This study was commissioned by the UNDP Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification (GPCNairobi) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), in order to explore issues of dryland women’s land rights. It is a series of reports on dryland women which includes Land Rights (Thematic Paper 1), Governance (Thematic Paper 2) and Resilience (Thematic Paper 3).
Women’s land rights and their importance for women’s empowerment and development goals have gained increased prominence in recent years. However, gender inequality in land rights in dryland countries and in developing countries more broadly remains pervasive. This is related to discriminatory socio-cultural norms in customary and statutory institutions and practices, along with the lack of women’s representation in decision making. At the same time, land rights in the drylands are also precarious. There are a number of challenges to achieving land rights in the drylands. This includes inappropriate land tenure policies that have traditionally ignored important features of dryland land governance, such as communal property and mobility. The prevalence of both customary and statutory tenure systems in the drylands leads to contexts where multiple sources of rights exist alongside one another leading to instances of abuse, and the lack of local
governance capacity is an enduring challenge.
A number of opportunities exist for dryland women’s empowerment with respect to land in international research, policy, dialogue and practical action. There is increased international attention on women’s land rights among global institutions and international development organizations. There is growing pressure for progressive legislation on women’s land rights, with increasing examples of such implementation across the world, including in dryland countries. Greater recognition of the value of dryland systems per se along with more enabling statutory
frameworks, presents opportunities to work with customary and local systems to increase gender equality for land rights in the drylands. Other opportunities include the expansion of democratization and decentralization, growing social movements on women’s land rights and women’s collective action.
