The aim was to analyze the obstacles to, and opportunities for women’s access to land, with emphasis on the identification of more effective strategies in improving the security of women’s land rights. This report is a programme evaluation including lessons learned. Case studies drawn from the advocacy project are attached as Annexes.
This is the second in a series of land studies for northern Uganda, whose core objective is to inform the Plan for Recovery and Development of Northern Uganda (PRDP) and the National Land Policy. It builds on the work of the first phase conducted in Teso region to present a more quantitative analysis of trends on disputes and claims on land before displacement, during displacement and emerging trends or occurrences on return for Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
The aim is for participants to develop an innovation plan focused on advocacy for women’s access to and control over land, employing ideas and tools acquired during the Learning Route of the International Land Coalition (ILC - www.landcoalition.org) programme. Four proposals for innovation plans are provided as examples.
The importance of land to poor people’s livelihoods cannot be over emphasized. Land provides the foundation upon which people construct and maintain livelihoods. Consequently, secure access to land is a prerequisite for securing livelihoods. Women are the majority of the poor as they have limited access to social and economic resources. This increases their dependence on basic resources like land. The majority of women rely on a land based livelihood mainly as subsistence agricultural producers.
Since Karamoja is richly endowed with gold, marble, iron ore, tungsten, limestone, oil and gas, it has attracted many investors, in particular since the protracted armed conflicts in northern Uganda started fading away. Approximately 1 7,000 km2 or 62% of the total land area of Karamoja has been licensed for mineral exploration and exploitation (Kabiswa, 2014).
Ill advised, uncoordinated, and badly planned interventions have been blamed for continuing poverty and food insecurity in rangelands. Water interventions in particular have had negative impacts. Not only have these interventions failed to improve the livelihoods of people living there, but in many cases they have served to undermine them and the environment on which they depend. Rangeland development interventions have been sectoral in their approach.
Unfolding analysis reveals two types of land disputes prevalent in postwar northern Uganda: cases that involve a legitimate cause of action and those that do not.1 Since mediation and alternative forms of dispute resolution rely on parties’ willingness to negotiate in good faith, cases featuring ‘bad faith’ and land grabbing—where powerful parties intentionally exploit another person’s vulnerability in order to illegally2 claim land—pose a serious challenge for local land dispute mediators. Such mediators must wrestle with whether and how to remain neutral in the face of injustice.
The animosity created during land contestations makes it impossible for widows, wives and mothers to peacefully settle land claims and use their land. The research evidence provides a platform to advocate for a transformative agenda to improve rural poor women’s access to and control over land and other natural resources. This includes building linkages with the wider advocacy relationships and programmes of International Land Coalition (ILC - www.landcoalition.org).
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