Synthesis report – gender & collectively held land
This report (PDF) by Landesa gives recommendations on interventions to strengthen collective tenure and ensure that both women and men benefit from the improved land tenure security. The report synthesizes findings from six case studies from China, Ghana, India, the Kyrgyz Republic, Namibia, and Peru. While efforts to address gender in land tenure reforms are increasing, work to improve tenure security of collective land is relatively new. Largely understudied is the intersection between gender and collective tenure security reforms. Land is a critical asset for women and men, and land held in collective tenure can be particularly important for women because their livelihoods often depend upon it. In the rush to provide secure land tenure for communities there is a risk that women’s rights will not be documented or secured, thus weakening their rights to the collective land. The report recommends that project planners take seven measures while planning, implementing, and assessing interventions to strengthen collective tenure. One of them is to identify what formal legal rights women hold within the collective tenure context and what legal changes are necessary to improve women’s land tenure security. It is crucial that women be consulted and empowered in order to ensure that they benefit from collective land tenure reforms.