KASSERINE/TUNISIA: Souad Gharsalli lives in a rented flat in the center of Kasserine, in western Tunisia, baking and selling artisanal bread to make money. But she should be growing olive trees for a living, she says.

Gharsalli, 47, grew up with three brothers and six sisters on her family’s 7 hectares (17 acres) of land in the region of Kasserine, on which they grew olive trees and grains.

When their father died in 1997, Gharsalli and her sisters inherited half as much land as their brothers, in accordance with Tunisian law.

WINDHOEK - There is a need to look at ways on creating avenues that would result in more women occupying roles in traditional authorities. This would address some of the social ills women in rural areas are experiencing because of laws that do not necessarily favour women. 

This is according to Wilhelmina Tameca Gaoses, the project manager for the One World, No hunger project at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. 

The Land Portal Foundation and the NRMC Center for Land Governance are partnering with key organizations to hold a series of three webinars on Forest Rights and Governance in India, Land Rights for Slum Dwellers in the East Indian State Odisha: Making technology work for the urban poor and 

With less than two months before the newly amended Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management (VFV) Law goes into force, millions in ethnic rural areas now face the risk of eviction while others across the country may lose their lands upon return.

Labelled by land rights NGO Land In Our Hands (LIOH) as “burdening and oppressive”, the amended VFV Law worries many, as more conflicts are likely to ensue and could tear the already divided country apart once enforced. 

The tensions have highlighted the differences between elected and hereditary leadership

The tensions unfolding over a natural gas pipeline project in northern B.C. have raised questions about who a resource company should consult among Indigenous leaders when pursuing a major project: hereditary chiefs or elected band councils?

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CAIRO - 7 January 2018:The Business for Africa and the World summit, Africa 2018, focuses during its first day on the theme “Women Empowering Africa.” The summit will discuss ways to further empower African women and to enhance their engagement as agents for change in the continent through active participation in shaping economic and social policies. It seeks to mobilize established and emerging women leaders from across Africa to propel their success as well as provide a platform for them to showcase and celebrate their achievements. 

"In many communities, customary law is used as a tool to deny women their rights to housing, property, land, and inheritance."

BANGKOK - An indigenous woman in northern India is taking her fight for inheritance rights to the country's top court, leading others who are pushing back against sexist laws and customs.

Ratan Manjari, who heads the women's rights group Mahila Kalyan Parishad in Himachal Pradesh state, received land she had inherited from her parents - a rare occurrence where she lives.

"Gender, Land and Mining in Pastoralist Tanzania" is the product of rigorous field research over two years by WOLTS team members from Mokoro and HakiMadini. Significant stresses from mining, population growth and climate change, as well as disturbing levels of violence against women have been uncovered in this study of two traditional pastoralist communities in Tanzania. Initial findings are based on repeat rounds of participatory fieldwork by the WOLTS team and have already received attention at national and local level.

Land and water-related conflicts are flaring up across Kenya, amid drought, population growth and high unemployment

By Kagondu Njagi

CHUKA, Kenya - Phyllis Mugeni was watering her greens when she spotted a dozen armed men advancing from the lowlands to attack farmers working on the banks of the River Naka in the foothills of Mount Kenya.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Research Consortium, a new powerful hub for the collection, sharing, and exchange of knowledge on how to effectively advance women’s land rights. We know women’s land rights matter, and the Research Consortium is designed to help us figure out how to ensure these rights are realized.

On February 14th we will examine the most effective strategies to combat women’s diminishing land rights within communities.

Individual titling is the most commonly accepted strategy for protecting women’s land rights, but it it is not without its problems. It can lead to increased domestic violence or result in women being run off their land. The webinar's guest presenters -- Rachael Knight of Namati and Judy Adoko of Land and Equity Movement of Uganda (LEMU) -- suggest a more effective strategy.