Land Rights in Liberia: equitable access to land for the poor and marginalised

General

The action is a response to the call to strengthen service delivery by civil society organisations (CSOs) to improve legal certainty and enforcement of land rights for women and youth in Liberia. Land tenure in Liberia is key in the fight against poverty and food insecurity as over 40% of the population relies on subsistence farming for their livelihood . The lack of access and insecurity of land tenure is a major problem in Liberia. Recent government policy is making endeavours to remedy the issue through legislative reforms, for example, the Land Rights Policy of 2013 has introduced the concept of customary rights in Liberia while the Inheritance Laws support the rights of women to husbands’ property including land. The Land Rights Act is another important legal framework that distinctly established the legal framework and land categories and title in Liberia; when passed into law and fully implemented, it will provide opportunities for rural communities to own their land through registered titles. However, these legal frameworks have not fundamentally changed the situation especially for women and youth. Although women and men have the right to land ownership under the statutory and customary tenure, access and control to land title differ in origin, scope and duration. Ownership is often influenced by social norms and traditional practices related to marriage and other family relationships. To enhance the work of government on Liberia’s land tenure framework for equal access to all its citizens and to keep the agenda of women’s access to land, this action has developed objectives that will help to address the rights of vulnerable people in the four target counties