The Human Right to Land: a Gender Approach to Land Issues in Sub-saharan Africa

Abstract

The increasing global rush for natural resources, as well as social structures that foster gender discrimination, negatively affect rural women’s access to, control over and use of land in developing countries. This study aims to explore the status of the right to land under international human rights law, with a gendered focus on land issues in Sub-saharan Africa. It begins with an analysis of the current normative human rights framework as far as land is concerned. Although an explicit universal right to land has not been recognized yet, access to land is a precondition for an equal access to food and housing; as an item of cultural liberty, especially critical for indigenous peoples; and as a requirement for gender equality. The second chapter will explore the major obstacles to the realization of women’s land rights in Sub-saharan Africa, where they play a crucial role in maintaining and improving rural livelihoods and strengthening their communities. Factors that contribute to discriminatory stereotypes and practices include the parallel existence of often overlapping and conflicting statutory and customary laws and authorities. In this context, it will be examined how regional and national courts have dealt with women’s human rights violations, and it will be drawn a comparison between the Inter-American and African systems. Finally, in the last section it will be considered the contribution of civil society and social movements to the recognition of the human right to land in SSA. Through specific case studies, it will be shown how women at the grassroots have adopted and continue to adopt various strategies to secure their land rights across the continent. It will be argued that they play a crucial role in addressing gender justice in land tenure governance and that their struggle widely contributes to frame the right to land within the human rights agenda.