UN-Habitat and partners will organize a webinar this month that will provide a wide array of government officials and stakeholders with the knowledge and key messages on how to help women not only retain land rights but also promote their role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in fragile societies.

The February 16th online workshop is a further recognition of women’s conflict resolution and peacemaking role, one which is often undetected and constantly under-reported.  

To adequately play their role as agents of peace, women need to feel secure in their communities and be empowered to participate meaningfully in decision making and planning. Housing, land and property rights are an essential enabler of both.  

The webinar is organised in partnership between UN-Habitat, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), and the Housing, Land and Property Area of Responsibility of the Global Protection Cluster, in collaboration with the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The “Key Messages on Women, Land and Peace. Sustaining Peace through Women’s Empowerment and Increased Access to Land and Property Rights in Fragile and Conflict-affected Contexts” will support local governments, practitioners in land or gender issues in fragile contexts, development stakeholders and non-governmental organizations in their work to ensure women’s land rights are addressed under humanitarian-development projects.

During the webinar, UN-Habitat, NRC and UNHCR will present the content of the Key Messages and some examples of their field implementation showcasing:

• How to increase the recognition and protection of women’s housing, land and property rights in fragile and conflict-affected contexts
• How to empower and increase women’s participation in processes related to land management and housing, land and property rights
• Women’s housing land and property rights for conflict prevention and recovery: the humanitarian-development-peace nexus

The event will allow time for questions and discussion. The webinar will be held in English, with simultaneous translation in English, Arabic and French.

Those interested can register here to receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

GLTN is an alliance of international organisations committed to increasing access to land and tenure security for all, with special focus on the poor and women. The Secretariat of the Network is hosted within the Land, Housing and Shelter Section of UN-Habitat.

The Network’s partners include international civil society, bilateral and multilateral organisations, research and training institutions, and professional associations. GLTN develops, disseminates, and implements pro-poor and gender-responsive land tools. These tools and approaches contribute to land reform, good land governance, inclusive land administration, sustainable land management, and functional land sector coordination.

For more information, please get in touch with Eleonora Serpi eleonora.serpi@un.org and Jim Robinson jim.robinson@nrc.no