Raipur/Indonesia: On the issue of “Securing Land Rights for a Sustainable and Equitable Future,” a five days international convention organized in the capital of Indonesia on Wednesday. In this international level program, more than 500 participants from 14 countries in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia including the government representatives and civil society organizations showed their active participation and debated on key barriers to fair land distribution, policy implementation, and climate resilience, while also highlighting innovative solutions led by local communities.

Anu Verma, former resident of Chhattisgarh, presently, working as the coordinator of the International Land Coalition in Asia (ILAC) gave her unique contribution in organizing the International level dialogue, while representing India, highlighted the major issues and challenges faced by the farmers, pastorals and indigenous communities.

India has become the most populous country in the world. Asia is home to approximately 4.8 billion people, representing 59.5% of the global population. In other words Asia is home to 60% of the human resources in the world, and 60% of youth in Asia-Pacific.

With a large economic income, rich natural resources, labor markets, capital, and substantial goods, Asia has become the epicenter of global economic growth. Its economy is rapidly increasing with 41.36 USD trillion GDP. (China, India, Indonesia, PH, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, are making new strides in many sectors manufacturing, global trade.)

Despite these all, mineral hunting in Asia has increased land investments, which often sacrificed the interest of local communities, making them vulnerable. These investments, driven by a competitive global market, revive a colonial extraction legacy that is increasingly harming its own people, Anu said.

Unsurprisingly, land grabbing continues to threaten vulnerable communities. "Women in Asia own only 10.7% of land, far below the global average, and one in ten women live in extreme poverty, which exacerbates the challenges for women's defenders.

According to the recently published Oxfam’s Taker’s not Maker’s – total billionaire wealth has increased three times in 2024, the inequalities have grown multifold.

The ANGOC Monitoring Report, in 2023, 690 cases of agrarian conflicts, spanning 1.87 million hectares of land and affecting around 2.2 million individuals/communities, were reported across 6 countries - Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Despite the challenges have increased multifold, and post Covid, democratic spaces were shrunk at a rapid pace, Anu announced that her organization and ILC members remain committed to safeguarding the planet and keep working for a sustainable future. She asked the participating members to come forward and keep the solidarity growing so that problems can be resolved jointly.