The purpose of this publication is to provide detailed guidance for lawmakers and policymakers, as well as civil society organizations and other stakeholders, to support the adoption and effective implementation of laws, policies and programmes to respect, protect and fulfil women’s rights to land and other productive resources. It is based on the results of an expert group meeting held on 25-27 June 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, during which papers were presented from various sectors and regions. These papers, and the discussions which were informed by them, helped to bring to the surface many of the critical issues facing women today in relation to the enjoyment of their land rights. The publication also incorporates additional case studies submitted by key experts, as well as extensive thematic research.

The land itself can be understood to include farmland, wetland, pasture, rangeland, fishery, and forest, as well as harvesting and hunting territories. Throughout this publication, the phrase “women’s rights to land” must be understood holistically and in a manner which is grounded in the international human rights framework. These rights entail the ability of women to own, use, access, control, transfer, inherit and otherwise make decisions about land and related resources. They also encompass women’s rights to secure land tenure and to meaningfully participate at all stages of land law, policy and programme development, from assessment and analysis, programme planning and design, budgeting and financing, and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation. Women’s land rights must also be understood in the context of intersecting forms of discrimination