Climate Change, Land, Gender and the New Commons Jacqueline Leavitt and Ayse Yonder “Integrating Land Governance into the Post-2015 Agenda: Harnessing Synergies for Implementation and Monitoring Impact”, World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2014 conference March 24-27, Washington, DC

Land is important for women, but little is known about their negotiations for accessing land at the local level. Climate change has direct impacts on land use in urban and rural areas and significant implications for access to land. Growing recognition at international level … women are at the centre of the climate change challenge. Women are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts, such as droughts, floods and other extreme weather events, but they also have a critical role in combatting climate change. (UNFCCC) Little is known about the strategies used by organized groups of grassroots women to navigate and adapt to climate change. Introduction

Purpose – To look at two case studies and suggest that a broader sustainable development and community resilience framework is necessary to ensure grassroots women’s secure access to land. Build on existing laws that give protections and direct resources to community-driven organizations that are likely to be women-based.

Multiple barriers to women’s access to land Married women with children, Widows, Single women, Women living with HIV AIDS, Indigenous women, Minority women, Refugees of civil strife, Environmental/ disaster refugees, Age & stage in lifecycle, etc. Adapted from FAO, 2002.

Climate change context Neoliberal policies Decreasing SUPPLY Increasing DEMAND Increased COMPETITION FOR LAND

Case Study – Philippines and DAMPA Increase in Disasters leads to: sex-trafficking, poverty, loss of land title documents, national protection laws for women and land are not enforced DAMPA: offers a model community protection

Case Study – Philippines, DAMPA urban/rural federation 217 organizations 50 to 600 members/group about 85% women DAMPA strategies secure leadership control secure water & electricity secure land secure housing

Case Study – Philippines, DAMPA Land Strategies negotiated settlement with government land sharing with private and public institutions Also direct purchase of land from private parties Sitio Crusher Barangay stopped evictions of 33 households

Case Study – Philippines, DAMPA Lessons learned: DAMPA models Everyday strategies applied in disasters Women’s participation in local government Direct action with agencies regarding infrastructure Organize residents to negotiate with National Housing Agency Establish volunteer peace enforcers Select appropriate strategies for acquiring land Lawsuit and/or negotiate w/private landlord, homeowners association Research land titles Alliance with pro bono lawyers Use government such as court appointed mediators Collaborate with private parties Acquire expertise in legal issues

Case Study – Tanzania and MWEDO Northern Tanzania, a region vulnerable to draughts - Livelihoods and culture of Maasai pastoralists are threatened Shrinking of grazing lands & access to water and conflicts - due to expansion of conservation areas, large scale tourism investments and land grab, population growth, expansion of agricultural cultivation & settlements, deforestation. Lack of services in remote areas, rising fuel + food prices - men seek employment elsewhere More frequent draughts - hunger, related diseases Women have equal rights under law but discriminated under customary law

Case Study – MWEDO (Maasai Women’s Development Organization) Regional women led (membership) organization Network of 80 women’s groups > 5,000 grassroots women MWEDO strategies – Economic empowerment access to land enterprise development access to markets Education access (girls & adult women) Community health Secondary school for girls and Kipok community health center

Case Study – Tanzania and MWEDO Land Strategies Negotiations w/local governments & traditional authorities Trainings on land/property rights, formation of Community Paralegals Documentation of land holdings Engaging in sustainable agriculture, tree planting, etc. Joining regional and global networks (Women Land Link Africa, HC) MWEDO members from the Longido district at a meeting on local justice

Case Study – Tanzania and MWEDO Lessons learned -Build on customary practice in developing new strategies for adaptation -Build women’s confidence, agency & participation in local governance -Raise community awareness about women’s property & civil rights -Engage local governments/customary leaders in local-to-local dialogues -Support preparations of applications, documentation of land holdings, and ensure land documents are safely stored with village authorities -Use community based solutions to meet women’s multiple concerns - - improve community health conditions - help establish small enterprises - educate the next generations and improve adult literacy

Conclusion Women’s & poor communities’ access/control over land is essential for adaptation to climate change. Legal measures are insufficient. Community-based protection/vulnerability reduction models should be resourced. Women’s organizing must be supported for secure tenure and community resilience. Resilience implies going beyond adaptation- Achieving resilience is a transformative process which builds on the innate strength of individuals, their communities, and institutions to prevent, mitigate the impacts of, and learn from the experience of shocks of any type, internal or external; natural or man-made; economic, health-related, political, or social. (Helen Clarke (UNDP) Putting Resilience at the Heart of the Development Agenda - 16 April 2012)

Need to think about women’s efforts to strengthen community resilience in relation the idea of a new global commons - as one based not only on physical resources but as P. B. Hartzog writes: “the global commons is anything that requires a fair and equitable distribution and without which human civilization would collapse", such as "land, rights to food, shelter, clothing, and basic necessities, information and information age technologies, green technologies, education, etc.” (2010, p. 23)

Thank you!