By Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola
* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa
What is the role of land law in natural disasters? Are current global systems of land law fit-for-purpose as we experience escalating rates of climate disruption?
In the second PhD session of the LANDac Conference 2021, three PhD researchers presented their work in progress. We learned about slums in Abuja, Nigeria, about forest rights in India, and about the relation between inequalities in soil fertility, gender, and access to subsidies. Each presentation was discussed by an expert from the LANDac network.
Key Takeaways
Written by Jagat Deuja and Rachel Knight for IIED and CSRC. Originally posted at: https://www.iied.org/helping-indigenous-communities-secure-land-rights-nepal
Main photo: Young 'social mobilisers' interviewed more than 2,700 landless or untenanted families and gathered the data that was needed for the government to register their tenure (Photo: copyright Kumar Thapa, CSRC)
* This blog post was written by the following women: Patricia Chaves, Gigliola Silva Araújo, Natali Lacerda and Tereza Borba. They take us back to 2015, through to the present, telling us about the process of localizing the land-related SDGs and empowering local women to build multi-stakeholder platforms in order to change and influence policies that can affect their families, communities and lives. *
Twenty six years after South Africa’s first democratic election, land issues remain a point of contention, from land reforms to expropriation without compensation. Given the primacy of this issue in South Africa, it begs the question of what is the state of land information in South Africa? Do government agencies have sufficient data to support land governance decision making? Can civil society access the kind of information it needs to defend its interests? These were the kinds of questions we asked ourselves when we were reflecting on data fragmentation and access to information in South Africa.
Government should address informal settlement housing backlog in the country. Addressing challenges posed by informal settlements will help government to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals such as providing access to basic water and sanitation. Underlying socio-economic causes of informal settlements should be tackled. When addressing challenges posed by informal settlements, government should provide the urban poor with cost effective access to urban environments.
The current Covid 19 pandemic is likely to spread in the next few weeks and months to the South and in particular South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. The impact may well be of a greater scale than that currently experienced in the North; India was the region with the highest loss of live in the 1918-1919 Spanish flu Pandemic. The experience and historical experience suggests that urban areas will be disproportionately affected.
Not only is the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) having serious health impacts around the world, it also has the potential to significantly affect the housing, land, and property (HLP) of women and girls, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
Women at a disadvantage