Grievance Mechanisms

Effective accountability and grievance mechanisms are critical components of responsible and inclusive land tenure governance. The VGGT stresses the importance of “impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal” and ensuring these are “accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures”.

As one of the universal pathways described in the Technical Guide on VGGT and LDN states, “accessible and transparent grievance and dispute-resolution mechanisms are key to ensuring that LDN initiatives respect human as well as legitimate tenure rights, as negative social, economic or environmental impacts will prevent the achievement of LDN and broader development objectives”. Land tenure-related disputes can be addressed and redressed through a wide range of mechanisms (and institutions) at the local, municipal, provincial and national levels as well as those related to donor-funded projects and programmes. 

In decision 28/COP.16, Parties requested “the secretariat and the Global Mechanism and invites the implementing agencies of the Global Environment Facility to carry out awareness-raising actions on their existing accountability and grievance mechanisms related to land tenure to have the widest reach among all stakeholders concerned by their activities in order to combat desertification, land degradation and drought and achieve land degradation neutrality, and invites Parties to consider establishing and/or strengthening their respective mechanisms within the national and subnational jurisdictions for their national activities to combat desertification, land degradation and drought as appropriate”.

The UNCCD-FAO Initiative on Land Tenure is developing a Compendium of Accountability and Grievance Mechanisms related to Land Tenure -- highlighting case studies, good practices and lessons learned with the aim of assisting countries to establish or strengthen their respective grievance mechanisms as part of their effort to combat desertification, land degradation and drought. 

Grievance Mechanism Profiles

As a first step to raise awareness of the grievance mechanisms of the GEF implementing agencies, the user can consult the profiles below for a better understanding of the safeguards related to land tenure and the process by which complaints are filed, processed and adjudicated.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)
African Development Bank (AfDB)
Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO)
Conservation International (CI)
Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (FECO)
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
West African Development Bank (BOAD)
World Bank (WB)
World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US)

GEF Implementing Agency Case Studies

In order to contextualise the operation of and provide further insights into these grievance mechanisms, the user can consult the selected case studies provided below.

ADB: Sri Lanka - Southern Transport Development Project
ADB: Viet Nam - Central Mekong Delta Project
AfDB: Mali - Moulin Moderne du Mali
AfDB: Uganda - Wadelai Irrigation Scheme
EBRD: Bulgaria - Maritsa East Mines
IDB: Costa Rica - Reventazón Hydroelectric Project
IDB: Paraguay - Asunción Metrobus
IDB: Peru - Rural Land Cadastre Project
UNDP: Republic of the Congo - Tridom II
WB: Honduras - Land Administration Project
WB: Kenya - Electricity Expansion Project

Stakeholder Case Studies

A call for submissions was launched in July 2025, seeking case studies related to accountability, grievance or dispute resolution mechanisms at the local, municipal, provincial and national levels. The user can consult the selected case studies below for lessons learned from state-based judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, non-state-based or customary mechanisms, and hybrid mechanisms that address land tenure issues.

Brazil: Mechanism for Traditional Peoples
Brazil: Navigating Agrarian Conflict through Brazil’s Judicial System
Ethiopia, Lao PDR, and Uganda: Grievance Fora for Responsible Land-Based Investments
India: Public Land Protection Cells
India: Resolving Disputes through Multiple Pathways
India: The EGREE Project’s Grievance and Accountability Mechanism
Kenya: Community By-Laws
Kenya: Haki Ardhi
Kuwait: Environmental Complaints Mechanism
Niger: Bridging Customary and Formal Systems
Senegal: Participatory Land Use Planning and Conflict Resolution
Thailand: A State-Based Grievance Mechanism for Land and Soil
Ukraine: Preventing Unlawful Re-Registration of Land and Property