On Equal Ground: Promising Practices for Realizing Women’s Rights in Collectively Held Lands

Abstract

Sustainable land governance requires that all members of a community, both women and men, have equal rights and say in decisions that affect their collectively-held lands. Unfortunately, women around the world have less land ownership and weaker land rights than men – but this can change, and this report shows ways how that can be done. The reports serves as a valuable guide to realizing more gender-equitable collective land tenure systems by detailing case studies from five communities around the world showing promising approaches to securing equal tenure rights for women and the conditions that enabled these communities to do so. When women have rights and a seat at the table, outcomes such as increased livelihoods and income, improved forest cover, restored land, improved biodiversity are more likely.