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Critical
reflections on the role of an international NGO seeking to work
globally on land rights
Robin Palmer, Oxfam GB
December 31, 2005
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/learning/landrights/south.html
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Paper for International
Conference, Social Movements Perspectives: Land, Poverty, Social
Justice and Development, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The
Hague, 9-10 January 2006.
Introduction
In this paper I shall be exploring some of the dimensions of an
international NGO seeking to work globally on land rights. Struggles
for land rights continue to form a vital part of the wider fight
for global justice, for poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods
and equality - as this audience will be very well aware. It
is clear that the clumsy imposition of liberalisation, the rolling
back of the role of the state and of state marketing boards, grain
reserves and the like, combined with manifestly unfair international
trade rules, have left many people living in poverty far more vulnerable
than they once were and far more dependent on access to land than
ever before --- while that very access is increasingly threatened
in a globalising world.
I shall draw
upon my own work as Oxfam GB's Global Land Adviser and also
on Oxfam's 1historical experiences.
In the first part I take a brief historical look at some of Oxfam's
work on land rights, followed by the recent involvement of the British
Government development agency DFID in land rights in Africa, by
Oxfam's engagement on land rights with the World Bank, and
a brief word on USAID. In the second part I examine some of Oxfam's
work on land rights in Southern Africa over the past two decades.
I should make it clear that I am writing (and perhaps speaking)
as an individual rather than representing some official Oxfam perspective,
though I recognise the ambiguities inherent in this.
An international
NGO (INGO) of Oxfam's size and longevity (founded in 1942)
obviously has a lot of things going for it - resources, offices
throughout much of the world, long-established partnerships with
local organisations and social movements, brand recognition, substantial
programme and advocacy experience, and a growing reputation as an
international campaigner for social and economic justice 2.
But to engage in land rights is obviously to enter hugely sensitive
and highly political terrain at a national level where a nuanced
understandingis absolutely critical. Clearly, awareness of this
is acutely necessary as are judgements about the appropriate role
of an INGO in any particular context - I discuss this further
in the section on Mozambique.
INGOs can in
theory play a critical series of roles - lobbying governments
to listen to civil society, to adopt long term perspectives and
to learn from other experiences; lobbying donors to do likewise;
bringing relevant experience from elsewhere to bear; challenging
simplistic magic 'solutions' a la de Soto 3;
making information as freely available as possible and in relevant
languages; supporting and strengthening the work of local NGOs;
and - with appropriate sensitivity and humility - bringing
their influence and reputation to bear in what are often defensive
struggles in support of poor people's land rights.
A decade ago
Oxfam and comparable agencies were far more constrained by UK Charity
Law than is now the case; the boundaries have been expanded following
years of increasingly assertive campaigning work on international
trade and other global issues by UK-based INGOs.
In its non-humanitarian
work, Oxfam traditionally prefers to work through local partners
rather than go it alone (be operational), and so its typical role
is that of offering appropriate support to partners advocating for
the land - and other - rights of people living in poverty.
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- In this
paper I shall just use 'Oxfam', for simplicity. I
am employed by Oxfam GB but have also worked at times for Oxfam
International. The latter is a confederation of 12 organisations
in America, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain,
Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Quebec. The
members frequently combine on campaigning work and at times, as
in Angola and Mozambique, some of the affiliates run joint advocacy
programmes.
- For example,
Make Trade Fair http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.htm Make
Poverty History http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/ and Control
Arms http://www.controlarms.org/
- Hernando
de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the
West and Fails Everywhere Else (New York; Basic Books, 2000).
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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