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The launch of a long-awaited new British fund for tackling deforestation drivers in forest nations is still on hold as UK government agencies continue to finalise the business case for the initiative. Meanwhile, UK NGOs have continued to press the government to ensure transparency in the governance structure for the fund, which is to be geared towards supporting tropical countries to combat deforestation and curb land use emissions. 

Dear Friends,The principle that the enjoyment of human rights is both the means and the goal of development, highlights the importance of human rights monitoring as a means for empowering rights-holders to exercise their rights, whilst holding States and other actors accountable for their human rights obligations.   

"GENEVA (07 August 2013) –States need to do more to honour and strengthen their treaties with indigenous peoples, no matter how long ago they were signed, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said in a statement to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August.“Even when signed or otherwise agreed more than a century ago, many treaties remain the cornerstone for the protection of the identity, land and customs of indigenous peoples, determining the relationship they have with the State. They are thus of major significance to human rights today,” she said.

Dear Friends,Whenever someone remarks that a solution is being frustrated by ‘lack of political will’, I automatically ask myself: whose is the political will and what are the interests pushing for the opposite?