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. 

As a first step to raise awareness, grievance mechanism profiles of GEF implementing agencies and select case studies were produced.

Grievance Mechanism Profiles

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

Case Studies

AfDB: Wadelai Irrigation Scheme
AfDB: Moulin Moderne du Mali Project
ADB: Southern Transport Development Project in Sri Lanka
EBRD: Maritsa East Mines in Bulgaria
IDB: Reventazón Hydroelectric Project in Costa Rica
IDB: Asunción Metrobus in Paraguay
IDB: Rural Land Cadastre, Titling, and Registration Project in Peru
UNDP: TRIDOM II in Republic of the Congo
WBG: The Garífuna Case in Honduras
WBG: Kenya Electricity Expansion Project

An open call for submissions  was launched in July 2025, seeking case studies, reports, policy briefs, guidelines or other documents related to accountability, grievance or dispute resolution mechanisms at the local, municipal, provincial and national levels. These can include state-based judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, non-state-based mechanisms and other innovative and hybrid mechanisms that address land tenure issues.