 2018 |
NEW YORK—The UN General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) passed a draft that would have the Assembly adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. This vote assures that the Declaration will enter the next edition of Human Rights:
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USA: More HUD Tenants Now Living in Squalor |
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By :Suzy Khimm, Laura Strickler, Hannah Rappleye and Stephanie Gosk. NBC News |
| 15 November 2018 |
Under Ben Carson, more families live in HUD housing that fails health and safety inspections
While HUD Secretary Ben Carson pledged to fix low-income housing, the number of properties cited for health and safety violations has been on the rise.
HARTFORD CT—The mold started in the basement. But it soon spread to
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Baltimore: 1st Major City to Ban Water Privatization |
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By :Rianna Eckel, Food & Water Watch |
| 07 November 2018 |
We all need safe food and clean water.
BALTIMORE MD—Baltimore voters made history today by voting in favor of passing ballot question E, a city charter amendment that bans privatization of the city’s water and sewer systems. The Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to ban water privatization earlier this year. As
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Stop Land Grabs – Declaration |
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By :Frans Ari Prasetyo and People’s Alliance Against Eviction, Social Project.ca |
| 30 October 2018 |
Declaration of the Social Movements: Ten Peoples’ Principles Against Land Grabs, Evictions and Neoliberalism
“Let a New World be born in Bandung for a genuine land reform, not land grabs!” — Bandung-Indonesia, September 24, 2018.
The world order of the 21st century has changed, as colonialism and imperialism mutate into many faces.
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Land Rights, Companies and Social Justice |
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By :Chris Jochnick, SSIR.org |
| 24 October 2018 |
In 2004, the Newmont Mining Corporation hired me to investigate human rights accusations facing its gold mine operation in Peru, despite the company feeling like it had done everything right. It got the necessary government approvals, made legal land purchases, and launched various philanthropic initiatives, yet widespread protestscontinued to disrupt its efforts.
After meeting
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Liberia: New Law Affirms Customary Land Tenure |
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By :James Yarsiah, Rights + Resources Initiative |
| 23 October 2018 |
On 19 September, Liberian President George Manneh Weah signed into law the Land Rights Bill (LRB), a landmark piece of legislation that recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to their customary lands and gives customary land the same standing as private land in Liberia.
This historic victory sets
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Ethiopia Takes Land Back |
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By :Chiamaka Ihekwoaba, the nerve africa |
| 01 October 2018 |
Ethiopia has revoked a total of 412.6 hectares of land held by investors, including Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi for failure to create jobs and develop the city, as promised when the lands were awarded to them, head of Addis Ababa Land Bank Tesfaye Tilahun told the Voice of
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UNHRC Adopts Peasant Rights Declaration |
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By :La Via Campesina |
| 30 September 2018 |
UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights declaration in Geneva
GENEVA—Seventeen years of long and arduous negotiations later, peasants and other people working in rural areas are only a step away from having a UN Declaration that could defend and protect their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, local
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USA: Laws Criminalizing Homelessness Over-ruled |
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By :Mihir Zaveri, The New York Times |
| 05 September 2018 |
Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no shelter available is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court said this week.
The case stems from two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep or camp
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USA: In Search of Eviction Data |
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By :Daniela Aiello, Lisa Bates, Terra Graziani, Christopher Herring, Manissa Maharawal, Erin McElroy, Pamela Phan, and Gretchen Purser, Shelterforce. |
| 22 August 2018 |
Eviction Lab Misses the Mark: By not working with existing housing justice organizations, the high profile organization undercounts evictions and misses a chance to understand differences between localities and wider policy analyses.
There is perhaps no more influential and popular book on poverty and housing at the moment than Matthew Desmond’s
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Ecuador: Chevron to Pay for Environmental Damage |
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By :Mongabay |
| 14 August 2018 |
Chevron must pay for environmental damage in Ecuador, Constitution Court rules
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has issued a long-awaited ruling in favor of those affected by the transnational oil company Chevron, which operated through its subsidiary Texaco in Ecuador between 1964 and 1990. The court rejected the protection action that
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Bangladesh: Last Six Marma Families Evicted |
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By :The Dailystar.net |
| 09 August 2018 |
The indigenous communities of Bandarban live on in fear as their ancestral land continues to be grabbed by influential people.
Once inhabited by 42 families, the Saingya Marma Para of Bandarban in southeast Bangladesh has been subject to land grabbing for long. There were a only six families remaining till middle
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Evicted Apaa Residents Accuse UN of Neglect |
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By :Witness radio |
| 07 August 2018 |
Gulu. Hundreds of locals who have for the last one month camped at the UN premises in Gulu Municipality seeking its intervention over the ongoing evictions in Apaa Village, Itirikwa Sub-county, Adjumani District have accused UN officials of neglect.
The locals say since July 11 when they issued a letter to
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Myanmar: Struggles against Grabbing Fortress |
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By :Rina Chandran, reuters |
| 06 August 2018 |
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Saw Ma Bu’s family has lived in the mountainous forests of Myanmar’s Kayin state for generations, farming and fishing in the Salween river, even as a decades-long armed conflict raged in the region.
Now, he says, they fear their way of life is under threat as
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CSO Contributions Undermined at HLPF |
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By :Lynn Wagner, Civicus |
| 03 August 2018 |
Unanswered Questions: How Civil Society’s Contributions to Sustainable Development are Undermined at the HLPF. Civil society are often on the frontlines, protecting the most vulnerable in our societies as well as our natural resources– vital work that must be protected and not attacked. Governments should be mindful of their commitments
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Expropriation Does Not Equal Land Reform |
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By :Elmien du Plessis, News24 |
| 01 August 2018 |
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday night announced that the ANC plans to go ahead with expropriation without compensation.
Ramaphosa explained that the "ANC reaffirms its position that the Constitution provides for radical transformation both of society and the economy", and that a proper reading of the Constitution "enables the state to
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Uganda: Amuru Land Grab Apaa Village Evictions |
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By :Minbane.wordpress.com |
| 20 July 2018 |
That the Northern Uganda have been in deep end of the stick in many eyes is evident, by how lax the state has been to take care of their needs and their rights. That can now be proven by the forceful evictions from land in Apaa Village in Amuru District/Adjumani
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Banksy Hits Heart of Immigrant-destination Paris |
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By :Linda Hervieux, NBC News |
| 29 June 2018 |
New Banksy street art appears across Paris, taking aim at refugee crisis. The city struggle to respond to the migrant influx, with hundreds sleeping in makeshift tent camps.
PARIS — Banksy painted a live elephant in Los Angeles, unleashed 200 rats in a London gallery, and embellished a portrait of
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Uganda: In Defence of Land Grabbing |
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By :Andrew M. Mwenda, Independent Uganda |
| 28 May 2018 |
Our country has a new villain: the land grabber! In the popular imagination, this is a rich and powerful individual grabbing land from poor helpless victims. There are strong incentives for journalists, academics, politicians, activists, pundits, etc. to position themselves as champions of the poor masses against the rich and
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India: Smart Cities and Forced Eviction |
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By :Ankit Jha and Anand Lakhan, thewire.in |
| 28 May 2018 |
The demolitions in Bhuri Tekri, without prior warning, took place just a week after the announcement of ‘Swachhta Sarvekshan 2018’, with the city retaining the number one rank in the list.
To make cities beautiful, forced eviction of slum dwellers amid promises of resettlement have led to massive displacement of working
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Tibet: New Report “Access Denied” |
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By :International Campaign for Tibet |
| 26 May 2018 |
ICT has published its latest report, "Access Denied." It’s a troubling yet necessary account of the full extent of China`s efforts to prevent news of human rights abuses in Tibet from getting out.
China’s government doesn’t want anyone to know that international journalists are being detained by police, as two New
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Another Mozambique Land Grab |
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By :Timothy A. Wise, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute |
| 23 May 2018 |
Growing Resistance: The Rise and Fall of Another Mozambique Land Grab
The rice fields of Xai-Xai, three hours up the coast from Maputo, are vast, coming into view as we descended onto the alluvial plain from the villages that dot the hills above. They stretch across the plains toward the Indian Ocean
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S. Korea: UNSR on Housing Calls for `Shift` |
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By :OHCHR |
| 23 May 2018 |
SEOUL/GENEVA (23 May 2018) – United Nations expert, Leilani Farha, urged national and local governments of South Korea to shift their approach to housing and homelessness to meet current human rights standards.
Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, noted that South Korea now has the
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Philippine: Tension Grips Eviction of 200 Families |
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By :Rey Galupo, The Philippine Star |
| 23 May 2018 |
MANILA, Philippines — An operation to demolish the houses of around 200 informal settlers in Intramuros, Manila nearly turned violent as the residents opposed the demolition yesterday morning.
Armed with an eviction order issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 7, a demolition team along with members of the Manila
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Land Ownership Isn’t Enough to Empower Women |
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By :Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, The Conversation.com |
| 14 May 2018 |
In the agricultural sector – the major employer for poor people in Africa – assets like land and livestock are owned and controlled mainly by men.
It makes sense, then, that many donors, national governments and civil society groups believe rebalancing asset and land ownership in favour of women will greatly empower women.
The argument is
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Ethiopia: New Deal with Iconic Land Grabber Karuturi |
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By :Anywaa Survival Organisation |
| 07 May 2018 |
Reading, United Kingdom - The Anywaa Survival Organisation (ASO) is outraged by recent news reports that the Ethiopian government is providing a new lease of lands to disgraced land grabber Karuturi Global Ltd.
Karuturi`s disastrous 300,000 hectares (ha) farm project in Ethiopia`s western Gambela region is the most vivid example of the Ethiopian government`s
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30 Cities Join Global Sur and Hasankeyf Action Day |
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By :Platform No to the Destruction of Sur, Istanbul Sur Solidarity, Mesopotamia Ecology Movement, and Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive |
| 30 April 2018 |
DIYARBAKIR / AMED—As part of the Global Sur and Hasankeyf Action Day in almost 30 cities, actions have been organized on 28 April 2018. Activists and civil organization raised awareness on the ongoing destruction of the two antique cities Sur and Hasankeyf at the Tigris River in North (Turkish) Kurdistan.
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USA: Forgotten Hurricane Harvey Devastation |
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By :Daniel J. McGraw, Next City |
| 30 April 2018 |
Houston got the press (and most of the funds), but the Category 4 storm made first, devastating landfall in coastal Port Aransas and Rockport. How rebuilding has forced these beach towns to confront a housing crisis.
The smallish, three-bedroom, blue-green house in the middle of Port Aransas is rather ordinary. Built
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Palestine: Universal Reminder on Land Day |
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By :Houssem Ben Lazreg, Tesbih Habbal, The Conversation.com |
| 29 April 2018 |
In an excerpt from the poem entitled The Last Speech of the ‘Red Indian’ to the White Man, the prominent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish draws an analogy between Palestinians and Native American nations who were forced to live in diaspora in their own land. He addresses the colonizer:
“You who come from beyond the
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HIConcern over SDG Land Indicators |
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By :Joseph Schechla, HIC-HLRN |
| 27 April 2018 |
Habitat International Coalition’s Housing and Land Rights Network welcomes the SDGs and their performance indicators as a complement to development efforts that uphold the integrity of the UN Charter and the UN System built on three purposeful pillars: (1) peace and security, (2) progressive development and (3) human rights. We
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New Zealand: 10 Reasons to Return the Waitara Lands |
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By :Vivian Hutchinson and Carl Chenery, The Spinoff.com |
| 21 April 2018 |
Taranaki are expected to host next year’s national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars and yet the Waitara land-grab that sparked the Taranaki Wars has still yet to be fully resolved.
The first national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars (Te Pūtake o te Riri) was held last month in Northland. The
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Five Alarming Land Grabbing Cases |
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By :iwgia.org |
| 19 April 2018 |
Extractive industries remain a concrete threat to indigenous communities and this year`s The Indigenous World 2018 describes many cases of land grabbing from indigenous peoples. In this article we take a closer look at some of the examples.
In many countries forced evictions and land grabbing in the name of conservation, development
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UN Reaffirms Indigenous Peoples` Land Rights |
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By :UN News |
| 16 April 2018 |
In her opening remarks to the Forum in New York, the chairperson, Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, a medical doctor from Timbuktu, Mali, called the land husbandry of Aboriginal peoples “part of our history and heritage.”
But few countries have acted to defend these peoples’ collective rights, she added.
“Law enforcement is inadequate or
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Indonesia: NGOs Call for Action on Indigenous Lands |
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By :Stephen Then, Star online |
| 16 April 2018 |
MIRI: About 30 social activist groups nationwide have issued a joint declaration urging political parties from both the ruling government and opposition parties to give more attention to resolve land right woes affecting indigenous communities.
The non-governmental bodies from Sarawak, Sabah and the peninsula held a dialogue here and issued the
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Right to the City in Greater Beirut |
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By :HIC-HLRN and Amel Association |
| 14 April 2018 |
HLRN has just released its new publication Right to the City in Greater Beirut: Context Assessment in Light of the Refugee and Displacement Crisis. This assessment offers critical insight into municipal governance in Greater Beirut, a city largely formed and characterized by human migration through its history, while more recently
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Myanmar: Rohingyas’ 13 Demands for Return |
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By :The Star (Petaling Jaya)/AP |
| 13 April 2018 |
Rohingya give Myanmar official list of demands for repatriation
DHAKA—A Myanmar Cabinet minister visited a sprawling refugee camp in Bangladesh for Rohingya Muslims, who described the violence that forced them to flee Myanmar and presented a list of demands for their repatriation.
Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye on Wednesday met
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USA: Time for Change - Race & Homelessness |
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By :Jeffrey Olivet and Marc Dones, SPARC and National Alliance to End Homelessness |
| 11 April 2018 |
In recent years, an increasingly urgent dialogue has emerged around race and equity in [the United States of] America. But that dialogue has generally overlooked one of the most visible manifestations of racial inequity: homelessness.
Homelessness is not colorblind. People of color are dramatically more likely than their White counterparts to
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China Mining Co. Destroys Mozambique Village |
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By :Ghana News |
| 01 April 2018 |
Mozambique’s coastal village on the brink of extinction from irresponsible Chinese mining company. Mining giant Haiyu denies responsibility for flood that left 290 people homeless, while Mozambican authorities fail to regulate mining industry to ensure people’s safety, denying village residents reparation for their losses.
An irresponsible Chinese mining operation in Mozambique
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USA: Alaska Natives Continue Land Fight |
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By :Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska News |
| 27 March 2018 |
Alaska’s landless communities continue fight for land
Representatives of five Southeast Alaska communities continue their fight for recognition under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. But they’re still facing opposition.
It’s been almost a half-century since Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which created more than 200 corporations with land,
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Land Haunts Germany`s Namibia Genocides |
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By :Joe Brock, Reuters |
| 07 March 2018 |
Land haunts Germany`s effort to atone for Africa genocide
OKAHANDJA, Namibia—Namibia’s Herero people are heartened that Germany is keen to atone for the genocide of their ancestors, but they expect something Berlin says it is not in a position to give.
“What we want is our land,” said 74-year-old Alex Kaubtauuapela, whose
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South Africa: Confiscating White Farmers` Lands |
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By :The Independent |
| 01 March 2018 |
South Africa‘s parliament has passed a motion that could lead to the seizure of land from white farmers without paying them compensation.
Passed by an overwhelming majority of 241 votes to 83 votes against, the proposal to amend Section 25 of the constitution would allow expropriation of land without any financial
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Kenya: Eviction Threats against Sengwer Continue |
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By :Chris Lang, Redd monitor |
| 15 February 2018 |
The Sengwer indigenous people who live in the Embobut forest in the western highlands of Kenya continue to face threats of violence and evictions. The latest round of violent evictions started at the end of December 2017. The evictions, carried out by the Kenya Forest Service, are supposedly in the name of
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USA: Tenants Say Trump Budget "Dead on arrival" |
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By :NAHT |
| 13 February 2018 |
HUD Tenant Leaders Demand Congress Declare Trump’s 2019 Budget “Dead on Arrival”
Elected leaders of the national US tenant union today demanded immediate rejection by Congress of President Donald Trump’s 2019 budget request, released on February 12.
“Trump’s budget will push millions of people from their homes; starve seniors, children and
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Not Just a Condition, but Cause of Poverty |
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By :A U.S. Catholic interview |
| 13 February 2018 |
Being evicted isn’t just a condition of poverty, it’s a cause, says Matthew Desmond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" (Crown Books).
While much research and conversation has been devoted to other poverty-related topics such as nutrition, education, and violence, the Princeton sociologist
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France: Equality Law Fails, Roma Evictions Increased |
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By :ERRC |
| 08 February 2018 |
Paris, Budapest 6 February 2018: In the last year 11,309 Romani people were evicted from their homes in France, the majority of which (8,161) were forcefully evicted by authorities. A further 2,055 left their homes before the arrival of authorities, under pressure of an imminent eviction.
Last year saw a 12% increase
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Tanzania: Gov`t Seeks to Demolish 1,200 Homes |
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By :IPPMedia.com |
| 02 February 2018 |
Advice given by World Bank to government officials against demolishing over 1,200 houses between Ubungo and Kimara suburbs of Dar es Salaam to pave way for a six-lane highway has saved them from losing their houses.
The over 8,000 residents who had already been served with letters by Tanzania Roads Agency
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England: Locals` Concern over Home Demolition |
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By :Jo Taylor and Nic Rigby, BBC |
| 27 January 2018 |
Genesis Housing Association is considering the future of Alexandra Court in Southend, which could see it torn down and a new block built in its place with double the number of flats.
One woman spoke of her dismay after being told it was her "home for life."
Genesis has assured tenants they
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South Africa Shouldn’t Copy Mugabe’s Land Reform |
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By :Economist.com |
| 25 January 2018 |
Of the many grievances from South Africa’s decades of white rule, the theft of land still smarts more than most. The “Natives Land Act” of 1913 set aside 90% of the country for whites, who made up less than a third of its people. Over the next eight decades a
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England: MPs Debate Israel`s oPt Demolitions |
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By :ICAHD |
| 19 January 2018 |
Thank you to the many members and supporters who lobbied their MPs ahead of the December 2017 debate in the UK Parliament Westminster Hall.
ICAHD UK provided extensive briefing documents to help MPs and constituents formulate the key arguments against settlements and house demolitions.
The full debate can be read online.
Stephen Kinnock
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England: MPs Debate Israel`s oPt Demolitions |
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By :ICAHD |
| 19 January 2018 |
Thank you to the many members and supporters who lobbied their MPs ahead of the December 2017 debate in the UK Parliament Westminster Hall.
ICAHD UK provided extensive briefing documents to help MPs and constituents formulate the key arguments against settlements and house demolitions.
The full debate can be read online.
Stephen Kinnock
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Philippines: Demolition Looms for 200 Households |
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By :Antoinette O. Marquito, Philstar |
| 09 January 2018 |
CEBU, Philippines — About 200 families in Sitio Tangke, Barangay Mambaling will lose their homes after the court ordered the demolition of their houses because the owner will utilize the lot.
The demolition started yesterday and there was no resistance or commotion.
But Janny Anter, president of Panaghugpong-Kadamay, a homeowners’ association in
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New UN Declaration on Peasant Rights |
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By :Shivani Chaudhry, HLRN India/Open Global Rights |
| 04 January 2018 |
A new UN declaration could finally protect rural and landless peoples. The UN has drafted a groundbreaking declaration that has the potential to protect the human rights of peasants, rural workers and landless people. There is room, however, to strengthen its provisions.
Despite their significant contributions to food security, sustainable development,
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Brazil: Solidarity against Landless Camp Evictions |
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By :MST and Via Campesina |
| 14 December 2017 |
An aggressive attack is being waged against Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), the Landless Workers Movement, in the northern State of Pará, Brazil.
Large-scale landowners along with local judicial authorities, mainstream media and the Brazilian military police are targeting MST camps throughout the country. In Marabá, located in the
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Tribute to Patterson Kuria Gathuru |
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By :HLRN |
| 15 November 2017 |
Our colleague and friend, Patterson Kuria Gathuru, left us on 15 November 2017. He is known to us as the Habitat International Coalition’s co-member on the IPC, advocating the issues and human rights of the urban food-insecure constituency. Many of you also know him as an IPC colleague in this
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Out of Africa: Human Rights Habitat Struggles |
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By :Marie Huchzermeyer, CUBES/Wits Univ. and Joseph Schechla, HLRN |
| 07 November 2017 |
From Africa to the World: Struggling for Human Rights to Housing, Land and the City
Mid-October 2017, Nairobi was host to an intense engagement on housing rights, social justice and the right to the city. This was amid political turmoil in Kenyan towns and cities, and unrelated to this but largely
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Turkey: Environmentalists Murdered |
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By :Jonathan Watts. The Guardian |
| 18 October 2017 |
`The threats continue’: murder of retired couple chills fellow activists in Turkey. The killing of two activists who successfully campaigned to shut down a mine has shocked environmentalists in Turkey who fear their deaths will embolden others to kill to protect their profits.
Cedar branches whisper in the Anatolian breeze. Twigs
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EPA: Puerto Ricans Resorts to Toxic Water |
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By :MSN News |
| 15 October 2017 |
EPA says Puerto Rico residents resorted to contaminated water at Dorado Superfund site
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South Africa: Repression in Durban |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA |
| 04 October 2017 |
Cato Manor residents say eThekwini Municipality carried out brutal and illegal evictions
Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA. Press Statement
The Movement of Abahlali baseMjondolo continues to face serious and unlawful repression by the ANC led municipality in Durban. Right now, the community in Cato Manor right now are trying to collect all the
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Quest for the Right to the City in Asia |
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By :Paulista Surjadi, Kota Kita (Indonesia) and Chandan Kumar, ActionAid India. |
| 15 September 2017 |
Asia is the biggest and most populous continent, also home to some of the fastest growing countries in the world such as India, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The continent consists of 48 countries and over 4 billion people, or half of the world’s total population. With this fact, it is
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Food Companies Threaten Environmental Activists |
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By :Oxfam International |
| 07 September 2017 |
Despite committing to deforestation-free supply chains, the top 10 food and beverage companies lack policies to protect the activists and communities caring for the environment from intimidation, threats and attacks, according to a new Oxfam report.
Commercial farming of some everyday food ingredients, like soy and palm oil, are driving massive
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Tanzania: Forced Evictions of Loliondo Maasai |
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By :Chris Lang, Conservation Watch |
| 30 August 2017 |
“Forced evictions of Maasai people in Loliondo, Tanzania”: Urgent Alert from the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
The International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) last week put out a short report about the violent evictions of Maasai pastoralists in Loliondo, Tanzania.
According to reliable information received by IWGIA, forced and
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UN Reports on Rakhine Living Conditions |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 23 August 2017 |
After one year of consultations held across Rakhine State (Myanmar) and in other parts of the country and the region, the UN’s Advisory Commission on Rakhine State submitted its final report to national authorities on 23 August.
The Commission, chaired by Kofi Annan, has put forward recommendations to surmount the
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No SDGs without Major Progress on Land |
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By :Luca Chinotti, International Land Coalition |
| 28 July 2017 |
Land and the SDGs: Key takeaways from the 2017 HLPF and what we need to do next
This was the clear and strong message that was brought by the land community into the major global forum on the SDGs, the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which is the central platform for
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“Spotlight” on UN High-Level Forum, SDGs |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 10 July 2017 |
As the UN High-Level Forum opens in New York, a global civil society report spotlights the role of big business in hindering development and deepening economic and social disparity.
Unbridled privatization, corporate capture and mass-scale tax abuse are blocking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, argues a new report by a
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UNESCO: Hebron Palestine World Heritage |
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By :UNESCO/Peter Beaumont, The Guardian |
| 07 July 2017 |
The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Krakow, has inscribed Hebron / Al Khalil Old town (Palestine) on 7 July 2017. The Committee simultaneously added the site of Hebron/al-Khalil to the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Hebron/al-Khalil Old Town (Palestine)
The use of a local limestone shaped the construction of the old town
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Mafia-like Networks |
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By :Djeralar Miankeol, dandc.eu |
| 18 June 2017 |
In many developing countries, land grabbing takes place on a large scale, either for the purposes of mining or agriculture. This loss of land is disastrous for the affected village communities. Awareness of the problem is growing, however, and there are more and more tools and guidelines available to soften
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Western Sahara: Ruling against Plunder |
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By :WSRW |
| 15 June 2017 |
A panel of judges in the High Court in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, judged this morning that the cargo on board the vessel NM Cherry Blossom is rightfully detained, and that a trial to determine its ownership is to take place.
A panel of judges in South Africa ruled today
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India: Landless Women Attacked in Odisha |
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By :Ranjana Padhi, The Wire |
| 02 May 2017 |
The powers that be in Sipasarubali, Odisha work to take over forest land to build a beach resort, villagers who are trying to fight them are under attack.
Puri, Odisha: On April 28, a friend and I went to Gola and Gopinathpur villages in Odisha to meet activists who, in the early 1990s, had
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Mobilization Call: 60 Years after Treaty of Rome |
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By :La Via Campesina |
| 14 March 2017 |
For healthy and quality food, decent work, and a just and sustainable agricultural policy in a Europe of the People and of Solidarity.
We call on ECVC’s member organizations, allied groups, grassroots networks, and the whole peasant and food sovereignty movement in Europe to mobilize this 25 March – on the
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Toward a UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants |
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By :La via Campesina |
| 09 March 2017 |
The need for a UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas is all the more urgent and evident in the 21st century. Despite years of campaigning for a better recognition and protection of the rights of peasants, displacements and criminalization continue affecting hundreds
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Women Have a Right to Land and Housing |
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By :Isabella Bwiire, NewVision.org |
| 08 March 2017 |
As we celebrate the International Women’s day today, emphasis should be put to the extent to which some of the obligations have been achieved with regard to women’s basic needs including shelter, access to land and land security etc. The state of shelter development in Uganda shows that, with the
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Women Land and Human Rights Defenders |
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By :Osprey Orielle Lake, Emily Arasim, Common Dreams |
| 07 March 2017 |
Across the wide world, women are rising up to protect the Earth, one another, and the common good.
Women around the world stand at the forefront of rising movements to defend and protect the health of water, land, air and diverse communities. On this International Women’s Day, it is vital to
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Land Rights Changing Women’s World of Work |
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By :Monique Barbut, IPS Agency |
| 06 March 2017 |
BONN, Mar 6 2017 (IPS) - International Women’s Day this year focuses on economic empowerment in the changing world of work. The vision is to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls by 2030. Girls’ aged three will become adults with a legal right to work in 2030.
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Land Haunts Germany`s Namibia Genocides |
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By :Joe Brock, Reuters |
| 02 March 2017 |
Land haunts Germany`s effort to atone for Africa genocide
OKAHANDJA, Namibia—Namibia’s Herero people are heartened that Germany is keen to atone for the genocide of their ancestors, but they expect something Berlin says it is not in a position to give.
“What we want is our land,” said 74-year-old Alex Kaubtauuapela, whose
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Cambodia: Land Grabs, Defender Jailed |
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By :Prak Chan Thul and Alisa Tang, The Japan Times |
| 25 February 2017 |
Amid land grabs and evictions, Cambodia jails leading activist
PHNOM PENH—Even before a Cambodian judge sentenced land rights activist Tep Vanny to prison, her fellow campaigners said her fate had already been sealed.
Vanny, who fought the evictions of thousands of residents from lakeside land in Phnom Penh to make way for
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Pope: Indigenous People Sovereign in Their Lands |
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By :David Hill, The Guardian |
| 15 February 2017 |
Pope says indigenous people must have final say about their land
Francis echoes growing body of international law and standards on the right to "prior and informed consent."
In the 15th Century papal bulls promoted and provided legal justification for the conquest and theft of indigenous peoples’ lands and resources worldwide
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Indonesia: Crisis of Bukit Duri Residents |
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By :Edith Koesoemawiria, Mongabay |
| 13 February 2017 |
JAKARTA — Six weeks after the last of the Bukit Duri evictees moved into their new dwellings here in the Indonesian capital, the atmosphere was friendly but painful. Some tenants told jokes at the food stall in the parking lot. The cook, also a former Bukit Duri resident, had initially
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Brazil: Trump Tower Will Cause Forced Evictions |
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By :Clare Richardson, News.Vice |
| 13 February 2017 |
RIO DE JANIERO – José Paulo Simplicio de Souza was devastated when the government forced him out of his home near the commercial center of Rio to make way for a luxury waterfront property three years ago.
The 33-year-old food vendor’s sorrow later turned to disgust when he found out the
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Report: Forced Evictions Fuel Land Disputes |
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By :Kieran Guilbert, Rights Resources |
| 09 February 2017 |
DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Forced evictions of local communities from their lands by foreign companies fuel around two-thirds of land ownership disputes across Africa, often sparking strikes or violence which can prove costly to investors, activists said on Thursday.
Pushing people off their land drives more conflict over land rights
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Report: Land Rights in a Turbulent World |
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By :Rights and Resources Initiative |
| 09 February 2017 |
Acknowledgment that insecure land rights among the world’s Indigenous Peoples and local communities contribute to conflict, discourage investment, and impede progress on global goals of sustainable development, poverty reduction, and climate change mitigation is growing. In 2016, this consensus found a powerful new ally: major institutional investors are beginning to
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Palestine UNSR Urges SC to End Colonies |
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By :OHCHR |
| 03 February 2017 |
West Bank: United Nations Special Rapporteur urges the security council to stop illegal settlements
GENEVA—United Nations Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk has called on the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly to explore effective diplomatic and political measures to ensure Israeli compliance with Security Council resolution 2334, which
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Nigeria: 100 Structures Demolished in Ladipo |
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By :Monsuru Olowoopejo, Vanguard |
| 03 February 2017 |
About 100 shops and other structures within Jakande Estate, Amuwo-Odofin, have been razed and hundreds of traders displaced when a demolition squad from the Lagos State Government stormed the estate, to restore sanity alleged sanity to the complex. The demolition came three months after the State Government, which the Secretary
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Cameroon: OECD Inquiry into Complaint about WWF |
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By :Survival International |
| 05 January 2017 |
In an unprecedented move, a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)* has agreed to investigate a complaint that the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has funded human rights abuses in Cameroon, beginning a process that until now has only been used for multinational businesses.
Survival submitted the complaint in February 2016, citing numerous
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Kenya: Slum Violence & Housing Shortage |
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By :Katy Migiro, Reuters |
| 28 December 2016 |
ATHI RIVER, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Recently married with a one-year-old child, Joan Moraa Mbogo dreams of escaping Kenya`s noisy, dirty, crime-ridden capital and buying a home close to her mother`s newly-built apartment overlooking the Lukenya Hills.
Machakos County, which starts 20 kms (12 miles) south-east of Nairobi, is popular
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India: Over 33K Homes Demolished in 2015–16 |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 22 December 2016 |
Over 33,000 homes demolished in urban India between 2015 and 2016
New Delhi—Data collected by Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) reveals that public authorities in India, in both the central and state spheres of government, forcibly have evicted at least 33,257 families across urban centers between January 2015 and December
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ECJ Rejects Morocco`s Western Sahara Claim |
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By :Dominic Dudley, Forbes |
| 21 December 2016 |
European Court of Justice dismisses Morocco`s claim to Western Sahara, throwing EU trade deal into doubt. The ruling on the bloc`s trade deals with Morocco means they do not apply to Western Sahara, which occupied territory is notable for its fish stocks, mineral extraction, agricultural exports and potential oil reserves.
Morocco’s
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Myanmar: AI Reports “crimes against humanity” |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 19 December 2016 |
A new report by Amnesty International (AI) documents a campaign of violence by the Myanmar security forces against Rohingya since 9 October 2016. Soldiers and police have randomly fired on and killed civilians, raped women and girls, torched whole villages and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya men without any information about their
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Portugal: Statement by the SRs on Water& Housing |
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By :UN news |
| 13 December 2016 |
As the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate housing and the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, we address you today at the conclusion of our joint official visit to Portugal, which we undertook at the invitation of the Government from 5 to 13 December
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USA: Gullah Geechee Still Fighting for Their Land |
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By :Brian Wheeler, BBC News |
| 05 December 2016 |
The Gullah Geechee community, descendants of West African slaves in South Carolina are fighting to prevent their land from being confiscated and auctioned. Can they save a traditional way of life that has survived for the one and half centuries since emancipation?
The first Lillian Milton knew about it was when
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Nigerian King Sues Shell in London |
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By :Alice Ritchie, Phys.org |
| 22 November 2016 |
Nigerian tribal king Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi has flown to London for a High Court hearing in which lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills
King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi holds up a plastic bottle containing contaminated water from his community
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Public Payment for Royal Renovations Opposed |
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By :HIC-HLRN and Metro.uk |
| 19 November 2016 |
Britain is experiencing a national crisis in housing and the National Health Service, while austerity is forcing cuts in many social services. Yesterday, the press announced a decision by the British prime minister and chancellor to pay an additional £369m from the public purse for a major 10-year refurbishment to
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Nigeria: UNSR Addresses “Brutal” Eviction of 30K |
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By :OHCHR |
| 17 November 2016 |
GENEVA—A United Nations human rights expert has asked the Government of Nigeria for an urgent explanation of the forced eviction of 30,000 people in Lagos State in the last week. Four people are reported to have died in the latest operation to clear irregular developments along the State’s
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Sierra Leone: Land Grabbing of Forests |
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By :Ishmael Kindama Dumbuya, Standard TimePress |
| 10 November 2016 |
Land grabbing around the Western Area Peninsular Forest Reserve is presently intensifying primarily for housing purposes. The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security is directly responsible for the protection of forests in the country and through the dedicated collaboration of the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone as focal
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Namibia: Land Grabbing Continues at Katima |
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By :Lugeretzia Kooper, Namibian News |
| 09 November 2016 |
THE grabbing of council land at Katima Mulilo has increased due to the influx of people from rural areas to the town in search of employment opportunities, town mayor Regina Mwiya-Simataa said in a press release last Friday.
Although Mwiya-Simataa conceded that the council had been slow in delivering land to
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Afghan Law on PPPs Allows Land-Grabbing |
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By :Heart of Asia |
| 09 November 2016 |
Due to pressure from the World Bank and some other foreigners, President Ghani endorsed the Law on Public-Private Partnership through a legislative decree about three weeks ago, but the law, according to jurists, doesn’t accord with Afghan context, and paves the ground for land usurpation.
Some well-placed sources revealed to The
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Uganda: Reject State-organised Land Grabbing |
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By :Kizza Besigye, Daily Monitor |
| 08 November 2016 |
Grabbing with Impunity
A significant portion of my 2016 presidential campaign underscored the need for immediate actions to halt the land-grabbing scourge. Land grabbing, here refers to large-scale land acquisitions, mainly, by foreign agribusiness invest ors, or the extraction industry—that are often preceded by grabbing of the land by government (including
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Myanmar: Kayin Farmers Fighting Land Grabs |
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By :Su Phyo Win and Myat Nyein Aye, Myanmar Times |
| 04 November 2016 |
Kayin State villagers are losing their land and are routinely persecuted through threats, arson and arbitrary arrest if they attempt to fight the unlawful seizures, according to a report released by an international rights group yesterday.
Around 70 percent of the people in Kayin State rely on land for their livelihood,
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Stop European Money Fueling Land Grabs |
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By :Peter Drury, Global Witnesses |
| 04 November 2016 |
Around the world, companies and speculators are engaged in a frantic rush for land. Millions of hectares are being bought up, citizens violently turfed off their land and critical ecosystems irrevocably damaged, in order to feed growing demand for fuel, food and raw materials.
At its worst, this is fatal. According
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Indigenous Rights Key to Saving Forests |
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By :Jonathan Watts, The Guardian |
| 02 November 2016 |
Indigenous rights are key to preserving forests, climate change study finds. Leaving forests in communal hands cuts carbon emissions from deforestation, helps communities and offers long-term economic benefits: “Everyone wins.”
RIO DE JANEIRO—The world’s indigenous communities need to be given a bigger role in climate stabilisation, according to a new study
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Our Precious Urban Lives |
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By :Lisa Pryor, The New York Times |
| 29 October 2016 |
SYDNEY, Australia—Down the hill from my house, there is an old building with a saw-toothed roof that once warehoused trams, back when the bay was heavy with industrial waste and working-class people could afford to buy a home this close to the city and harbor of Sydney.
Now that building has
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Italy: Romani Emergency Shelter Closed |
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By :Jonathan Lee, Elena Risi, ERRC |
| 28 October 2016 |
A majority Roma shelter located at Via Amarilli in Rome will be officially closed by 31 October 2016. This comes after officials from Rome Municipality announced the closure and the subsequent eviction of the majority Roma shelter on the 5 October. Associazione 21 Luglio and the ERRC see this as
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Refugees Fear Separation after Eviction |
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By :Shafik Mandhai, Aljazeera |
| 26 October 2016 |
Refugees set Calais camp on fire in protest against its dismantling and their eviction by the French government.
Syrian refugees in France`s `jungle` refugee camp have said they fear long-term separation from their family members who have reached the UK as authorities continue to dismantle the settlement.
About 40 Syrians are holding
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Alternative Forums outside of Habitat III |
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By :Gregory Scruggs, Citiscope |
| 14 October 2016 |
Even as governments adopt the New Urban Agenda next week, multiple groups plan protests and contrary discussions.
A large crowd gathers at the Urban Social Forum in Rio de Janeiro, which took place as an alternative to the World Urban Forum in March 2010. More such events are expected at next
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Nigeria: When They Bulldozed, She Fought Back |
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By :Betty Abah and Elaine Zuckerman, Ms. magazine |
| 03 October 2016 |
Bimbo, 57 and a mother of four, grew up in Makoko, Lagos Nigeria’s largest slum, married, and established a thriving soft drink business in boisterous Badia East, another Lagos slum. Her life was upturned when the World Bank-financed Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project bulldozed Badia East in 2013 without notice.
The “urban
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US: Protests of Native Community on Water |
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By :Mary Annette Pember, indiancountrytodaymedianetwork |
| 28 September 2016 |
Benjamin Conrad, 20, only brings out his grandfather’s war bonnet for special occasions. Today was such a day.
Conrad of the Northern Arapaho, Choctaw and Creek tribes joined about 300 water protectors in a peaceful direct action opposing continued construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River near the
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UN Report on DPs and Refugees in Africa |
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By :Relifeweb |
| 26 September 2016 |
Summary
The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/134 on assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa. It updates information contained in the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the Assembly at its seventieth session (A/70/337) and covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30
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Murder and Eviction: New Era of Global Land Rush |
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By :Oxfam international |
| 26 September 2016 |
Millions of people face being displaced from their homes as new data shows land sales covering an area the size of Germany are now under contract, warns Oxfam.
Seventy-five percent of the more than 1500 land deals sought over the last sixteen years now have contracts and their intended projects are getting
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Sri Lanka: Land Grab, Eviction of Fisherfolk |
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By :Oxfam International |
| 26 September 2016 |
In 2010, 350 families of farmers and fisherfolk living in Paanama, a coastal village in the east of Sri Lanka, were forcibly and violently evicted from lands they had cultivated and lived on for over forty years. These lands were taken over by the military to establish camps, and they
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UNHCR Condemns Attacks on S. Sudan Refugees |
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By :Sudan Tribun |
| 22 September 2016 |
JUBA--The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has strongly denounced what it described as the spreading violence in South Sudan’s Greater Equatoria region in past weeks, including recent attacks at Lasu settlement.
The Equatoria region witnessed recently fierce fighting in different locations between the south Sudanese government army and SPLM-IO fighters loyal
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Chile: Heavy Price of Water Privatization |
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By :Daniel Gallagher, the Gaurdian |
| 15 September 2016 |
When it comes to water, Chile is failing its citizens. In Santiago, the nation’s capital, millions of people are regularly left without running water for days at a time and experts are warning of water scarcity to come across the country astemperatures rise and glaciers retreat.
“What we need is a transformation away from the private model
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South African Court Halts Eviction |
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By :Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) Bulletin |
| 14 September 2016 |
South African Constitutional Court orders “meaningful engagement” in urgent forced eviction
The South African Constitutional Court has extended the Olivia Road case to urgent forced evictions, requiring meaningful engagement between the local authority and tenants—or occupiers in this case—before eviction can be deemed constitutional under the right to housing.
The applicants, amounting
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Kenya: Courts Stops Kibera Nubian Eviction |
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By :KBC Reporters |
| 31 August 2016 |
The High Court has temporarily barred Kenya Urban Roads Authority from evicting members of the Nubian community from their homes in Kibra constituency in Nairobi in order to pave way for construction of the Southern Bypass.
The community who are complainants in the case say the respondents did not follow
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World’s Indigenous People and Profit Enterprise |
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By :Elika Ansari, Undergroundreporter.org |
| 22 August 2016 |
9 August 2016 marked the 12th International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, a day pronounced by the U.N. to promote the rights of the indigenous peoples of the world, while also celebrating their contributions to environmental protection.
Meanwhile, over a hundred indigenous men and women dressed in traditional garb marched in Baguio City, Philippines, in
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Native Americans Block Oil Pipeline Construction |
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By :Matt Agorist, The free though project.com |
| 21 August 2016 |
The Camp of the Sacred Stones has swelled from a few dozen to more than 2,500, according to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials. They are calling for further review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the end of July without a
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Rio’s Indigenous Trapped in Social Housing |
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By :Alix Vadot, Rioonwatch.org |
| 15 August 2016 |
In Estácio, a centrally located neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, Block 15 of the Zé Keti social housing complex, part of the Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV) program, has been the home of some of the city’s remainingindigenous families since June 2013. Its residents have described the complex, built on the grounds of the former
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Uganda: Amongi Reacts to Land Grabbing Claims |
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By :Jonathan Kamoga, Allafrica.com |
| 08 August 2016 |
Former FDC presidential candidate Kizza Besigye last week launched a scathing attack on recently-announced government plans for compulsory land acquisitions, telling journalists this was a ploy to steal people`s land. But as Jonathan Kamoga reports, the responsible government minister says Besigye got it all wrong.
Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister Betty
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Kenya: Save School from Evictor |
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By :Victoria Green, thestar.co.ke |
| 08 August 2016 |
The governance of land, the most lucrative asset in Kenya, has become an impediment to the economic, political, and social development of Kenya and Kenyans. Large scale corruption in land governance is highlighted daily, from unfortunate family disputes to allegations of land grabbing by former officials and recently, Presidents.
Public institutions,
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WB Retreat from Indigenous Rights |
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By :Gretchen Gordon and Prabindra Shakya, telesurtv.net |
| 08 August 2016 |
There are many within World Bank staff and management who see Indigenous peoples as obstacles to development.
While recent years have shown a steady advancement in recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples, last week the World Bank adopted a new policy framework that threatens to undermine this progress and put
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Hunger a Weapon of War in Syria, Yemen, Nigeria |
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By :Isabel Malsang, AFP, reliefweb.int |
| 07 August 2016 |
While grain silos in many Western countries may overflow this winter, tens of millions of people risk going without food as hunger is being used more than ever as a weapon of war.
More than 50 million people living in 17 conflict-ridden countries are in "severe food insecurity", two UN agencies
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World Bank Policies Imperil Land Defenders |
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By :Cyril Mychalejko, teleSUR |
| 04 August 2016 |
Just 5 months since the murder of Honduran environmental defender Berta Caceres, the Bank is passing new safeguards that do more harm than good.
The World Bank is expected to approve Thursday its new “Environmental and Social Framework” which civil society groups say weakens human rights protections and will likely endanger the very communities the safeguards are intended to protect.
At issue
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A Forgotten Population |
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By :Nirma D. Bustamante, MD, P. Gregg Greenough, MD, MPH and Christian Arbelaez, EM resident |
| 04 August 2016 |
As the recipient of the 2015 EMRA Global Health Initiative Award and as the senior teaching assistant of Post-conflict Colombia and Public Health: A Project of the Open Hands Initiative and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in Collaboration with the Universidad de Antioquia, I had the pleasure of working directly with the
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Toward Responsible Land Governance in LAC Region |
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By :GLTN |
| 04 August 2016 |
An Experts Group Meeting – EGM was organized to review and feedback the first report of the Scoping Study. More than 30 representatives from public and private sectors, CSOs, academia, international development agencies, social leaders and activists from all over the region were gathered on July14-15 2016 in San José,
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UN: Agriculture and Forestry for Food Security |
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By :UN News Center |
| 18 July 2016 |
Agriculture and forestry can improve food security, according to a new United Nations report released today, at the start of World Forest Week.
Farming is globally the most significant driver of deforestation, but promoting a more positive interaction between agriculture and forestry can build sustainable agricultural systems and improve food systems,
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Africa: Property Rights Still Wretchedly Insecure |
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By :The economist |
| 16 July 2016 |
COSMAS MURUNGA was always proud to show off his mud-walled home, set in a clearing on the wooded slopes of Mount Elgon; to explain how his people coexisted with, and cared for, the forest and its wildlife on the border with Uganda. But that home is no more, burnt to
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Obstacles to Development: Data on fragility, Conflict and Violence |
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By :Edie Purdie, World Bank Blog |
| 13 July 2016 |
Latin America and the Caribbean have high homicide rates.
Over half a million people were killed by intentional homicide in 2012, while in 2014 there were more than one hundred thousand battle-related deaths. Episodes of such violence and unrest can reverse development efforts and rapidly dismantle achievements built over a long
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How Eviction Feeds Poverty |
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By :Nailah Morgan |
| 11 July 2016 |
Sociologist and Harvard Professor Matthew Desmond spent a year living in Milwaukee’s inner-city neighborhoods studying the implications of poverty. Staying in rooming houses and trailer parks, he spent his days with tenants being evicted and the landlords leading the evictions. He conducted surveys and analyzed thousands of eviction records. The conclusion? Eviction
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China: Profiting from Confiscated Tibetan Lands |
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By :Radio Free Asia |
| 11 July 2016 |
In the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China is confiscating lands at a low price and then reselling at a profit to Chinese developers. Newly built apartments in these lands are then sold back at high prices to the Tibetans from whom the land was first taken. The
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Biotech/Nobel-laureates v. Anti-GMO Greenpeace |
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By :Jonathan Latham, PhD, Independent Science News |
| 01 July 2016 |
107 Nobel Laureate Attack on Greenpeace Traced Back to Biotech PR Operators
WASHINGTON—Greenpeace was denied entrance yesterday (June 30) to a National Press Club Event in Washington, DC of 107 Nobel Laureates. The event was ostensibly organised by a scientific group calling itself Support Precision Agriculture to publicise a letter signed
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HIC Responds to Habitat III’s Revised Zero Draft |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 28 June 2016 |
The following are Habitat International Coalition`s comments on the revised zero draft of the Habitat III outcome documents, submitted to the Habitat III Secretariat on 28 June 2016:
Habitat International Coalition was born out of, and—for two generations now—has faithfully upheld the Habitat Agenda as a cornerstone of its global platform.
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Tibet: Farm Women Protest Loss of Their Land |
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By :RFA’s Tibetan Service |
| 17 June 2016 |
Holding the Chinese national flag and carrying photos of Chinese national leaders, Tibetan farm women marched this week outside Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa to protest the confiscation by authorities of their farmland, sources in the region and in exile said.
Over 100 women from Gachoe village in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s
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Standing up to TNC Land Grab in Sierra Leone |
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By :HLRN |
| 16 June 2016 |
HLRN has joined over 40 civil society organizations to express deep concern over the impact of a monoculture agricultural project that involves the dispossession of the people living in Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District in Sierra Leone.
The project is the subject of an investment by SOCFIN Agricultural Company Sierra Leone Ltd.
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Nigeria: Protests in Anambra Alleged land confiscation |
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By :Vincent Ujumadu, vanguardngr.com |
| 15 June 2016 |
Awka—THE people from Nawfia in Njikoka local government area of Anambra State have appealed to the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano to intervene on behalf of the community over alleged confiscation of their communal land by some officials in the ministry of lands and the state Housing Corporation, with the
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India: Water to Flow Free for Urban Poor |
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By :Express News Service |
| 25 May 2016 |
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the heat wave has staged a comeback, the Odisha Government on Tuesday waived water connection charges for BPL households in urban area in its bid to overcome drinking water woes. The move will mean water supply will now be provided free of cost to poor families across
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Kenya: Protesting Land-grabbing ODM Chief |
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By :Elizabeth Asasha, Citizen Digital |
| 24 May 2016 |
More than 500 residents of Oljorai Scheme in Gilgil have staged demonstrations to protest against the move by Nakuru County ODM Chairman, Peter Ole Osono, to block the registration of squatters and subsequent allocation of land.
The irked protesters claim Osono filed a suit against the National Land Commission (NLC) after
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Climate Changing and Food Production in Africa |
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By :albanydailystar.com |
| 21 May 2016 |
Africa’s food crops are currently in danger. Climate change is challenging food security in many parts of the world including Africa and if timed transformation in the continent isn’t carried out, there could be an impact on the food production in the region. African crops are facing due to climate
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Namibia: Evicted Family Squats on Roadside |
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By :Luqman Cloete, Namibian News |
| 09 May 2016 |
A FAMILY has become destitute after government bought a farm in the Maltahöhe district on which they had lived and worked for more than 24 years.
They have been living in a corrugated iron zinc shack on the roadside about 15 kilometres from Maltahöhe with their 148 small livestock, four horses,
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European Housing Rights Coalition Calls for Action |
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By :European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City |
| 07 May 2016 |
Defend the Right to Housing and to the City
Call for International Action
Amsterdam, 28–30 May
Join the international action and confront the meeting of the 23 EU housing ministers.
Don`t let them talk behind closed doors about the future of our cities!
On the last weekend of May, the housing ministers of all EU
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Palestine: Paris Agreement and Environmental Justice |
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By :Al-Haq Center |
| 03 May 2016 |
On April 22, 2016 coinciding with Earth Day, the State of Palestine signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change along with another 174 parties at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York. The Paris Agreement was reached at the 21st annual Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
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"Right to the City" Movement Goes Global |
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By :Francesca Perry, The Guardian |
| 19 April 2016 |
Right to the city: can this growing social movement win over city officials?
From the Taksim Square and Nuit Debout protests to bank takeovers in Barcelona and women’s workshops in Delhi, the pressure for more inclusive cities is mounting. As the UN gears up for Habitat III, will governments listen?
On
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Iranians Buying up Land in War-torn Syria |
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By :Sirwan Kajjo and Mario Ritter, Voice of America |
| 27 March 2016 |
Iran’s government wants its builders to buy up property in Shi-ite majority neighborhoods of Syria’s capital, Damascus.
It is also asking construction workers to go to Syria.
This information comes from construction industry officials in Tehran and Iranian experts.
Iranian analyst Fariborz Saremi said owning real estate gives Iran more control over Syria
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Post-trauma: From Syria to Nepal |
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By :Kai Weise, The Himalayan Times |
| 12 March 2016 |
Rehabilitation after a natural disaster consists of motivating the community to overcome destruction and reestablish their cultural environment and activities.
A colloquium was recently held at the ICOMOS Secretariat in Paris on post trauma reconstruction. The focus was on dealing with the heritage that is being destroyed due to armed conflicts
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UN Report: Homelessness and Impunity Spreading |
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By :OHCHR |
| 03 March 2016 |
GENEVA (3 March 2016) – Homelessness is a fact of life in all countries of the world, regardless of the level of development of their economic or governance systems, and it has been spreading with impunity, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, Leilani Farha, warned today
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African New Habitat Agenda Priorities |
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By :Ahmed Mansour Ismail and Dr. Daniel W. Ambaye |
| 23 February 2016 |
HABITAT III Africa Regional Meeting
“African Priorities for the New Urban Agenda”
Land and African Sustainable Urbanization, side event organized by GLTN
Abuja, Nigeria, 23 February 2016
Summary prepared by Ahmed Mansour Ismail (HIC-HLRN) and Dr. Daniel W. Ambaye (Institute of Land Administration)
Mr Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS (as moderator) introduced the panelists and further emphasized
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Migration Meets Hamburg: Right to the City |
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By :Plenums des Hamburger Recht auf Stadt-Netzwerks |
| 09 February 2016 |
As in many others cities of Europe, refugees meet both welcome and opposition. One such opposition militates against providing humane and decent housing for refugees in Hamburg. Local reports tell how the anti-refugee trend is voiced louder and louder every week, even in the middle class. A new alliance of
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HLRN-India Launches Habitat III Status Report |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 05 February 2016 |
New Delhi—On Friday, Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) launched its first Habitat III country report titled, Housing and Land Rights in India: Status Report for Habitat III. The United Nations (UN) Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)—the third bidecennial international conference on habitat issues—will be held
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HIC-critics on Habitat III Policy Papers |
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By :HIC |
| 05 February 2016 |
Since the very early stages of the Habitat III preparations, Habitat International Coalition (HIC) has called for the integrity of the Habitat II (1996) commitments and modalities; this demand has three related aspects:
• Processes must uphold the Habitat II-established principle to be as inclusive as possible;
• Maintain the Habitat Agenda,
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W. African Caravan for Land, Water and Seeds |
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By :The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles – West Africa |
| 25 January 2016 |
The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles – West Africa invites you to join the West African Caravan for Land, Water and Seeds, which will mobilize 15 countries of the sub-region in March 2016 in order to
Ø Sensitize the populations of the West African countries about land, water
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USA: Detroit Class Action Suit over Water Crisis |
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By :Click On Detroit |
| 15 January 2016 |
DETROIT—A class action lawsuit has been filed against the state of Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder and the city of Flint for what plaintiffs are calling negligence in the Flint water crisis.
Plaintiffs Doris Collins, Robin Pleasant and Jason Phinisee claim to have suffered injury from contaminated drinking water after the state "connected
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UNCERD: Holy See Liable to Indigenous Peoples |
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By :Apache-Nde-Nnee Working Group |
| 15 January 2016 |
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has declared the Holy See legally responsible and accountable to Indigenous Peoples for effects and the legacy of racist, colonial Papal Bulls and Doctrines.
Geneva—As the result of a comprehensive parallel report and presentations by members of the Apache-Nde-Nnee Working
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Ethiopia: Reacts to Sudan Land-giveaway Rumour |
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By :Tesfa-Alem Tekle, Sudan Tribune |
| 25 December 2015 |
December 25, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn dismissed on Friday circulating rumours that his government secretly gave away part of the Horn of Africa’s territories to stakeholders in neighbouring Sudan.
Desalegn’s remarks came while responding to queries raised by members of the House of People’s Representatives
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Morocco: EU Court Annuls Trade Agreement |
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By :WSRW |
| 10 December 2015 |
BRUSSELS—The European Court of Justice has this morning ordered the annulment of a trade agreement between Morocco and the European Union since it includes the territory of Western Sahara. "A landmark decision in the history of the occupation of Western Sahara," states Western Sahara Resources Watch (WSRW).
The judgment was
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UN Experts: It is Time to Turn Norms into Action |
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By :OHCHR, News |
| 10 December 2015 |
GENEVA (9 December 2015) – Speaking ahead of Human Rights Day 2015, the largest body of independent experts of the United Nations Human Rights system renews its commitment with the implementation of the Covenants, the two key human rights treaties which, together with the Universal Declaration on Human rights, form
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COP21: Land & Water Convergence Speaks |
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By :Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles |
| 08 December 2015 |
Parallel to the climate conference in Paris, social movements and allies within the “Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles” stand up for climate justice and real solutions to the climate crisis. This alliance of struggles has delivered its message to the COP21 currently meeting at Paris. Their statement follows.
The
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Democratic Land Control and Human Rights |
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By :Jennifer C. Franco, Sofía Monsalve and Saturnino M Borras, sciencedirect.com |
| 02 November 2015 |
Democratic land control is inseparable from human rights.
It is important to understand demands for democratic land control in the context of broadly distinct political conditions that in turn each requires distinct political intervention, namely, respect/protect, promote, and/or restore democratic land control. In addition, we also argue that broader institutional
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Human Rights and the New Habitat Agenda |
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By :Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur Newsletter |
| 22 October 2015 |
In her second report to the UN General Assembly, Leilani called on States to include a human rights framework in the development of the New [Habitati] Agenda, to be adopted at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (also known as Habitat III), October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.
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Out in the Cold: UK Social Housing Emergency |
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By :Simon Hooper, Al Jazeera |
| 24 September 2015 |
Forcible evictions fuel a housing crunch amid sharp welfare cuts and surging rent costs in London.
London, England—Housing activists mounted a last-ditch fight on Thursday to stop a disabled man from being forcibly evicted from his home and left with "nowhere to go" to make way for private properties to be
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Burundi: Who Has the Right to Land? |
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By :OHCHR news |
| 18 September 2015 |
Burundi is currently volatile with an ongoing political crisis. The country, which only emerged from an ethnic conflict 10 years ago, still reels from the past upheavals.
The coming of peace to Burundi after decades of civil war has also meant the coming of a dilemma: what can be done about
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UK: 141 Families Evicted to Make Way for Luxury Flats |
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By :Frances Ryan, the Guardian |
| 15 September 2015 |
The story of Mostafa Aliverdipour, a 50-year-old wheelchair user raising his family on an estate in north London, could tell politicians plenty about what has become of the principle of social housing in our capital.
Looking out on rows of boarded-up walls and metal grilles, Aliverdipour and his four children –
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Vision Critical in City Planning |
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By :David Dodwell, South China Morning Post |
| 09 September 2015 |
Cities: love them or hate them, they are likely to be the future for most of our children. Developed well, they can provide high quality of life and convenience – and huge environmental efficiencies. But developed poorly, they create a blight that will take decades to eradicate.
Today, 55 per cent
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Veolia Jumps Jerusalem Rail |
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By :Who Profits |
| 27 August 2015 |
Veolia sells its shares in the Jerusalem light rail and completes withdrawal from the Israeli market.
More than a decade after winning the tender for the construction and operation of the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR), Veolia Environnement’s subsidiary, Transdev, has sold all of its holdings in the JLR to a group
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Habitat II Baby, Habitat III Bathwater |
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By :Joseph Schechla, Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network |
| 10 August 2015 |
The substantive debate toward the 2016 Habitat III Conference is warming up. The disappointment that states earlier expressed at PrepCom2 (Nairobi, April 2015) for slow progress in producing the draft material for the outcome document has subsided. The rich content of 22 Issue Papers, so far, has superseded some of
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Fractured Continuity: Habitat II to Habitat III |
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By :Joseph Schechla, CitiScope |
| 10 August 2015 |
Wading through the knowledge products of the current Habitat process highlights a failure to account for previous commitments. HIC-HLRN’s Joseph Schechla critiques the process and content of Habitat III against the criteria forged at Habitat II.
* * *
The substantive debate toward next year’s Habitat III conference is now warming up.
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German CSO Forum Addresses Habitat III |
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By :Forum on Environment & Development |
| 31 July 2015 |
The German Forum on Environment & Development was founded in 1992 after the UN conference in Rio on environment and development. Its purpose is to coordinate German NGOs in international political processes on sustainable development. It was strongly involved in the preparation and the civil society processes of the Habitat
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HIC Reviews Habitat III Issue Papers |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 31 July 2015 |
Habitat International Coalition has just issued its compilation of inputs from Members and officers following their review of the Habitat III Issue Papers. The 22 thematic contributions from technical experts selected by the UN-Habitat/Habitat III Secretariat have been drafted as a framework for the debate leading up to the Third
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Mayors Sign Francis’ Climate Declaration |
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By :Cole Mellino, EcoWatch |
| 21 July 2015 |
Mayors and governors from major world cities are convening at the Vatican today and tomorrow in a first-of-its-kind meeting to urge global action on climate change. The summit is part of Pope Francis’ ongoing campaign to urge global leaders to take meaningful action on climate change at this year’s UN
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Post-2015 SDG Zero Draft Released |
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By :UN General Assembly |
| 02 June 2015 |
Late on Monday, New York time, the co-chairs of the Open Working Group the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, Ambassador Macharia Kamau of Kenya and Ambassador David Donoghue of Ireland have released the zero draft of the new development agenda to permanent representatives of UN member states. Entitled “Transforming Our World
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Do RAI Principles Meet the Task? |
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By :Sylvia Kay, rightingfinance |
| 06 May 2015 |
On 15 October 2014, the Member States of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), hosted at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approved the “Principles on Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems.” (“RAI” or “RAI Principles”)
In a recent assessment of the principles, the Transnational Institute (TNI) exposes
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UN-Habitat: Critical Debate @ Governing Council |
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By :Greg Scruggs, Citiscope |
| 28 April 2015 |
Landmark Governing Council session debates UN-Habitat’s role in the development agenda
NAIROBI—The 25th session of the UN-Habitat Governing Council concluded on 23 April, following a week of debate on the wide array of issues surrounding today’s global process of urbanization. Highlighting the pivotal year for a review of the agency’s budget
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The Right to the City: Jerusalem |
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By :Joseph Schechla |
| 26 October 2014 |
HIC-HLRN has produced a new report from an ongoing study on the prospects of realizing the principles of the “right to the city” for specific cities in several regions.
This report finds that applying the "right to the city" in Jerusalem challenges the current governance grounded in discrimination against, and dispossession of
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Pakistan: Slum Dwellers Demand Evictions End |
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By :Dawn |
| 26 January 2004 |
ISLAMABAD—The All-Pakistan Alliance of Kutchi Abadis at a convention here on Sunday demanded of the government to implement the National Kutchi Abadi Policy 2001 and either regularize their settlements or resettle all the slum dwellers in the country.
A large number of kutchi abadi dwellers from the twin cities of Rawalpindi
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