One of the greatest barriers to achieving full citizenship rights for women is culture. If development organisations are to help advance women's rights and full citizenship then they must abandon explanations on the basis of ?culture? that ignore gender-based discrimination, and overcome their anxieties about appearing neo-colonial. To do this, effective partnerships between northern-based development institutions and southern-based social movements are necessary since social movements can be a key means of transforming culture.

Current momentum around women's economic empowerment offers huge scope for bringing about real changes in women's lives. But earning an income or having access to credit cannot be assumed to bring automatic benefits for women. We need to ask critical questions about how increased access to resources can be translated into changes in the strategic choices that women are able to make - at the level of the household and community, as well as at work. What of the terms on which women gain access to resources - are these empowering or exploitative?

Trade liberalisation processes impact differently on men and women due to the fact that men and women have different roles in production. Despite the fact that women are actively involved in international trade, WTO agreements are gender blind and as such have adverse impacts on women. The General Agreement in Trade and Service (GATS), for instance, provides for a level playing field in service provision between big foreign owned companies and small locally owned companies.

This study aims to identify how women's capacity to become more involved in decision-making at the local level can be strengthened, particularly in terms of access to natural resources. It also aims to identify the structures through which women secure their systems of production. It focuses on the situation in Niger, where women are increasingly excluded from dominant systems of production: in agricultural areas, they are increasingly excluded from agricultural production and in pastoralist areas, they have lost their herds and had to resort to agriculture.

Women's employment in transition countries, notably Central and Eastern Europe has become increasingly informal and flexible. The first growing trend is that women are more involved in cross-border trade, known as 'suitcase' trade, often keeping women away from home for days or months. They buy mainly consumer and household goods usually unavailable in their home countries, to sell to street vendors on their return home. The second growing trend is women's involvement in sub-contracting, particularly work such as hand sewing for the textile and shoe industries.

Are women's equal rights to land, housing and property implemented in East Africa? How are land rights translated into national legislation in the Region? This books explores land, housing and property rights in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, and looks at how relevant international treaties are transformed into national legislation and policies in these three countries. A detailed analysis of constitutions and laws on land, housing, inheritance, marriage and divorce laws is also offered.

The Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP) is a global UNDP initiative to promote sustainable development in the drylands, and advance the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. This topic brief highlights the important role that gender plays in this context of sustainable development, in particular the role of women in the Arab States and Africa. In these regions, inequality and stereotypical gender norms often prevent women from contributing to the sustainable development of drylands, despite possessing a wealth of traditional knowledge and skills.

Informe que  visibiliza la grave situación de discriminación que viven las mujeres rurales y campesinas en Colombia. Fue realizado por 70 organizaciones, con el apoyo de la ILC, para ser presentado ante la 72º. Sesión del Comité de la Convención para la Eliminación de todas las formas la Discriminación contra la mujer – CEDAW. 

Informe que  visibiliza la grave situación de discriminación que viven las mujeres rurales y campesinas en Colombia. Fue realizado por 70 organizaciones, con el apoyo de la ILC, para ser presentado ante la 72º. Sesión del Comité de la Convención para la Eliminación de todas las formas la Discriminación contra la mujer – CEDAW. 

Property conflicts have an enormous impact on relations between the members of farm households and their families. Given the long duration, frequency and intensity of these conflicts an investigation of how they arise and how they affect the daily lives of, and relationships between, landholders is certainly warranted. Conflicts over land visibly manifest themselves in destroyed fences, stolen crops, poisoned dogs, horses that are set free, bloody machetazos, hails of stones between children and murder.