• Contact: Malena Wåhlin
  • Address: Götgatan 100 118 62 Stockholm SWEDEN
  • Email: info@swedwatch.org
  • Web: www.swedwatch.org
  • Members:
    Swedwatch

Swedwatch

Swedwatch

Member since: 2021

Working towards these commitments

Respect, protect and strengthen the land rights of women and men living in poverty, ensuring that no one is deprived of the use and control of the land on which their well-being and human dignity depend, including through eviction, expulsion or exclusion, and with compulsory changes to tenure undertaken only in line with international law and standards on human rights.
1

Secure Tenure Rights

Ensure gender justice in relation to land, taking all necessary measures to pursue both de jure and de facto equality, enhancing the ability of women to defend their land rights and take equal part in decision-making, and ensuring that control over land and the benefits that are derived thereof are equal between women and men, including the right to inherit and bequeath tenure rights.
4

Equal land rights for women

Respect and protect the inherent land and territorial rights of indigenous peoples, as set out in ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including by recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge and cultures contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment".
5

Secure territorial rights for Indigenous Peoples

Ensure that processes of decision-making over land are inclusive, so that policies, laws, procedures and decisions concerning land adequately reflect the rights, needs and aspirations of individuals and communities who will be affected by them. This requires the empowerment of those who otherwise would face limitations in representing their interests, particularly through support to land users' and other civil society organizations that are best able to inform, mobilize and legitimately represent marginalized land users, and their participation in multi-stakeholder platforms for policy dialogue.
7

Inclusive decision-making

Ensure transparency and accountability, through unhindered and timely public access to all information that may contribute to informed public debate and decision-making on land issues at all stages, and through decentralization to the lowest effective level, to facilitate participation, accountability and the identification of locally appropriate solutions
8

Transparent and accessible information

Prevent and remedy land grabbing, respecting traditional land use rights and local livelihoods, and ensuring that all large-scale initiatives that involve the use of land, water and other natural resources comply with human rights and environmental obligations and are based on: the free, prior and informed consent of existing land users; a thorough assessment of economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts with respect to both women and men; democratic planning and independent oversight; and transparent contracts that respect labour rights, comply with social and fiscal obligations and are specific and binding on the sharing of responsibilities and benefits. Where adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights have occurred, concerned actors should provide for, and cooperate in, impartial and competent mechanisms to provide remedy, including through land restitution and compensation.
9

Effective actions against land grabbing

Respect and protect the civil and political rights of human rights defenders working on land issues, combat the stigmatization and criminalisation of peaceful protest and land rights activism, and end impunity for human rights violations, including harassment, threats, violence and political imprisonment
10

Protected land rights defenders

Mission

Swedwatch mission is to empower rights holders and to promote responsible business practices and inclusive growth. We do this by highlighting how people and the planet are impacted by com-pany activities and by building bridges for change across stakeholder groups.

Objectives

1. Responsible and equitable management and use of natural resources: natural resources and ecosystems are increasingly protected with respect to human rights, and sustainably used. Rights holders have a greater resilience to climate change impacts. Communities’ rights to land, food and nutrition, clean air and water, information, participation and the rights of workers are increasingly respected.

2. Sustainable and fair global supply chains: global supply chains for production of goods and services are increasingly sustainable, fair and transparent. Business-affected workers and communities have access to information and tools which enable them to claim their rights.

3. Empowered rights holders and expanded civic space: civil society actors are well-positioned to ensure that the environment and human rights are protected and respected as relates to business. Business-affected rights holders and civil society organisations representing their interests are influential stakeholders in proactive and ongoing consultations, grievance mechanisms and remedy processes.

Constituencies

International - Africa, Asia, Latin America, Sweden, EU-level

  • Contact: Malena Wåhlin
  • Address: Götgatan 100 118 62 Stockholm SWEDEN
  • Email: info@swedwatch.org
  • Web: www.swedwatch.org
  • Members:
    Swedwatch