In one month, several indigenous peoples’ organizations, communities, research institutes, network and NGOs will launch a Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights (2 March). It will be a BIG thing, and we hope to mobilize as much support as possible, including from you!

The public name of the Campaign is LandRightsNow. The plan is simple: i.e. make more visible on-going struggles on the ground by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and reach new audiences to mobilize support to the cause.

The Global Call to Action is led by a Steering Group, which includes among the others Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Joan Carling, Peter Kitelo and Myrna Cunningham: http://landrightsnow.org/participants. They agreed on a set of policy asks (English, French, Spanish) – which guide our work – under the overarching Goal to secure Indigenous and community land rights everywhere. The intermediate target is to “double the areas of land legally recognized as owned or controlled by Indigenous Peoples and local communities by 2020”.

More than 200 organizations have already signed-up. You can check them here: http://landrightsnow.org/participants (you can sign-up as people/community/organization and individuals). In one week, we will put on the website a logo for the Campaign that everybody can use freely without checking with us to promote the Campaign.

If you are interested, you can join the campaign before it officially starts.

What you can do!

• Sign-up! Please go here http://landrightsnow.org/subscription-form/ and sign-up. You will formally support the Campaign, get newsletter and information on how to get involved in actions.

• Spread the voice! We need to reach a critical mass of both communities/organizations/peoples, but also individuals, before the launch (2 March). It would be great if you could spread the voice through your networks, in person or through social media (if you love social media, please use the hashtag #landrightsnow). We need big numbers!

• Own the campaign, use it for your own strategy, and CHAMPION it everywhere! This is an alliance campaign, and is basically an open platform. No single organization owns it. We will soon share a logo that everybody can use. We hope that you can find it useful. If so, feel free to associate your own ongoing struggles and advocacy, with the Campaign itself – if in your opinion it fits with the policy asks. In addition, we would be very happy if you want to give visibility to your ongoing work on the website.

Further, if you are interested, in getting more involved in the launch – though a specific action in your own region around 2 March – let us know by emailing Patricia Wattimena (patricia@aippnet.org) and Luca Miggiano (Luca.Miggiano@oxfamnovib.nl).