Women’s Land & Housing Rights GROUP MEMBERS Justine MacWilliam Amy Walker Erica Reade Ellen Guevara Nipin Gangadharan CLIENT Practicum In International Affairs, Spring ‘08 FACULTY ADVISOR Katy Taylor

The Huairou Commission Global coalition of networks, institutions, individual professionals and grassroots women’s groups Grassroots women: low-income, living and working in rural communities or poor urban centers, rely on land and housing for survival Increases access to resources, information and political space Tools and methodologies: ‘Peer to Peer’ and ‘Bottom-Up’ learning Campaigns Women & Disaster Women & HIV/AIDS Women & Governance Women & Peace Building Women, Land & Housing

The Land & Housing Campaign Increase women’s access to and control over land, housing and property Focus on women’s agency > Visibility of roles and practices > Horizontal transfer of skills > Economic and livelihood capacity building > Participation in decision-making Strategy session at WLLA Land Academy, Uganda, 2008, photograph by Erica Reade

Project: Women’s Land & Housing Rights Analyze issues of women’s access to and control over land, housing and property Identify & locate grassroots strategies in contexts >Themes - HIV/AIDS, Sustainable Development, Emergencies >Regions – Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America Methodology Secondary research Interviews with women Participation in >Commission on Status of Women >Commission on Sustainable Development >Grassroots Land Academy Strategizing at WLLA Land Academy, Uganda, 2008, photograph by Erica Reade

Deliverables Women Land Link Africa (WLLA) Land Academy Report Website inputs Newsletters profiling groups Thematic policy papers Action agenda > Highlighting emergent themes from policy papers > Recommendations for future action Documentation of grassroots women’s groups work Ntankah Village Common Initiative, Cameroon, photograph courtesy of Huairou Commission

Regional Focus: Sub-Saharan Africa Key Issues Land-grabbing and property disinheritance Exclusion from policy- and decision-making Top-down approach to development Highlighting grassroots women’s best practices Grassroots Strategies Land Academies Strategic partnerships Women Land Link Africa (WLLA) Kenyan Woman with Land Title Deed, photograph courtesy of GROOTS Kenya

Women and HIV/AIDS Key Issues Feminization of epidemic Disinheritance of widows Economic last resort: prostitution Grassroots Strategies Watchdog groups Paralegal training Community mapping Advocacy materials, Uganda, 2008, photograph by Erica Reade

Sustainable Development Key Issues Food security Sustainable livelihoods Resource management Resilience-building Access to decision-making Grassroots Strategies Resource pooling Diversification Peer exchanges African women farmers, photograph courtesy of The International Fund for Agricultural Development

Regional Focus: Latin America Key Issues Regularization Agrarian reform Evictions Land dispossession Grassroots Strategies Alliance-building with various national social movements Campaigns: gender inequality not class inequality Professional partnerships Land academies and exchanges Community mapping Latin American women at Grassroots Women’s International Academy, 2002, photograph courtesy of Huairou Commission

Women in Emergencies Key Issues Similarities in impacts irrespective of type Key causation – Lack of ‘Effective’ & ‘Independent’ rights Epidemiological focus of HIV/AIDS interventions Cause-effect cycles – similarities Strategies HIV/AIDS as an emergency Independent rights > Legal/constitutional reform Effective rights - Women > Rights education > Positive peace processes > Changing social norms Photograph courtesy of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, India

Outcomes and Future Use Outreach and advocacy > Website & newsletter > Events – World Urban Forum (WUF-4), China SEEDS journal issue: Women, land and housing in Sub-Saharan Africa Documentation from strategy session at WLLA Land Academy, Uganda, 2008, photograph by Erica Reade Actualizing Action Agenda > Partner consultation > Mainstreaming land and housing throughout all campaigns > Centering land housing in grassroots academies > Partnerships: donors, academics, professionals, governments

More Information HUAIROU COMMISSION 249 Manhattan Avenue Brooklyn, New York NY – 11211, USA Tel: THANK YOU