Karin van Boxtel
Fair Green and Global Alliance - Project leader • Land governance • Africa
My passion for land governance was fueled by the talks I had with communities, women, local authorities and NGOs in Burundi, Cameroon, Zambia, Senegal and Niger. Land has such great significance for those who work and live on it every day. It not only has economic, but also emotional value. Women, families and communities often derive their personal identity to a large extent from their lands. However, the right to farm a piece of land and to have control over that land is not always guaranteed. I therefore work hard for the land rights of these women, families and communities and help them in the fight for their land.
Gradually I learned how closely local and international issues and the Netherlands are connected to each other. To what extent the land rights of a female farmer in Cameroon are really respected is determined by many factors: by the land governance and the functioning of the government in Cameroon, by the land-related investments in the region where this farmer lives, by the trade agreements and Dutch policies that enable and stimulate these investments, and especially the ability of local women and communities to make their voices heard in policy debates.
Both ENDS puts these dynamics very firmly on the map and shows what is needed in Dutch and international policy to strengthen the power and the rights of local communities. That is why I find it so important to draw the bigger picture. That is what drives me, and what we do in the Fair Green and Global Alliance program.
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Dossier
The Netherlands, the world and the elections
Elections are soon to be held in the Netherlands. The political parties are sharpening their knives and have outlined their plans in hefty manifestos. Not surprisingly, they mainly focus on domestic issues. International themes are primarily addressed in terms of opportunities for Dutch companies and threats in areas like health, privacy and competition that we need to protect ourselves against. But if we want to make the Netherlands sustainable, we especially need to look at our footprint beyond our own borders and make every effort to reduce it. In the weeks leading up to the elections, Both ENDS looks at where the parties' manifestos offer opportunities to achieve that.
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Dossier
Fair Green and Global Alliance (FGG)
Together with civil society organisations from all over the world, the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Alliance aims for socially just, inclusive and environmentally sustainable societies in the Netherlands and the Global South.
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Event / 28 February 2019, 14:00 - 15:30
Webinar: Realizing women’s land rights in Africa
This webinar will feature experiences from several grassroots initiatives and highlight how they fight for women's improved access to and control over land and other natural resources and to scale up women's land rights.
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News / 28 September 2017
Both ENDS at UNCCD COP13: don’t forget about the people
This September, Both ENDS participated at the 13th Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD in Ordos, Inner Mongolia in China. We were part of the Drynet delegation, a network of CSOs, to bring local realities to the international UNCCD discussions.
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Event / 6 September 2017
UNCCD COP 2017 - CHINA
From 6-16 september, the 13th Conference of Parties' of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) took place, this time in Ordos, China. The UNCCD is the global convention of the United Nations on combating desertification and drought. Every country in the world has signed this convention. Canada withdrew in 2012, but in 2016 - under the Trudeau administration - started a process to re-enter the convention. Both ENDS is a member of Drynet, a network of local organisations and communities in dry regions searching for ways to use land in a sustainable manner.
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Publication / 1 September 2017
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Publication / 1 September 2017
