BANDUNG, Indonesia – Last September 2018, ANGOC participated in the week-long activities related to the International Land Coalition’s Global Land Forum (GLF) 2018. The GLF is an ILC event that gathers together ILC members, local and international civil society organizations, multilateral organizations, and government agencies to advance understanding of the complex links between land governance, food security, poverty, and democracy.

This year’s GLF was organized by ILC in partnership with the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA). The theme of the Global Land Forum 2018, “UNITED for LAND RIGHTS, PEACE and JUSTICE,” stresses the nature of the Forum as an opportunity to learn from each other and contribute to a common understanding of land governance successes and challenges.

The GLF opened on 24 September 2018, with discussions focused on Asia and Indonesia. The selected date also marks Indonesian National Peasants’ Day. During the GLF’s opening session, ANGOC former-chairperson Antonio Quizon was awarded with the Asia Lifetime Achievement Recognition on Land Rights. Alongside him, prominent leaders from ANGOC member-organizations were also distinguished with the same award: Shamsul Huda from Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) in Bangladesh, PV Rajagopal from Ekta Parishad in India, and Gunawan Wiradi from the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) in Indonesia.

From being long-time partners in land rights campaigns within the region, Ekta Parishad and KPA officially joined the ANGOC network in 2019.