Endorsement – Land Rights Standard

The Endorsement Pledge The Land Rights Standard aims to galvanize improvements across landscape and local-level actions that impact Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples, including the women and youth within these groups.

This page specifies the voluntary commitments of non-state actors, including investors and donors, who adopt the Standard to guide their work, and it outlines expectations for rightsholders, their representative organizations, and allied institutions and civil society organizations who endorse the Standard to advance their priorities across landscapes.

The respective commitments of adoptee and endorsee organizations are specified below.

Aerial photo of a village on Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Adoptee Commitments

Non-state actors directly investing or operating in landscapes (for example, conservation agencies, investors, donors, businesses, NGOs) that adopt the Land Rights Standard agree to publicly acknowledge their commitment on their organization’s website, posting all ten underlying Principles and their pledge to undertake dedicated, ongoing efforts to:

Enhance the frequency and effectiveness of their consultation with all Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples, including women and youth within these groups, who are actually or potentially impacted by their activities and decisions.
Embed the Standard Principles throughout their internal policies, procedures, due diligence processes, assessments, and actions in a manner that responds to the rights, priorities, and needs of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendant Peoples, and the women and youth within these groups who are actually or potentially impacted by their landscape-level engagements, investments, or donations.
Promote the Standard’s adoption by peer organizations and other stakeholders.

Endorsee Commitments

Rightsholders, their representative organizations, allied institutions, and dedicated civil society partners or non-state actors that endorse the Land Rights Standard commit to:

Promote the Standard’s adoption by eligible and otherwise appropriate non-state actors, and facilitate broad support for the Standard among all stakeholders in landscape-level engagements.
Where possible, publish the Standard Principles on their organization’s website, along with a statement acknowledging their endorsement of the Standard.
Where possible and otherwise appropriate, monitor and report on adoptees’ progress in implementing the Standard, and hold them accountable for their associated actions and omissions.

Endorse the Pledge

Join the Pledge

Adoptee Commitments

Endorsee Commitments

Endorse the Land Rights Standard

A Global Network of Endorsements