Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development - France

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France supports the development of transparent, joint land governance, based on multi-stakeholder dialogue. Their aim is to promote land tenure systems that respect the variety of rights and sources of legitimacy, in order to foster equitable and sustainable development; through policies that seek to strike a balance between the rights and responsibilities of the various stakeholders and to take into account historical practices and changing local rights, as part of a long-term vision.

As one of the member states supporting the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Land Tenure Guidelines proposed by the FAO Committee on World Food Security, France is now encouraging efforts to establish mechanisms to facilitate its application and improve the transparency of land transactions, in support of policies that aim to secure historic land rights, which are mainly held by rural families and communities and those living in the outskirts of urban areas. ( Source: ‘Land Tenure and Development’ Technical Committee, 2015, Formalising Land rights in developing countries: moving from past controversies to future strategies, Paris, Ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Développement nternational (Maedi), Agence française de développement (AFD), 82 p ).