Contains introduction: property rights, inheritance, and HIV; the impact on development; challenging the roots of the problem; modern laws and individual rights: do they always support women?; pinpointing the difficulties with the existing legal frameworks; ways forward.

Argues that there are 5 shortcomings in both the old (World Bank) and contemporary (Hernando de Soto) arguments for formalisation of land title. First, legality is constructed narrowly to mean only formal legality. Therefore legal pluralism is equated with extra-legality. Second, there is an underlying social-evolutionist bias that presumes inevitability of the transition to private (conflated with individual) ownership as the destiny of all societies. Third, the presumed link between formal title and access to credit facilities has not been borne out by empirical evidence.

The paper explores whether the post-Cold War rule of law reform agenda in sub-Saharan Africa has enhanced or impeded gender equity. Argues that a large part of the gender equality agenda remains unaddressed by the legal and institutional reforms undertaken so far. The section on reforms to property laws suggests that they have at worst deepened gender inequality and at best left biases intact. Official discussion of gender and land tenure remains disconnected from broader processes of economic restructuring.

Asks why is it still so hard to know how many women have rights? Covers which rights?; what is ownership?; security of rights; land or people?; aggregate measures or nuanced details?; property rights within marriage; where to now?

Summarises the 12 presentations made at the workshop, 8 of which concerned Mozambique, the remainder Sao Tome & Principe, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde. Topics include the work of the inter-ministerial Land Commission, the Technical Annex of the Land Law, DINAGECA, and a training video A Nossa Tera (available in Portuguese and English). Concludes with a summary of the seminar outcomes and a note on their transferability to Anglophone countries.

Covers analysis of the study sites in Seke, Buhera, Chimanimani and Bulawayo Districts, land and property rights of widows and other vulnerable women in those sites, livelihood strategies, obstacles and options, policy issues and recommendations. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to property-rights violations.

A serious study of a neglected field, drawing on research, workshops, and personal and organisational testimonies. Covers Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Aims to raise awareness of the heavy impact of HIV and AIDS on women’s property rights and livelihoods, and the active steps being taken by many grassroots organisations to respond to the crisis. Looks at a number of creative initiatives such as the Memory Book Project in Uganda.

The focus of the workshop, funded by FAO, Oxfam GB, and Women Land Link Africa Project (WLLA), was on children’s property rights. The report covers presentations by children, key issues and inspiring initiatives by CBOs, messages from the UN to children, experiences from Zimbabwe, very moving testimonies by children, key recommendations. Following the launch of a UNICEF and UNAIDS global campaign, FAO has been initiating work in the neglected area of children’s property and inheritance rights.

Based on field research conducted by two grassroots organizations, CINDI-Kitwe in Zambia and GROOTS Kenya, to map and document cases of property grabbing from children, in particular those who became orphans due to AIDS. Includes problem analysis and study objectives; presenting children’s experiences in Zambia and in Kenya; conclusions and lessons learned.

Analyses inheritance laws and their impacts on rural women in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Senegal, Togo and Mali. Focuses on Muslim societies, but also looks at how these differed from or influenced the inheritance practices of non-Muslim groups. Shows that women continue to be systematically denied their rights to inheritance, especially in rural areas.

Includes setting the scene; understanding gender and property rights in the era of AIDS; legislation, training and capacity development; advocacy, mobilisation and networking; political dialogue; linking gender, property rights and livelihoods; taking stock – where are we and where should we go?; recommendations and ways forward; annexes.

To better understand the role of tenure security in protecting against, and mitigating the effects of, HIV and violence, this book explores these linkages in Amajuba, South Africa and Iganga, Uganda. Results from the qualitative study revealed that property ownership, while not easily linked to women’s ability to prevent HIV infection, can nonetheless mitigate the impact of AIDS, and enhance a woman’s ability to leave a violent situation.