Eastern DRC is home to part of the world's second-largest rainforest after the Amazon, which harbors the last remaining mountain gorillas on the planet. However, this diversity and abundance of natural resources help finance rebellions that are undermining the country and destabilizing the entire African Great Lakes region.

On International Women’s Day, we reflect on the intersection of land rights and gender equity through a compilation of resources featured on the Land Portal’s platform. Women’s access to and control over land is fundamental to achieving sustainable development, economic empowerment, and social justice. However, despite international commitments, structural barriers continue to hinder women’s full participation in land governance.

The past few weeks have been critical (and uncertain!) for those of us fighting for the core principles of accountability, transparency, and due process. The Land Portal is proud to be part of this important work, providing the tools and resources needed to ensure land rights are protected and governance is strengthened through transparency and accessibility.

Development organizations that, in principle, support open data should focus more on releasing project-generated data for others to analyze and re-use. Producing written reports in the middle or end of project cycles is good practice, but not enough to maximize the knowledge captured from projects or for independent audits by third parties. This applies particularly to projects with land governance objectives, as governments – the usual custodians of land-related data – are only minimally opening these datasets up to the public.