There is much interest in using customary marine tenure (CMT) as a basis for community-based fisheries management (CBFM) in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The laws of PICs lend general support to the use of CMT or tradition in fisheries management. Still, only modest efforts in the use of…

Two important resolutions for women were adopted by the United Nations last year. One was the UNHABITAT Resolution on “Women's Role and Rights in Human Settlements Development and Slum Upgrading” and the other was the Commission on Human Rights Resolution on “Women's Equal…

In recent years, the traditional public right to fish in dital waters has been supplanted by limitations on access to the stocks, particularly for commercial fishers. This is achieved by statutory schemes establishing rights of varying natures. Where these rights are fully established, they…

In recent years, local people and rural communities have assumed increasing prominence in strategies for natural resource management.This paper briefly reviews some of the central legal issues that are associated with this shift. In doing so, its goals are limited. It does not ad dress…

What are the links between HIV/AIDS and women's property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)? This paper asks if women's lack of rights increases household poverty and their own vulnerability to infection, and if securing these rights can reduce the impacts of the epidemic on poverty.…

In the light of the global discussion on
reducing public and private expenditure on
cadastral processes and services, this
article reviews the transaction costs of
land registration, based on data gathered in
Namibia. The data show a large
differentiation in…

The report summarises the papers, presentations and discussions of a workshop on failures and achievements at securing women’s land rights. In particular, it addresses the following issues: Land rights and legal reforms,legal aid and land administration practice, women's land rights in an…

The FAO Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service (FIRI) has been active in promoting the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing in fisheries and aquaculture since 1985. However, a manual to use along with GIS software for the fisheries biologists in the field…

This publication comes out of the Gender, Citizenship and Governance programme of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Netherlands. The project aimed to develop good practice in changing governance institutions to promote gender equality, enhance citizen participation and build accountability of…

These Regulations, made in terms of section 45 of the Communal Land Reform Act, provide with respect to a wide variety of matters concerning communal land and communal land rights. Part I deals with (application for) customary land rights. It specifies the maximum size of land that may be held…

This publication discusses the linkages between agriculture and HIV/AIDS through three case studies (Uganda, Namibia and Zambia). It emphasises vulnerability of women and orphans with insecure property rights.

[From the executive summary] In 2002, through research involving 1 889 rural…