How a land surveyor in a rural Land Office in Colombia has overcome challenges to find herself in a career dominated by men.

By Rosa Olokweni, Gender and Land Champion, WOLTS Project Tanzania

Before HakiMadini and WOLTS came to Mundarara, it was as though women in our village were sleeping. None of us was aware of our rights to land, many of us were mistreated by our husbands and we never spoke in meetings.

Chad is at the verge of an emerging land tenure crisis. As observed in many countries in Africa, formal and customary tenure systems overlap. Customary tenure systems, that generally prevail in rural areas, differ from region to region, with each its own needs and practices. Land conflicts are abundant, caused by degradation and transformation of land surfaces caused by climate change, as well as land investments by domestic investors with disputed legitimacy.

By Milya Samberu, Gender and Land Champion, WOLTS  Project Tanzania

By Tuya, Gender and  Land Champion, WOLTS Project Mongolia

By Odgerel, Gender and Land Champion, WOLTS  Project Mongolia

P. Purevdolgor describes the impact of becoming a gender and land champion in her Mongolian herding community.

Хүн Төвтэй Байгаль Хамгаалал байгууллагын үйл ажиллагааны нэг чиглэл нь  малчдын, ялангуяа уул уурхайн нөлөөнд өртсөн малчин өрхийн жендэрийн асуудал юм.  Тиймээс ч бид 7 жилийн өмнө Эмэгтэйчүүдийн газар эдэлбэрийн эрхийн баталгаат байдал (ЭГЭЭББ) олон улсын төсөл д нэгдэн орсон.  Хэдийгээр манай байгууллага (ХТБХ) хамтын оролцооны аргаар орон нутгийн иргэдэд түшиглэсэн байгаль хамгаалах үйл ажиллагааг олон нөхөрлөлүүдтэй хамтран үндэсний хэмжээнд явуулж байгаа ч

Jamii nyingi za vijijini nchini Tanzania zina changamoto zinazofanana  kutokana na makampuni ya uchimbaji madini na wawekezaji. Nimejionea jinsi wanaume na wanawake ambao ni wasaidizi wa jinsia na ardhi wanavyoweza kusaidia.

Rather than scaling up, I think we should be talking about scaling out and scaling over time when it comes to inclusive, community-led land governance. I tried these ideas out with some success two weeks ago at the annual LANDac Conference in the Netherlands, specifically during a Round Table which asked “(how) can we scale bottom-up or community-based initiatives towards fair and inclusive land governance”?

This session brought together insights on land governance and climate resilience, with a specific gender focus. Women suffer from lack of access to, decision making over, and use of land. At the same time, climate change disproportionally affects women. Research indicates that ‘gender just land governance’ forms the key to use land in a sustainable, climate-proof way. There are many entry points to make land governance just and inclusive of women.