RRI is organizing or participating in the following high-level events during the World Bank Land Conference to be held in Washington, D.C. the week of May 13–17, 2024.

WHAT: Global Land Governance and Policy Forum

WHEN: 5/13/2024 | 13:00 – 17:30 EDT | Preston Auditorium

Solange Bandiaky-Badji, RRI Coordinator, will present a keynote address on the “State of Land” around the world. She will share how Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities play an outsized role and why community rights must be centralized in climate and biodiversity actions.

WHAT: Pairing ‘Climate-Smart’ Land Use Planning with Gender-Equitable and Socially Inclusive Land Rights

WHEN: 5/14/2024 | 14:00 – 15:30 EDT

RRI partner, Landesa, is organizing a panel discussion to provide insights and case studies on the following topics: i) sustainable land use planning during community formalization processes and a case study from Liberia; ii) grassroots organizing for climate resilience and case studies from Bangladesh; iii) community forest and fisheries management in mangrove ecosystems and a case study from Southeast Asia; and iv) UNCCD perspectives on the integration of land tenure into their convention’s mandate.

WHAT: Contribution of Customary Land Tenure to Sustainable Forest Landscape Restoration
WHEN: 5/14/2024 | 14:00 – 15:30 EDT

This event will consist of a keynote address by Anne Larson, Principle Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF titled, “Forest Landscape Restoration to Improve Livelihoods: Land Tenure Security to Mobilize Communal Interventions in Madagascar and Cameroon,” followed by a nexus overview of GIZ work by Klaus Ackermann and a roundtable discussion on the relationship between land tenure security and sustainable forest landscape restoration.

WHAT: Unpacking the Nexus of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Tenure Rights, Livelihoods, and Conservation

WHEN: 5/14/2024 | 16:00 – 17:30 EDT | Room MC C2-350

Moderated by Holly Jonas, international lawyer and non-profit leader at the ICCA Consortium, this panel will consist of the following panellists: Juan Pablo Sarmiento Barletti (CIFOR-ICRAF); Stoian Dietmar (CIFOR-ICRAF); Nguyen Quang Tan (CIFOR-ICRAF); Isabel Davila Pereira (RRI); and Archana Soreng (RRI).

WHAT: Protecting Tenure Rights: Lessons From Land, Forest, and Fisheries to Reconcile Legal and Customary Laws in the Water Sector and Call for Collective Action Through the Global Dialogue on Water Tenure for Water and Food Security, Social Inclusion, and Climate Resilience

WHEN: 5/15/2024 | 9:00 – 10:30 EDT | Room MC C2-350

This panel will consist of the following panellists: Ward Anseeuw (FAO); Astrid Jakobs de Padua (Minister Counselor for Food and Agriculture, German Embassy in Washington); Sofia Espinosa (FAO); Jessica Troell (Environmental Law Institute); Chloe Ginsburg (RRI); Srigiri Srinivasa (German Institute of Development and Sustainability); and Dan Schuster-Beesley (FCDO).

WHAT: The Role of Gender Transformative Approaches for Securing Tenure Rights for Sustainability

WHEN: 5/15/2024 | 11:00 – 12:30 EDT

This session will consist of a series of short conceptual and explanatory presentations by Anne Larson, Principal Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF; Maria Paez, Gender Specialist at Biodiversity International; and Rikke Olivera, Lead Global Technical Specialist on Land Tenure and Natural Resources Management at IFAD, followed by a round table discussion among area experts.

WHAT: Community Stewardship: Adding a Community Angle to PES Markers

WHEN: 5/15/2024 | 11:00 – 12:30 EDT

This event will consist of five panellists speaking on different aspects of community stewardship. The speakers include:

• Steven Lawry, Senior Follow at CIFOR-ICRAF, will delve into stewardship theory and focus on three key areas of stewardship: agency, knowledge and care
• Ishan Agrawal, Senior Consultant at Common Ground, will focus on civil society’s role in PES markets, especially carbon markets
• Subrata Singh, Executive Director at the Foundation for Ecological Security (PES), will present how PES—as a CSO—is navigating PES markets
• Pranab Ranjan Choudhury, Director of Landstack, will share community perspectives linking science and markets
• Sreejan Dutta, Manager of Venture Philanthropy at LGT Venture Philanthropy, will share the perspective of an investor or buyer of ecosystem services and how how to ensure long-term sustainability

WHAT: Rights of Women in Collective Titling and Resource Management: Models and Best Practices

WHEN: 5/15/2024 | 14:00 – 15:30 EDT

Moderated by David Kaimowitz, the Chief Program Officer at the Tenure Facility, this event will consist of four presentations by women leaders in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

• Margaret Rugadya will share current practices on the inclusion of women in resource management and the conceptual framework for expanded women’s rights on land and forests
• Esperance Binyuki will explore the experiences of Indigenous women in the DRC and how Community Forest Titles expand their rights to land and natural reosurces
• Carmen Lucia will shine a spotlight on the Babacu coconut breakers in Brazil and how this relates to tenure security and harvesting rights
• Bharati Pathak will explain how Forest User Groups in Nepal are working to reduce the gender dimensions of property violence

WHAT: Multi-sector Dialogue on Challenges and Opportunities for Securing Land Tenure for Climate Action

WHEN: 5/15/2024 | 16:30 – 20:00 EDT | House of Sweden

Coinciding with the 2024 World Bank Land Conference, this event will convene a multi-sector panel discussion on key challenges and opportunities in securing Indigenous Peoples’, local communities’, and Afro-descendant Peoples’ land tenure rights to achieve global climate goals. Moderated by Amy Coughenour, CEO of Cadasta Foundation, the panel will consist of representatives from the international donor community, governments in the Global South, rightsholder groups, and civil society. This dialogue aims to contribute to new and deepened collaboration to catalyze collective action for rights and climate action. Learn more about this event. 

The panel includes:

• Sandrina Wandriamananjara Anjary, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Decentralization and Regional Planning, Madagascar
• Samuda Jabini, Community Engagement Advisor at the Association of Saamaka Communities, Suriname
• Chris Penrose-Buckley, Senior Advisor of Land Policy at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office for Development (FCDO)
• Cristán Samper, Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund
• Solange Bandiaky-Badji, RRI Coordinator

WHAT: Scaling up Climate Finance for Community Rights and Gender Equality to Advance the Global Land Agenda

WHEN: 5/16/2024 | 14:00 – 15:45 EDT | Room MC C2-350

Moderated by Solange Bandiaky-Badji, RRI Coordinator, this dialogue will consist of the following panellists: Chloe Ginsburg (RRI); Deborah Sanchez (RRI); Sonia Viveros (on behalf of WiGSA); Juan Pablo Sarmiento Barletti (CIFOR-ICRAF); and Jeffrey Hatcher (Indufor).

WHAT: Integrating Land Tenure into Sustainable Land Management: National Multistakeholder Consultations

WHEN: 5/16/2024 | 14:00 – 15:45 EDT

Land users are more likely to make investments when they have realistic expectations that they will benefit from the returns. Integrating land tenure considerations into land degradation neutrality and land restoration policies, projects, and programs can contribute to better land and water management and other regenerative practices that enhance food and water security, rural livelihoods, and climate action.

• This session will include keynote addresses by: Sasha Alexander, Policy Officer at UNCCD; Andrea Mesa, Deputy Executive-Secretary at UNCCD; and Aurelie Bres, Land and Water Officer at FAO.
• Panellists reflecting on country-level and civil society experiences will be: Julian Noel, Forester and National Focal Point for AFR100 in Madagascar; Orlando Rayo, Senior Advisor to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia; George Tarus, Head of the Forest Conservation Directorate in Kenya; Eva Maria Okoth, Senior Program Officer for ILC-Africa; and Beth Roberts, Director of the Center for Women’s Land Rights at Landesa.
• Panellists speaking from a global and donor perspective include: Ulrich Apel, Senior Environmental Specialist at the GEF; Alexander Mueller, Founder and Managing Director of TMG; Gemma Betsema, Senior Program Officer for the Netherlands LAND-at-scale; Romy Sato, Knowledge Management Officer at LandPortal; and Dominik Wellmann, Land Governance Advisory at GIZ.