Women have largely been excluded from the ownership and control of land in Pakistan, which is the single most important source of income and status in the agricultural economy. This systematic exclusion stems from multiple factors at both the policy and societal level, which include multiple and contradictory sources of law that fail to resolve the issue of women’s right to property as well as cultural bias and discriminatory practices that arise from the prevalent male-dominant mindset in rural areas.

The longest-running barometer of Afghan opinion, the Survey of the Afghan People is a map of social change over time, presenting a clear picture of the gains and gaps that Afghans perceive in a rapidly transforming nation.

While there is no right to land codified in international human rights law, the Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), provides for women’s right to own and inherit property without discrimination on the basis of sex. Afghanistan ratified CEDAW in 2003, without reservations. CEDAW (Article 14) also calls for rural women to have equal access to economic opportunities, to credit and loans, social security programs, and to adequate living conditions, including access to housing.

This practitioner’s guide explains how to promote gender-responsive forest tenure reform in community-based forest regimes. It is aimed at those taking up this challenge in developing countries. There is no one single approach to reforming forest tenure practices for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. Rather, it involves taking advantage of opportunities that emerge in various institutional arenas such as policy and law-making and implementation, government administration, customary or community-based tenure governance, or forest restoration at the landscape scale.

Tajikistan’s population is predominantly rural and largely dependent on agriculture. Agriculture accounts for a quarter of Tajikistan’s gross domestic product and export revenues, 39% of tax revenues, and half of total employment. Given the widespread migration of male Tajik workers overseas, women constitute the majority of employees (accounting for 53% of the economically active population in agriculture). Arable land is in short supply at 0.15 hectares (ha) per capita (rising to 0.20 ha per capita for the rural population).

The resurgence of conservative patriarchal values in Tajikistan have led to the rise of early marriages and polygamy, compromising women’s and girls’ opportunities to realize their full potential to live quality lives, and have deterred women from fully participating in and benefitting from development. The report provides sector-specific gender analyses and identifies entry points for mainstreaming gender in agriculture and natural resources, education, energy, entrepreneurship and SME development, and transport.

The paper seeks to establish the role of religion and culture in the realization of women’s rights to property in Nigeria. It begins by affirming that protecting women’s rights to property in Nigeria is a fundamental step towards achieving the 5th Sustainable Development Goal of gender equality. The promotion and protection of these rights in any society are determined by several factors such as the customs, prevailing traditions, as well as the religious laws that control behavioral patterns in that society.

Fiji ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women in August, 1995. The initial report was submitted in 2000 and the Fiji delegation appeared before the UN CEDAW Committee of Experts for the constructive dialogue in 2002. Fiji has not submitted any report since. Therefore this document is the State combined 2nd, 3rd and 4th Periodic report and covers the period January 2003 to June 2008.

This guide aims to help local organisations, communities and governments to carry out constructive, peaceful engagement and negotiation with companies and government, with the aim of achieving sustainable development and improved quality of life. Its main objectives are:

This handbook is an introduction to the human rights of indigenous women. It provides some detail on the CEDAW as the only instrument specifically for women. It also provides a brief overview of the other available human rights mechanisms.

This toolkit aims to give civil society organizations the tools they need to address gender justice issues in their work. The toolkit contains sections on:

1. Gender Concepts (terms, frameworks and key debates);
2. Gender Action Links (topical briefings and action resources);
3. Gender Tools (checklists, indicators and methodologies for gender analysis in specific sectors); and
4. Gender Data (links to sex-disaggregated databases).