FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coalitions call for bold investments to secure women’s land rights –
to set the course for a more climate resilient and sustainable future
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Nairobi, 8 March 2022— Leaders and campaigners from across the world today launched Stand for Her Land in Africa, a global advocacy campaign for women’s land rights.
The launch, on International Women’s Day, will link African grassroots organizations with national actors and international champions. Already, nearly 100 groups in Uganda, Senegal, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and worldwide are mobilizing to Stand for Her Land.
Esther Mwaura-Muiru, Global Advocacy Director, Stand for Her Land, said, “When women don’t own the land they live and work on, they become trapped in patriarchal systems that reinforce gender inequalities and restrict their social, economic, and political progress. Through collective action and advocacy, Stand for Her Land is bridging the gap between government commitments and the reality on the ground.”
Women’s land rights are also closely linked to the cross-cutting issues of our time: food security and climate change. Control over land enables women to generate an income and feed themselves and their families. Women’s control over land expands their decision-making ability at home and in communities. They boost their political engagement, influence change, and build climate resilience.
Countries that place women and their land rights at the center of COVID-19 recovery efforts will emerge stronger and more resilient to future crises. It is estimated that closing the gender gap in land ownership could increase yields on women-owned farms by 20 to 30 percent, which could reduce the number of hungry people by 100 to 150 million, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Most women in Africa work and engage in agricultural labor to produce food for communities. Yet few access their legal and social rights to the land they farm. Often strong policies and laws guaranteeing women’s land rights are not being implemented on the ground.
Stand For Her Land calls on
- Donors to invest in women leaders self-advocating for land rights.
- National governments to develop policies to protect women’s land rights in alignment with African Union guidelines.
- Local leaders to implement existing laws that protect women’s land rights and enable women to lead at all levels.
Looking to the future, improving women’s access to land and ownership is crucial if African countries are to meet key Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Stand for Her Land is the first advocacy campaign of its kind to merge local and global efforts to accelerate land rights for women from the ground up. Together with country coalition partners, the campaign is seeking to change the lives of millions of women in Africa, the Americas and South Asia. In Africa, it operates in Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and engages with partners across Kenya to catalyze collective action for land rights for women.
More information about Stand for Her Land as well as local, national, and global coalition partners is available at https://stand4herland.org/.
To arrange a media interview and for further information, please contact:
Lillian Omariba, APCO Social Impact, Stand for Her Land, lillyk30@gmail.com, +254 715 552 396
Tyler Roush, Director of Communications, Landesa, Stand for Her Land Secretariat, tylerr@landesa.org, +1 360 560 3181