Global commitments to women’s land rights have never been stronger, yet there are gaps in rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of particular strategies to strengthen women’s land rights in practice. In this webinar we will host a forward looking discussion on gaps and opportunities for research on what works to improve women’s land rights. The discussion will build on the findings and conclusions of a recent report by Resource Equity that summarizes the strength and availability of evidence titled: “What Works for Women’s Land and Property Rights?” authored by Renee Giovarelli and Elisa Scalise.
Growing evidence confirms that women’s land and property rights lead to important social and economic outcomes for women and their families. Yet around the world, women remain significantly disadvantaged with regard to their land rights. Even when they are recognized as the primary users or workers on the land, they often lack ownership or control of the land or its economic outputs. Without intervention, women are constrained from meeting basic needs and achieving their aspirations, in part because they are limited by insecure land and property rights.
This raises the question of what kind of intervention works, what do we know and what do we need to know to help design and implement interventions, and sustain lasting change? The “What Works” paper shows us that research to date has been fairly narrowly focused on specific kinds of interventions, in a narrow set of geographical areas and may not correlate with what we know is happening on the ground. How do we understand the gaps so that we can target research and practice on things that we know will make a difference in women’s lives?
This webinar will engage with practitioners, researchers, activists, and donors to identify opportunities and needs for additional research, to inform practice and ultimately close the gender gap on land rights for men and women around the world.
Webinar questions:
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Are there examples of interventions which we might think of as setting standards for the field (and are they sufficiently backed up by evidence)? Or put differently: what can we say “works” for women’s land rights? Is there a bare minimum that every land-related intervention MUST do?
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Given your understanding of the field as it is today, where do you see the biggest needs/opportunities in terms of evidence to support practice on women’s land rights? Examples? Why?
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What do you think are the biggest substantive or technical obstacles to addressing those needs/taking advantage of those opportunities?
Moderator
Renee Giovarelli
Senior Attorney and Advisor
Resource Equity
Panelists
Cheryl Doss
Senior Departmental Lecturer
in Development Economics
and Associate Professor
Oxford University
Joao Montalvao
Development economist
World Bank’s Africa
Gender Innovation Lab
Nana Ama Yirrah
Founder and
Executive Director
Colandef