UN Human Rights Council 61st Session – Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on right to food - Nordic - Baltic Statement by H.E. Ambassador Ivars Pundurs

Geneva,  5 March 2026

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic States.

I thank the Special Rapporteur for his report.

Let me start by reaffirming Indigenous Peoples’ right to consultations in order to obtain free, prior and informed consent when measures are considered affecting their traditional ways of living, such as agricultural or fishing areas.

We welcome the call to reform discriminatory inheritance and family laws that perpetuate gender inequality to ensure women’s equal access to land, food security, and economic empowerment.

We share the Special Rapporteur’s view that well-governed digital land systems, as demonstrated in the Nordic–Baltic States, can protect land rights, secure tenure, empower communities, and advance human rights, provided they are transparent, interoperable, and inclusive.

We welcome the Second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD+20) and its focus on equitable access to land and secure land tenure, and hope its outcome will provide meaningful guidance and renewed momentum to advance these goals.

Mr Special Rapporteur, what are your next steps to advance secure and equitable access to land as part of the right to food?

I thank you.