Statement by Harriet Busingye Uganda Land Alliance to the 25th Anniversary Session of the Governing Council of IFAD on behalf of the
Assembly of Members, the International Land Coalition

Chairperson, President of IFAD, Member Governments, Civil Society Colleagues, Partners in the International Land Coalition,

My name is Harriet Busingye, Coordinator of the Uganda Land Alliance. Three days ago, at the Assembly of Members, I was elected to the Coalition Council, the Executive Board of the International Land Coalition, formerly known as the Popular Coalition. The Assembly established a broad base of members, thus putting the Coalition into more hands - making it a stronger mechanism to enable the rural poor to gain secure rights to land.

This was a historic meeting. It was very important to celebrate the Coalition's progress in solidarity with the 25th anniversary of our founder and host - IFAD.

Over 60 partners from over 35 countries gathered for this first official Assembly of the Coalition. Along with our civil society partners, we had robust participation of our members from the intergovernmental community including - IFAD, FAO, WFP, the World Bank and the European Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank. Not only did we formalise the governance instruments, we set in motion the Coalition strategy for the period 2004 to 2006.

Our partners not only heard of IFAD's commitment, they witnessed it. The opening address on Monday by President Båge, the Chairing by Assistant President Phrang Roy and the address on Tuesday by Vice-President, Cyril Enweze invoke the confidence that the Coalition has a strong foundation. Most important is the commitment of this institution to helping to champion the property rights of the rural poor. It was clearly evident that IFAD has the relevant and down-to-earth experience on how to improve the assets of the poor. It was also evident that our other intergovernmental partners work within the Coalition as equal partners with our civil-society members.

We commend IFAD's efforts in building partnerships. After all, the Coalition is an outgrowth of IFAD's recognition that the challenges of land issues requires a convergence of efforts by governments, civil society, the United Nations family and the Bretton Woods institutions.

The Coalition Assembly revealed the truth that lives within the theme of its Assembly that Working Together Works. We had an enlightening examination of practical inter-organisational alliances that have resulted in changes on three levels. We examined actions that have improved the access by the poor to land and related productive requirements , first at the community and local level. We then examined results of Working Together at the National Level and then in a third session heard from and debated ways to improve our joint efforts at the International level.

Throughout our debate, our Assembly also benefited from participation from government partners from various regions, including our newest partner - the Government of the Netherlands.

My organisation has been involved with the International Land Coalition. But at this meeting I discovered the world-wide scope of the Coalition. The needs and demands for its work is beyond its current resources. If your government is looking for effective ways to improve the access and control by the poor to natural resources, you may find a very progressive opportunity to work with the International Land Coalition.

We left the Assembly, which I wish you could have been part of, with a clear appreciation for:

? the cross-cutting role of access to land in achieving the Millennium Development Goals;

? the deep appreciation for the link between secure access to land and food security, improved family incomes, environmentally sustainable use of natural resources and the relationship of resource rights to combating desertification.

But of the many issues, you will appreciate that our debate on women as agents of change was very important. The Coalition took a commitment to search for new break-throughs to improve the property rights of poor rural women. Due to many factors, painfully and often HIV/AIDS, women are loosing the basis of their family’s food supply – all to often they loose their access to the land when they loose their husbands to either this disease or when other family circumstances change. This is because in the first place women lack control and secure land rights.

As we all know, land rights are global challenges, from the north to the south, such as indigenous peoples in places as far away from one another as Canada and New Zealand or from campesinas in Latin America to agricultural workers on plantations in the Philippines.

As you return to your countries and your governments please remember the critical importance of to land combating poverty and to do what you can to ensure that the rural poor gain secure access to land. . We will be only to happy to provide you with the proceedings of our Assembly of Members of the International Land Coalition.

Thank you