Access to Land in Guatemala
Canadian Partner:
Guatemalan Recipients: CONGCOOP, UVOC and selected rural cooperatives in Alta Verapaz and possibly Baja Verapaz.
Project Description
The Tula Foundation asked Oxfam Canada propose a project that would address issues of poverty, access to land and agriculture in the regions of Guatemala covered by our established program in public health. After discussions with the prospective partners and field trips in the region, we have committed to the three year project described in the project description. The project is a pilot study that we hope that the lessons learned can be disseminated to a wider audience and inform national policy and advocacy campaigns.
The project reflects our philosophy:
Support and strengthen organizations in Guatemala. (Oxfam manages and monitors the project, but the national and local organizations receive almost all the funding and do all the work on the ground.)
Work at a grassroots level, but with leverage provided by experienced and sophisticated national and international resources. Four levels: grassroots level (the rural cooperatives), department level (UVOC), national level (CONGCOOP and the University of San Carlos), international level (Oxfam).
Coordinación de ONG y Cooperativas (CONGCOOP)
CONGCOOP is a national network of 26 civil society organizations and co-operatives established to support the building of peace, democracy, and development in Guatemala. CONGCOOP is a member of the International Coalition for Access to Land. CONGCOOP has been funded by the Coalition to strengthen the capacity of campesino organizations, and UVOC has been one of its partners in this process. This initiative enabled UVOC to establish a legal service that supported campesinos in the resolution of conflicts over land tenure and access. This experience highlighted to all parties the importance of helping campesinos and local community groups to secure access to professional services in support of their struggles.
Its efforts are centred on fully integrating those affected by the internal armed conflict, and in supporting organizations of farmers. CONGCOOP promotes consensus building among co-operatives and civil-society organizations on proposals concerning peace, democracy, and development and their effective involvement in the formulation of inclusive public policies and based on the broadest possible participation of the various sectors of Guatemalan society.
UVOC
THe Unión Verapacense de Organizaciones Campesinas (UVOC) was formed in 1999 and currently works with approximately 93 communities in 17 municipalities in 4 departments. UVOC’s members have defined two primary priorities for its work.
Access to Land
Advocacy work in support of improving the right of access and security of tenure of poor farm households to land. This involves campaigns on two major issues:
- Integral agrarian reform, which comprises both securing access to land for marginal households, as well as protecting and defending rights of access to land currently cultivated.
- Support for an improved national land registry system.
Followup Services
Provision of improved services to farm households such that those with land can ensure that their livelihoods are both viable and sustainable. This involves direct engagement in:
- Improving access to agricultural inputs such as seeds, technical information, appropriate technologies and market knowledge.
- Improving access to markets.
UVOC strives to ensure that its work in communities is informed by its commitment to local ownership and control, environmental sustainability, gender equity and traditional (Mayan) spirituality.
Although very community-oriented in its activities, UVOC engages in national-level coordination through the Coordinadora Nacional Indigena y Campesina (CONIC), which is in turn a member of the Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (CNOC).