CIAO DATE: 02/2015
February 2014
Danish Institute for International Studies
Ensuring gender equality with respect to land rights is hailed as a key element of the recent land reforms, but actual results in this respect are limited. Achieving gender equality requires a comprehensive focus on land, family and other laws, including customary, pertaining to land and on their implementation on the ground. This DIIS Policy Brief summarises the findings from a series of reports made to review progress made and the challenges remaining to achieve gender equality with respect to land rights. On that basis, it proposes the following five recommendations for policy and practice: Ensure that provisions ensuring non-discrimination in family law and customary law accompany recent provisions for gender equality in land legislation. Strengthen the focus on comprehensive implementation and enforcement of land legislation. In doing so, draw upon the lessons learned by civil society organisations in their efforts to promote gender equality in land administration and dispute resolution. Explore and institutionalise ways to enhance the effective accessibility to women of statutory as well as customary land administration and dispute resolution institutions at all levels – irrespective of their social and economic status – e.g. through promoting female representation in customary as well as statutory land administration and dispute resolution institutions. Monitor and measure success of land administration institutions at all levels in terms of their contribution to achieving gender equality in land administration, e.g. through ensuring the registration of gender-disaggregated data. Document and analyse the social, economic and political impacts of gender (in)equality on land access and land administration on a regular basis.
Resource link: Pursuing gender equality in land administration [PDF] - 999K