This report covers the lunchtime lecture on “Securing Women’s Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa” organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association that took place at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 8th February at 12.30, with the participation of Mokoro’s Elizabeth Daley. Also speaking were Simon Levine of ODI and Ruchi Tripathi of ActionAid International, with Heidi Alexander MP in the Chair.

Includes gender in the existing literature, entrenched gender discrimination, case studies from Ethiopia, Zambia and Rwanda, ways forward, conclusion. Based on a larger study for the International Land Coalition.

Includes experiences from the field (East Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Senegal, Colombia, Pakistan). Lessons learned include participation-oriented research methods are recommended. Merely passing legislation is of little effect without the necessary resources for implementation, monitoring reforms or effective sanctions. Crucial to consult and involve women when designing reforms and monitoring their implementation. Addressing land injustices requires varied approaches. Vital to establish and maintain links among research, policy, practice and people.

Includes genesis of the CFJJ-FAO programme – policy and legal reforms, challenges for land governance today, legal empowerment and land governance; the twin-track approach; the training programme – paralegal courses, local government and sector officer seminars; results and impact – overall impact, gender issues and women’s land rights; discussion; a format for change – the empowerment chain. Important to have a long term view. The law indeed is not enough.

An analysis of the gendered impacts of commercial pressures on land, based on a review of the literature and ILC’s country case studies, including Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and Benin. In the present global context of increasing pressures, women are both likely to be affected differently to men by large-scale land deals and disproportionately more likely to be negatively affected than men because they are generally vulnerable as a group.

A new DFID Policy Paper on land, divided into four sections: landmark issues (unequal distribution and insecure tenure); how secure access to land can promote shared growth; good governance � the vital ingredient in land reform; DFID’s approach to land issues. DFID is currently supporting work on land in 21 countries, including Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Argues that ‘while it is important to keep working for good governance overall, the land sector demands dedicated focus’.

Includes background to women’s land rights in Zambia; policy and legal reforms of the1990s; key findings – gender insensitivity on land laws and policies, the high cost of legal fees to handle land disputes, the limited benefits of title deeds for women, lack of awareness on land policy process, land grabbing and disinheritance, lack of security of tenure, lack of access to justice; conclusions and recommendations.

Includes context and importance of the problem; ILC global case studies; critique of policy options; policy recommendations.

Examines the literature on Uganda’s tenure systems, including the legal and administrative frameworks and their implementation at the local level, analyses the relations between these elements and tenure security and discusses ways in which land may relate to economic activities. Implementation of reforms has been slow and partial. The literature shows that the division of labour between land administration institutions at the different administrative levels is not clearly spelled out and that they are often inaccessible at the local level.

Includes background to women’s land rights in Uganda; lack of information; prevailing cultural attitudes that discriminate against women; lack of formal land ownership by women; lack of participation of women in land policy formulation; exclusion of women in matters of land inheritance; lack of access to justice; gaps in the ongoing land reform process; conclusions and recommendations.

Draws on fieldwork and data from authors’ edited volume on Women’s Land Rights and Privatization in Eastern Africa and a collection of papers edited for the Journal of Eastern African Studies. Authors have developed a positive, pragmatic and innovative approach to securing land rights for women grounded in gender equity. 3 key themes: the role of customary institutions in securing women’s land rights; the continuing central role of legislation as a foundation for changing custom; the challenges of reform implementation and of building women’s confidence to claim their rights.

Covers analysis of the study sites in Seke, Buhera, Chimanimani and Bulawayo Districts, land and property rights of widows and other vulnerable women in those sites, livelihood strategies, obstacles and options, policy issues and recommendations. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to property-rights violations.