Advancing Gendered and Women’s Land Tenure Rights in Central and West Africa World Bank, 16 th Annual Land and Poverty Conference Mars 2015 Authors: Solange Bandiaky-Badji, Cecile Ndjebet, Julie T.B. Weah, and Patience Fielding The Case for Liberia and Cameroon

2  Ongoing Land reforms:  Liberia: creation of Land Commission in 2009; adoption of the Land Rights Policy in May 2013; Land Rights Act soon to be enacted  Cameroon: started in 2011; draft law to be adopted by Parliament in March 2015!  Women face particular challenges in advancing and securing their rights to land in national reform processes  Women organizing for change:  Foundation for Community Initiative (FCI) and women’s platforms in counties (Liberia)  The African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF-Cameroon) Introduction

3  Methodology  Gender analysis of statutory and customary land laws in Liberia and Cameroon  Lessons learned  Recommendations to stimulate immediate actions and further debate on women’s rights in land reform processes Outline

4  Liberia  Gather information on the views and perception of key stakeholders in the sector as well as of women in several counties on gaps, challenges, and proposals  Cameroon  Field research and dialogues with Traditional Chiefs on customary regimes in the Eastern, Central, Northern, and Southwestern regions of Cameroon  Gender analysis of existing land laws and policies  Dialogues with government officials, parliamentarians, legislators, paramount chiefs, traditional chiefs Methodology

5 Liberia: policy gains in advancing women’s land rights  1986 Liberian Constitution  “Every person shall have the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.” Article 22 (a)  Provides the basis for the application in court of both customary and statutory laws ; sets the legal framework for the application in the courts of customary land issues that affect most rural people including women.  Laws and policies intended to advance equality for women and men in property acquisition and land  The Domestic Relations and Inheritance Act of 1998 specifically highlights equal rights in marriage and inheritance under Customary and Statutory Laws  The 2003 Act to Govern the Devolution of Estates and Establish Rights of Inheritance for spouses of Statutory and Customary Marriages also called the Equal Rights of the Customary Marriage Law of 1998  The Land Rights Policy : “equal protection to the land rights of men and women”  Liberia is signatory to several regional and international treaties, conventions and initiatives that strive to protect and promote the rights of women

6 Liberia: shortcomings in the legal framework  Despite the provision found in the Constitution  Article 22, women in rural parts of the country are sill the victims of discriminatory practices in terms of access and ownership of land.  Article 24 indicates that the state guarantees the inviolability of property rights but then authorizes expropriation of property during armed conflicts and for the public good and safety.  Although the Land Rights Policy is progressive:  It does not provide any safeguards for the protection of women’s tenure rights  The language acknowledges user rights for women but no control or ownership rights. In spite of the legal provisions that allow women to own land and participate in society’s socio-economic life, women are still far from fully benefiting from these legal provisions.

7 Cameroon : gender neutral and silent land laws  The national gender policy (2011): “The systematic elimination of inequality between men and women at all levels”  However, it does not address customary barriers to gender equity directly, nor does it address the existing inconsistencies among land, forest and other laws affecting natural resources  The Land Law of 1974 (Ordinance n.74-1 of July 6, 1974, establishing the tenure regime)  Limited to articulating and guaranteeing property rights in a generic manner, without considering the characteristics of different social classes, particularly the situation of women  Decree on Land Titling (Decree n of April 27, 1976, establishing the conditions for obtaining property title)  Limited to recognizing that anyone who occupies or farms a piece of land that is part of the national domain has the right to seek a land title  Very general, without raising any specific questions with regard to gender: women have usufruct rights but no control over land.

8 Liberia : Women’s land and property rights in customary laws  Women access land through a male figure whether a husband, brother or uncle  Prior to 2003, an Indigenous woman had no rights over her husband’s property when he died  The Inheritance Law of 2003: equal property rights to women who are married under customary law, adequate protection to surviving spouses of such marriage  The 2003 amendment ends the difference in the enjoyment of property rights for women who are married under statutory and those under customary law

9 Liberia : Women in customary regimes Scaling the Fence or Breaking Barriers  A close reading of the Inheritance Law of 2003 indicates that:  Widowed women are still not granted full inheritance rights in Liberia  The language of the law is still very weak and does not guarantee full protection for women claiming inheritance rights under customary law  Progress has been made mainly in inheritance legislation but not in land legislation, which does not go far enough in finding remedies to the issues around the rights of men and women in land ownership

10 Cameroon: women in collective customary tenure regimes  Land is something to be collectively owned; private property does not exist in the community, whether it is a question of men or women  Land is not individual property; it should rather be considered in relation to its differing uses and means of access (sex, age, social class, profession, etc.)  Inheritance offers access and ownership to land: patrilineal (few exceptions)  Access to land for women is precarious because it depends on her marital status. The customary right to land access can be revoked the second a woman marries, divorces, or loses her spouse

11 Lessons Learned from Liberia Securing women’s land and property rights require decisive actions and targeted interventions  Men and women are afforded the same rights under the Constitution and statutory land laws, but in practice there are gendered differences  In communities guided primarily by customary law, women struggle to enjoy the rights granted to them  Bridging the disparities between men and women in Liberian society requires much more than the half-hearted changes that have been made in law and policy  The government has made some level of progress in developing the required legal and policy framework to address some of the inequalities faced by women  However, the challenges women face and their overall situation requires more than the subtle changes that have been made.  The underlying issues are much more complicated, requiring decisive actions and targeted interventions

12 Lessons Learned from Cameroon A platform for dialogue between women and traditional chiefs  Customary rules are poorly understood and are consequently poorly interpreted and applied  Customary arrangements for land management allow women to access land, but through unreliable means that are dependent on their marital status  In rural areas where customs hold a strong influence over land management:  Engage women and traditional leaders in a dialogue on particular issues  Encourage collaboration between women and traditional leaders to enhance the status of women within customary arrangements

13 CONCLUSION  All Constitutions in Africa, like those for Liberia and Cameroon, have the clause of Equal Protection, but the clause does not guarantee equal protection or equal rights  Changes in law are not enough to ensure gender equality or address inequality between women and men  Mandatory equal representation of men and women on decision- making bodies may not totally address the problem of the marginalization of women

14 Additional measures are necessary to fully realize gender equity and women’s land and property rights 1.Initiate national dialogue to brainstorm and agree on ways forward 2.Build the capacity of NGOs working on gender and women’s issues 3.Democratize local decision-making to address the exclusion of women and facilitate change in the power dynamics between men and women 4.Build alliances and networks to tackle the issues of women’s exclusion and marginalization – these are relational and structural 5.Expand the livelihood options available to women and enable them to have greater control over their lives

15 Thank you!