Could Mapping initiatives catalyse the interpretation of customary land rights in ways that secure women’s land rights? Gaynor Paradza Lebogang Mokwena

(insecure)Customary Land rights Marginalised from decision-making HIV and AIDS Unstable domestic unit Male bias in headship and registration initiative patriarchy Large scale land based investments Conflict Urbanisation Derived rights

Overview of mapping initiatives Mapping and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technologies working with grassroots communities to raise their awareness of the legal framework that governs public, private, and communal access, use, ownership, and disposal of land and natural resources; building the capacity of and providing support to communities residing in communal land tenure areas vis-à-vis applying for formal recognition (and, where applicable) certification of or titles for their communal or household land rights; and identifying, working with, and ensuring the participation of designated groups, particularly women

outcomes Formally identify customary claims Recognise community vision and use of natural resources Address challenges in existing regulatory frameworks Boundary mapping Conflict resolution Inform land distribution Land use mapping Generate documentary proof of land claim to facilitate formal recognition Mediate risk of boundary encroachment Identify multiple land use /claims Facilitate visual appreciation

Stakeholder Roles Communitycommunity mobilisation, community sensitisation mapping, validation Statelegal framework,technical support, records Civil Society organisationtechnical support, mediation Development Partners funding,set conditions

How does mapping catalyse Women’s Land Claims Increased participation in decision-making Highlights secondary claims to land Recognises common resource claims e.g water pastures Increases visibility of multiple land uses and claims Highlight vulnerability of women’s land claims and resources they use Improve governance by enhancing transparency and reduce corruption one of the institutions that undermine women’s land claims Increased visibility of customary land claims by bringing them into the public domain By bringing customary claims into other platforms like mapping increased platforms through which women can negotiate and defend land claims Identify winners and losers of proposed land transactions

Mozambique In Mozambique the law is very clear on the steps to be followed in registering community land. Lei de Terras explicitly grants women equal rights in community property and their participation in every component of community land related governance The Lei de Terras (1997) makes it mandatory for women to be acknowledged at every step of the land delimitation process.

Uganda: Proportional Representation 1988 Land Act &conferred legal rights to customary tenure land rights 2013 land policy recognised customary land tenure was at par with other land tenure systems in Uganda Land Acts provides for the establishment of Communal Land Associations for the purposes of managing communal land resources The CLA is the legal entity that can map and register land on behalf of the community specifies that a third of the Communal Land Association (CLA) executive committee members must be women Women participated in mapping

Benin: Development Partner-catalysed MCA : Gender mainstreaming and amendment of gender blind legislation was a precondition for support Included mapping Women-only groups constituted to inform mapping Subjecting maps for community validation Use of gender sensitive indicators for monitoring Calling for recognition of man’s customary obligation to provide spouse with land Assume joint spousal control of land Mapping of secondary land claims

STDM: Zambia In 2014, the Huairou Commission UN-Habitat - GLTN has a mission to Zambia is to support an initiative to engender land administration through the use of Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM). Huairou Commission aims to support young grassroots women leaders to build on the existing STDM tool highlight the social tenure relationships of women over land, housing and natural resources under customary tenure arrangements Used gender to inform the questionnaire e.g quality of land Women paralegals Teaching women how to map

Challenges Expense Long term Generate conflict Domestic unit biased towards statutory marriages Sustainability Relationship to pre-existing institutions Legal recognition Resistance Choices and consequences Women and literacy and documentation interventions