As Resource Equity turns four, we are reflecting on what motivated us to begin, and why we continue: ensuring women’s rights to land and natural resources are at the center of our work. We founded Resource Equity four years ago in order to center women in our work, and to ensure that women’s experiences, needs, and desires drive what we do. We know that secure land and resource rights are a critical building block that provide women, and their families and communities, the opportunity to prosper. However, for a long time, women’s voices have been excluded from land and resource […]
Tag: Women’s Land Rights
As We Turn Four We Want to Say Thank You!%3$s>
Our Thoughts on the International Day of Rural Women%3$s>
By Kat Oak
There is not just one story for rural women—whether they are farmers, miners, mothers, or daughters. On October 15th it was the International Day of Rural Women, a day to reflect on the diversity of rural women, and to shine a spotlight on women who are part of the agrarian community. Talking with female miners in Uganda recently, I learned how the lives of women who live in rural areas are impacted by so many different factors beyond their control—climate, weather, health, men, local markets, outside investors and speculators, laws, and government programs. These women, facing insecurity in their rights […]
Three Cheers for the Gender-Inclusive Prindex Report%3$s>
By Kat Oak
I have talked to women in at least 15 countries—in their homes, their gardens, their fields, their pastures, their universities, their community organizations, their government and executive offices, and their courtrooms. When asked about rural women’s land use or rights or ownership or livelihood, the thing that usually stands out to me is that most women say, in one form or another, that rural women are generally able to use land, and sometimes even control land, when they are in an intact family. But when the family breaks down—because of divorce, death, abuse, or even polygamy—women often are the ones […]
What’s “Me Too” Got to do with it?%3$s>
By Kat Oak
As I reflect back on my eight years of experience working in the field of women’s land rights, I am struck most by the similarities I’ve found—not just among the women I’ve worked with and spoken to in the developing world, but among all the women I have met, everywhere. In my work, I have the opportunity and privilege to speak with women, mostly from rural areas, in groups and individually. Whether in Kenya, India, or Ghana, women want basic, simple things: good nutrition, education, healthcare, and peace, for their families and for themselves. Frequently that means they need help […]
Titling and Registration Updates%3$s>
By Kat Oak
Six studies have been curated and added to the Titling and Registration topic section of the Research Consortium website. The studies are from 2017 and 2018 and look at titling and registration interventions in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda. The outcomes measured are agricultural investment (one new study); inclusivity (three new studies); and increased bargaining power (two new studies). These additional studies add to our knowledge of the benefit of ensuring that women’s names as well as men’s names are included on land documents. They also indicate that even with positive law and sincere effort, women within male-headed households do not always […]
International Widows Day and Women’s Land Rights%3$s>
By Kat Oak
Becoming a widow is a terrible experience, no matter who you are or where you live. But for some women, the loss of a husband is only the first in a series of losses. In addition to dealing with the pain and loneliness of losing a spouse, widows in many parts of the world are also dispossessed of their land and their homes, becoming outcasts from their communities. Dispossession In many places, women depend on men for access to the land on which they rely for housing and for their livelihoods. When those relationships are interrupted, as when a husband […]
How We Curate Content for the Research Consortium%3$s>
By Kat Oak
The idea behind the Research Consortium is to create a hub for the collection, sharing, and exchange of knowledge on how to effectively advance women’s land rights. One of the spokes on that hub is the website, which is a repository for curated content on what we know about interventions that have been tried. Curating the content for these important topics begins with gathering, vetting, and summarizing studies that answer specific questions to create a better understanding of what we know and don’t know about our efforts to secure women’s land rights, and then sharing that knowledge with researchers and […]
Her Land Her Story and the Importance of Centering Women in our Work%3$s>
By Kat Oak
On Friday, April 20th, I had the pleasure of participating in the Her Land Her Story webinar, co-hosted by the Cadasta Foundation, the Land Portal Foundation, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It was a wonderful chance to learn more about the Her Land Her Story campaign, which launched on International Women’s Day and ran until April 13th. It featured the stories of 27 different women from around the world to raise awareness of the importance of women’s land rights. The panelists included representatives from Cadasta, Land Portal, Landesa, and Suelo Urbano. What […]