‘Empowering women and youth requires a shift in the way organisations work’ – this was a key finding of the regional exchange on social inclusion and youth, co-organised by Tenure Facility and partners.
More than 120 people participated in the event, highlighting the importance of women and youth for advancing tenure security. The Learning Exchange was co-organised by Tenure Facility, the Coalition for Tenure Justice in Indonesia, the International Land Coalition and Samdhana Institute. It took place in Bali, Indonesia, from 29 May to 2 June and brought together the co-hosts’ members and partners throughout the region.
During the exchange, experiences and ideas were shared on how to advance tenure security of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Asia. A cross-cutting issue was how to enhance the inclusion of women, young people and marginalised groups in securing tenure rights.
Much of the learning took place outside the official programme and cultural events formed an important backdrop for the discussions. Informal conversations were held between participants and community members while picking vegetables in their farms, walking on the beach or having a coffee together.
Many young women and men participated and helped organise the activities. A key message from the week-long event was that empowering women and youth requires a shift in the way organisations work. Inclusiveness is not only about increasing participation, it also entails sharing leadership, allowing those that have been traditionally excluded from decision-making roles to take responsibility and to lead processes, and to be free to do it their own way.
For Tenure Facility, a key objective was to facilitate learning among partner organisations in India, Indonesia and Nepal. It was the first of three regional Learning Exchanges carried out in 2023, with the others taking place in Kenya and the Democrat Republic of Congo (DRC). These events mark an important part of Tenure Facility’s commitment to create opportunities for its partners to meet, exchange and learn from one another.
The Asia programme began with visits to indigenous’ and peasant communities in Lombok, Bali and East Java. These provided the opportunity expand on selected thematic areas such as community-specific dynamics around mapping and data for tenure rights recognition; local land and territorial management plans; community-based conservation; livelihood and local economic development; conflict resolution processes; and effective strategies for leadership regeneration and youth engagement.
The field visits were followed by three days of seminars, dialogues and workshops combining plenary and break-out sessions, an experience fair, and self-organised workshops.
Learning Exchanges
