The Commission for Gender Equality presented on its proposed campaign called One Woman, One Hectare of Land’. The campaign aims to mainstream gender equality, for it was proposed that the State should allocate one hectare of land, for the growing of food, to the poorest rural female-run households. It was believed that this would help alleviate poverty and empower rural women. It was pointed out that where women had land, their families generally were better nourished, better educated and able to move on.

Between October 2014 and October 2015, Radio Ishingiro with the support of USAID
Land Project implemented a Communications Campaign focused on influencing the
attitudes and mindsets of men and boys about gender-equal land rights to overcome
traditional norms and beliefs that hinder women from exercising their rights to land. In
particular, the campaign focused on overcoming traditional beliefs and norms that
hinder women from exercising their rights to inter vivos gifts of land (“umunani”)1
, land

Land tenure is one of the great challenges Habitat for Humanity faces in helping families access decent housing. Countless families around the world lack rights to the land on which they live. Just imagine the stress of knowing that any day you might be forced to move because someone else claims ownership of the place you call home.

Las mujeres son importantes usuarias de recursos forestales. Sin embargo, su participación en la gobernanza forestal es limitada, y las razones de esta situación han sido poco estudiadas en México. Este artículo sostiene que la discriminación de género en la tenencia de la tierra, la división genérica del trabajo, la inequitativa distribución de beneficios y la visión estrictamente comercial de planes de manejo contribuyen a la exclusión femenina del manejo forestal comunitario (mfc).

This research, entitled "The Impact of Gendered Legal Rights to Land on the Prevalence and Nature of Intra- and Inter-Household Disputes" set out to interrogate the changing landscape of gendered land rights in Rwanda, and to examine the impact of the statutory changes introduced by laws governing land, inheritance, succession and matrimonial property passed between 1999 and 2013.

In the eighth booklet of the Land Governance Booklet Series, several of the case studies by Uttaran are described.

The content of the booklet is as follows:

1. Khasland utilisation
2. Gender in land governance
3. Legal Support
4. Media coverage

Download the full booklet here.

Click here for the next booklet in the series.

Constitution of Nepal

Before 1999, land rights in Rwanda were governed by three regimes: customary
(traditional) law, colonial laws still in effect, and laws enacted after independence. In each of
these, men were privileged in ownership and control of land whereas women were excluded
or had fewer rights.
The 1999 Succession Law restructured and harmonized land ownership in Rwanda,
superseding all prior legislation. A significant portion of these changes related to gender
equality. Equal rights to umunani (umunani or ascending partition is an act accomplished by

In Kenya, insecure land tenure and inequitable access to land, forest and water resources have contributed to conflict and violence, which has in turn exacerbated food insecurity. To address these interlinked problems, a new set of laws and policies on food security and land governance are currently being introduced or designed by the Government of Kenya. The new Food Security Bill explicitly recognizes the link between food security and land access, and the 2012 land laws target the corrupt system of land administration that made much of Kenya’s land grabbing possible.

This workshop was orgainized at Bhubaneswar, India by Center for Land Governance, NRMC, Bhubaneswar with support of The World Bank, New Delhi. In this workshop salient findings on processes and progress made around gender equitable land tenure arrangements, best practices and challenges along with ground-happenings and post –land rights situations captured through community and stakeholders opinions were shared.

El caso señala a una niña que logra titular una porción de tierra a su nombre. Se trata de una mujer que logra ejercer su derecho a la sucesión y acceso a la tierra. La experiencia de Dania, su momento histórico en una comunidad andina cambiante, la convierten en un referente para las decisiones agrarias, al expresar una acción admirable por precautelar su bienestar y seguridad jurídica.