Este documento describe la perspectiva de las partes interesadas sobre el desarrollo de las Directrices voluntarias sobre la gobernanza de la tenencia. Estas directrices representan la mayor medida de un “terreno común\" sobre la gobernanza de la tenencia que se ha encontrado hasta el momento en el foro mundial. El consenso fue desarrollado por medio de negociaciones intergubernamentales con la participación de la sociedad civil, el sector privado e instituciones académicos y de investigación.

This paper describes the perspective of stakeholders on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on tenure. These Guidelines represent the greatest extent of “common ground” on governance of tenure that has been found to date in a global forum. This consensus was developed through intergovernmental negotiations with the participation of civil society, the private sector and research and academic institutes. This paper draws on interviews to identify how people engaged in the process and the dynamics that were created between the parties.

Improved access to gender-disaggregated data can be a catalyst to improving gender equality and provide opportunities for the so-called “Third Sector” of non-governmental and local organizations, especially those representing women. The Voluntary Guidelines underline that gender equality is at the core of all processes and aspects of tenure governance, including policy formulation, service delivery, and access to legal systems and information.

The Review of the legislative framework and jurisprudence concerning the right to adequate food in Nepal discusses overarching aspects of Nepalese law and jurisprudence dealing with the human right to food. Following a brief discussion of the international legal protection of the right to food in Nepal, the review, in particular provides a critical assessment of constitutional as well as legislative provisions and offers a thorough analysis of Supreme Court jurisprudence pertaining to the right to food.

Characterized as divinely ordained, the Islamic law of inheritance defines women’s rights to property of the deceased with specific roles and responsibilities for each individual. Obviously, the Islamic law of inheritance is a major contribution to the legal system of the world, compared to the customary laws in the pre‐Islamic Arab society that denied any proprietary right by way of inheritance to female relatives including daughters.

Provisional English title.

In the past 50 years women's legal
status has improved all over the world. But many laws still
make it difficult for women to fully participate in economic
life whether by getting jobs or starting businesses.
Discriminatory rules bar women from certain jobs, restrict
access to capital for women-owned firms and limit
women's capacity to make legal decisions. Gender
differences in laws affect both developing and developed

The people of Myanmar do not hold absolute property rights – a fact which has remained true, though meant different things, through the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras.

Despite decades of war and instability,
Iraq's abundant natural resources, strategic geographic
location and cultural history endow it with tremendous
potential for growth and diverse economic development.
Driven by windfall oil revenues in recent years the
Government of Iraq (GoI) has invested heavily in rebuilding
infrastructure with abundant oil reserves ensuring steady
progress. However, decades of socialist policies have

The former Soviet Central Asian republics have undergone de-intensification of their livestock sectors, resulting in an increased reliance on natural pastures. Property rights systems are key to the sustainable management of this resource. However, as the authors demonstrate, it is not easy to implement the respective reform processes.

Paper written for Democracy, Land and Liberation in Africa Today: Bridging Past and Present Scholarship. A colloquium in honour of Lionel Cliffe held at the University of Cape Town. Includes the academic world, 1960-84 (universities in Southern Africa, my academic writing); the NGO world, 1987-2007 (Oxfam’s Southern Africa Desk, women’s land rights, working with Zimbabwean researchers, land and property rights in post-tsunami Aceh; the consultancy world (Zimbabwe 1999, South Africa 2000 DLA, South Africa 2001 the LRC); an academic again in retirement?

This study explores the changing
opportunities for children in Africa. While the definition
of opportunities can be subjective and depend on the
societal context, this report focuses on efforts to build
future human capital, directly (through education and health
investments) and indirectly (through complementary
infrastructure such as safe water, adequate sanitation,
electricity, and so on). It follows the practice of earlier