The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. The day aims to celebrate women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education.
Strengthening tenure security is often considered a precondition to improved livelihoods, resilience, and sustainable resource use. Interventions from the LAND-at-scale program, which is funded by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), employ a range of methods for achieving tenure security, such as improving land mapping and registration systems.
As researchers and practitioners in the land sector, we are inspired by the possibility of strengthening women’s land rights as a way to empower women socially and economically. One such potential benefit concerns the ways in which land rights may protect women from domestic or gender-based violence – a relevant topic as the global community observes the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence until 10 December, Human Rights Day.
Wetlands are among the most important natural resources in Uganda. They protect the country’s water resources, and are important for sustaining agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods, particularly in areas with low or unpredictable rainfall, land scarcity, or where surrounding land has low potential for agriculture. Approximately 11 percent of Uganda’s total area is covered by wetlands, either as seasonal, permanent or swamp forest[1].
When Fatima Zahrae Taribi, a 20-year-old Moroccan climate justice advocate, met Luz Edith Morales Jimenez, a young land defender from Michoacán, Mexico, she wondered how they could communicate.
Achieving the twin goals of protecting the planet and improving humanity’s wellbeing relies on women having the agency and space to co-govern the natural resources they - and their families - depend on for their livelihoods. Reflecting on COP27’s Gender Day, we look at how better understanding women’s access to, use, and control of land, forests and natural resources in Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) could be utilised to support climate action.
The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), together with its grassroots organisations, is present at the 27th UN Conference on Climate Change to reaffirm what needs to be done to tackle the global climate crisis: RECOGNIZE AND GUARANTEE LAND TENURE RIGHTS OF OUR INDIGENOUS LANDS!
Mozambique’s 1997 land law recognises land rights acquired through customary practice and good faith occupancy, even without a formal title. However, the lack of transparent public confirmation or documentation can lead to conflict. Sr. Land and Resource Governance Advisor Karol Boudreaux discusses how a partnership between USAID and agribusiness Grupo Madal has helped the company and local communities address long-standing land-access issues and improve livelihoods.
In the Three Rivers gazetted forest of northern Benin, the start of the agricultural season is a frequent hotspot of conflict between local communities and forest officials.
It is at this moment when demands are made for forest fees giving permission for residents to cultivate fields or graze their livestock. Yet this is exactly when farmers experience a financial squeeze in preparing their land and obtaining inputs to start the new season.
Empowering women to occupy leadership roles and to take an active part in decision making processes in land governance has demonstrated that strides can be made towards gender justice.
