On the 2019 International Day of Rural Women, Landesa’s Shipra Deo explores how land rights are an essential element for overturning misperceptions about the role of women in society and on the farm.
In a workshop with a group of agronomists who work in agriculture extension in India, I ask the participants to draw the picture of a farmer with whom they work. All but one of them draw male figures.
By Amber Rouleau, communications officer for African Women Rising.
Read the orignial version here.
SANTA BARBARA, California, USA, Nov 8 2018 (IPS) - While its conflict ended in 2007, Northern Uganda struggles with its legacy as one of the most aid-dependent regions in the world.
By Chris Hufstader
After an audacious land grab by a foreign company, indigenous women in a remote Cambodian village struggle to regain their farms and sacred sites.
Sol Preng remembers vividly the day in 2012 when bulldozers unexpectedly arrived on her family farm.
“The company came and cleared away our cashew trees right before the harvest,” she says. “I lost four hectares of land and all my cashew trees.”
By Deborah Espinosa and Patrick Gallagher, USAID’s Land Technology Solutions Program
Persistent and pervasive gender inequality is a global development challenge that constrains economic growth, educational opportunities, and health outcomes. It jeopardizes food security and undermines poverty reduction strategies. The world over, some formal and many informal laws and customs operate to hinder women’s empowerment and thus their full potential as agents of economic and social change.
As a human rights organisation, gender justice is a fundamental principle of our work, and we have long been conscious of, and sought to address, the barriers to effective participation in decision-making by women, as well as the other human rights violations they may face on account of their gender.
I have talked to women in at least 15 countries—in their homes, their gardens, their fields, their pastures, their universities, their community organizations, their government and executive offices, and their courtrooms. When asked about rural women’s land use or rights or ownership or livelihood, the thing that usually stands out to me is that most women say, in one form or another, that rural women are generally able to use land, and sometimes even control land, when they are in an intact family.
This week in Geneva, the Human Rights Council is expected to take a position on the follow-up to a draft Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Persons Working in Rural Areas. Five years after the start of the negotiations, we are at a turning point.
This month marks women’s month and now, more than ever, women and men alike are coming together in abundant numbers, encouraging and rallying for the strength of women everywhere. We took a few moments to sit down with but a few of the inspiring women who attended the Arab Land Conference from the 26-28 of February in Dubai. Scroll down to hear their inspiring thoughts.
From the 26-28 of February, 2018, the First Arab Land Conference, organized by UN Habitat, the World Bank, the Global Land Tool Network, the League of Arab States, the Arabian Union for Surveying and the Dubai Land Department took place in Dubai. Taking place in one of the most quickly developed parts of the region, the palpable enthusiasm felt throughout the event was because it truly was the first of its kind. No other conference has yet brought together land experts from around the Arab world.
In my experience living and working on land rights, I have identified eight land-related topics that need to be prioritized and urgently addressed in India. These must be addressed no only by government at both the national and especially the state level, but also by civil society, researchers, and donors.
