From revolution and conflict to shifting demographics and women’s empowerment – big change is underway in the Arab world, much of it linked to questions of land. Perceptions data is a quick and effective way to understand the impact this change is having and map a smart way forward that meets the needs of people today.

تعاني المنطقة العربية من العديد من التحديات في قطاع حوكمة الأراضي وإدارتها . والأهم من ذلك ، أن انعدام أمن الحيازة في
المنطقة العربية هو الأعلى بين المناطق الأخرى في العالم ، كذلك في مؤشر البنك الدولي لممارسة الأعمال التجارية ، تحتل المنطقة
المرتبة الأدنى بين المناطق الاخرى ، باستثناء بعض دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي. يؤثر انعدام أمن الحيازة سلبيًا على العديد من
جوانب الاقتصاد بما في ذلك العمران ، والتنمية الزراعية ، والقطاع الخاص ، وتمكين المرأة ، على سبيل المثال لا الحصر. وفوق

The Arab region suffers from many challenges  in the land governance and land management sector. Most importantly, tenure insecurity in the Arab region is the highest in the world.  In the Worldbank’s Registering Property- Doing Business indicator, the region ranks  lower than any other region, with the exception of some Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Tenure insecurity negatively affects many aspects of the  economy including urbanization, agricultural development, the private sector and women's empowerment, just to name of a few.

The ability to own land and access natural resources allows women to secure food for their families, increase their agricultural productivity and livelihoods, and help drive local economies. Land rights empower women to have a say in matters that affect their lives, families and communities — everything from deciding what crops to plant to investing in children’s education and health.

We know that there is not one single path to achieving a global shift in women’s land tenure security.

At a minimum, it is going to take:

2020 was a tough year on many fronts, and land rights were no exception. COVID-19 hindered land rights advocates from doing field research, meeting with government officials, prioritizing policy initiatives, and obtaining funding.

Despite these headwinds, we have seen important advances, and the field continues to grow. Here are eight breakthroughs in 2020 to celebrate:

#1: New laws and policies

Opening up land-related administrative data, combining it with data from other sources  and processing and making this data available as easily accessible information for women and men equally could be a means to counteracting land corruption in land management, land administration and land allocation. But does open data and enhanced data transparency indeed help to counteract land corruption? 

On January 24, 2020, a quiet revolution happened in South Africa. In a landmark ruling in the Durban High Court, 72-year old Agnes Sithole scored a legal victory that not only provided her a share of her husband’s estate but may also help to protect an estimated 400,000 black elderly women in South Africa. Facing impoverishment when her marriage ended, Ms.

Land technology is moving at warp speed. How will the Biden administration and Samantha Power ensure women benefit?

Today Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States.

In recent months, supreme courts from India to Nigeria and Zimbabwe have issued historic opinions recognizing and

A USAID brief, published to mark 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, reveals important lessons from land rights registration activities in Zambia

Securing women’s land rights is an important global development goal and has been linked to significant gains in women’s economic empowerment and community development. At the same time, the process of documenting these rights can create resentment and increase conflict not only between spouses, but also within families and communities, often leading to gender-based violence.