In February of this year, a deportation officer of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency was indicted for extorting immigrants for cash and sexual favors. Arnaldo Echevarria promised two undocumented women “working papers” in exchange for sex, eventually impregnating one of them.

This is just one example of the many cases of sextortion that vulnerable women, and sometimes men, face around the world.

By Nicholas Tagliarino, Land Portal Foundation

By Amanda Richardson, Resource Equity

This blog was produced for the LEGEND Land Policy Bulletin. Land: Enhancing Governance for Economic Development (LEGEND) is a DFID programme that aims to improve land rights protection, knowledge and information, and the quality of private sector investment in DFID priority countries.

By Rachel Turner, Director, International Finance & Senior Land Champion, UK Department for International Development

 

This blog was produced for the LEGEND Land Policy Bulletin. Land: Enhancing Governance for Economic Development (LEGEND) is a DFID programme that aims to improve land rights protection, knowledge and information, and the quality of private sector investment in DFID priority countries.

Posted: 11/24/2014

Source: Huffington Post

By Tim Hanstad, President and CEO, Landesa

If we want to empower rural women in the developing world, there is no better first step than providing them with secure rights to land.

Women play important roles in all smallholder farming systems. Advocates for women farmers often claim that “women produce 60-80% of the world’s food.” Occasionally, we are told that this statistic refers to food produced in developing countries, or food crops in sub-Saharan Africa; the reference point is vague. But the idea is clear – women produce more food than men.

A civil society perspective on engaging with the private sector

Towards SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

A relatively obscure and technical determination earlier this week by a relatively little-known international body could mean a sea change in economic and social empowerment prospects for hundreds of millions of women and their families.  Insecure rights to land constrain opportunity for over 2 billion people living in urban and rural informality.  And women fare the worst. 

As part of the recent peace accords, Colombia is returning land to the victims of a 50-year internal armed conflict. This includes the protection of women's fundamental rights, which is especially important because the violence and forced displacement had a higher impact on rural women. 

Around the world, rural women are a major provider of food and food security.

The 16^th of October marks World Food Day, a reminder to the international community of the criticality of treating food security as a 21^st Century priority if sustainable development, peace and security and the realisation of human rights are to be achieved.

By Frank Pichel, Interim CEO & Chief Programs Officer, Cadasta Foundation

Across the continent, insecure rights to land are robbing millions of financial stability and long-term prosperity. While new technology is giving people the tools to define what’s theirs, governments must recognize that certainty of ownership is a prerequisite of sustainable development.