Sub-Saharan Africa / Afrique sub-saharienne

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    Large scale land acquisitions for investment in Kenya : is the participation, and benefits of affected local communities meaningful, and equitable? - a case study of the situation in Lamu, Isiolo and Siaya counties
    (Land Development and Governance Institute, 2016) Kibugi, Robert; Mwathane, Ibrahim; Makathimo, Mwenda
    The paper examines the pace of land acquisitions in terms of creating legislative and policy options to safeguard local communities that are directly affected, including compensation for land that is taken, and protecting community interests in the socio-economic and environmental continuum of investment projects, from design to implementation. The absence or weakness of formal landholding and land registration systems was evident in most research sites in Isiolo and Lamu. Putting in place a programme for regularization of tenure rights for those without title is important for enhancing the security of tenure of people affected by compulsory acquisition and land grabbing.
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    Safeguards for communities during acquisition of land for investment purposes
    (Land Development and Governance Institute, 2016-10)
    High levels of poverty and a predominantly rural population raise questions of vulnerability to manipulation during large scale land acquisitions in Kenya. Exposure to negative impacts are inherent where social and environmental safeguards are not deployed to protect the people impacted by involuntary displacement. This brief looks into social, economic and environmental safeguards for communities as the state undertakes compulsory land acquisition for investment purposes, part of the country's main development policy, Vision 2030. Access to information requires that information is made available to the public. As such the report recommends creating a manual for communities faced with possible exploitation.
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    Press release
    (Governance and Development Institute, Blantyre, MW, 2013-11)
    Rural women remain disempowered, have no access to meaningful economic empowerment, few of them own property, and due to these disadvantaged positions, are targets for gender based violence. Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has not been instrumental in informing government policy on development that benefits rural women. Political involvement is low due to lack of road networks, communication systems, markets, schools and access to government structures. This is further impacted by rural women’s inability to articulate their right to development.
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    Political parties brief
    (Governance and Development Institute, Blantyre, MW, 2013)
    Focusing on the strategies that political parties have, or are putting in place to promote young women’s political participation in Malawi, the findings reflect that parties do not have organized strategies for promoting participation of youth and young women in politics. Women fail to participate in politics because they are not economically empowered, and political parties do not have programs that encourage youth participation.
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    Policy brief on young women's political participation
    (Governance and Development Institute, Blantyre, MW, 2013)
    Sections 20 and 24 of the Republican Constitution of Malawi are to the effect that rural women should not be discriminated against. Key findings dictate the need for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development to push for programs that will tackle the barriers that limit young rural women’s political participation, such as a quota system to ensure an increase in the number of young rural women who participate in politics at the local government level. Article 14 of CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) can also be implemented to address particular problems faced by rural women.
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    Young women in political participation in Africa : final technical report
    (Governance and Development Institute, Blantyre, MW, 2013-08) Kabwato, Linda K.
    The research explored how political parties and women in Parliament are supporting young women’s political participation, as well as the extent to which the state is implementing Article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to influence the political participation of young rural women. The general election in 2014 marked twenty years since the first multi-party elections in Malawi. The country is predominantly rural and the majority of women are rural based (86%), hindering their political participation. The national government neglects women’s interests, meanwhile there are a few rural initiatives led by women.
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    Data Base of Women’s Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and National Organizations in Sierra Leone
    (2013)
    The database entails a comprehensive list of organizations, their aims and objectives, numbers of full and part-time employees, numbers of volunteers, organization addresses and main contacts.
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    Breaking barriers empowering young women to participate in democratic politics : manual for facilitators
    (2013)
    In Sierra Leone there are few women in parliament or in senior reaches of government. This manual aims to train at least 100 university students from four tertiary institutions: University of Sierra Leone; Njala University; Bo Campus; Northern Polytechnic and Eastern Polytechnic. Training comprises leadership, political participation, and how to start an advocacy group regarding issues of young women’s political participation and leadership. The content of the manual has been drawn from various training manuals in the 50/50 Group’s “Breaking Barriers: Empowering Women to Participate in Democratic Politics series.”
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    Interrogating Young Women's Political Participation in Post-war Sierra Leone : final technical report (February 2011 – August 2013)
    (Institute for Gender Research and Documentation (INGRADOC), University of Sierra Leone, 2013-09) Fofana Ibrahim, Aisha; Majeks-Walker, Nemata; Thompson, Lena
    Even though youths formed the core of the rebel movement and comprise over 50% of the population, they have, post-war, remained marginalized and excluded from conventional processes of the state and have had little or no say in decisions that matter to them. The picture is worse for young women. The research seeks to understand factors that have enabled women’s participation thus far, as well as entrenched barriers impeding full participation in the political arena. Participants in the study contributed to its design and implementation.
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    Young women political participation in Kenya : a study on the experiences and challenges of young women in political engagement
    (Women's Empowerment Link (WEL), Nairobi, KE, 2014) Mwatha, Regina G.; Mbugua, Grace; Murunga, Godwin
    This research has been undertaken as a collaborative effort between Women's Empowerment Link (WEL), a nongovernmental organization, the Gender Roundtable Series (GRS) formerly based at Kenyatta University and the National Gender & Equality Commission (NGEC); previously known as the National Gender and Development Commission. This study is a collaboration between Women's Empowerment Link (WEL), the Gender Roundtable Series (GRS), and the National Gender & Equality Commission (NGEC). It provides insight in to the minds of young women politicians and aspirants aged 18-35 years. To address the steep barriers young women face, some measures recommended are: targeted strategies to address the socialization processes that exclude girls from leadership and decision making; targeting men through gender awareness programmes; enhancement of youth empowerment programmes; promotion of leadership training programmes for young women; instilling transparency in nomination of candidates for elective positions.
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    Young women's political participation in Kenya : a study on the experiences and challenges of young women in political engagement; technical report
    (Women's Empowerment Link, Nairobi, KE, 2013) Mwatha, Regina; Mbugua, Grace; Murunga, Godwin
    Young women face many barriers in their pursuit of active political roles: this research established that masculinity and the patriarchal nature of politics, lack of resources, and lack of support for young women who seek to assume leadership roles, the impact of societal expectations and stereotypes, insecurity and gender-based humiliation and violence combine to undermine young women’s political ambitions. The reproductive roles of women constitute a challenge to their ascent into leadership. Some women candidates’ experiences are documented.
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    Strengthening young women's leadership capacity : the case of Ethiopian women leaders and female university students; narrative report, 1 February 2011 - 31 July 2013
    (UPEACE Africa Programme, Addis Ababa, ET, 2013-07)
    Research findings show there is limited opportunity for female students to interact, exchange experiences and as well, learn from women leaders in the country. Mentors and mentees met twice a month for a period of three months, in discussions, job shadowing and as partners in leadership in action. UPEACE Africa Programme monitored the process. Training helped students identify their personal vision, mission, and values. The program inspired enthusiasm, belief, commitment and excitement in leadership and the values of leading. An appendix of student thesis assessments is included.
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    Tanzania : Maasai women gain access to land
    (Farm Radio International, Ottawa, ON, CA, 2010) Ceburet, John
    Farm Radio Weekly is a news and information service for rural radio broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa. This online screen-capture/snapshot focuses on the Maasai Women Development Association (MWEDO) which has enabled 850 women from two districts to acquire land. They have achieved this through lobbying for their rights under Tanzania’s Village Land Act of 1999. The Act provides for equal access and ownership of land between men and women.
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    Women's rights and access to land in Africa
    (WRENmedia, 2010) Tsikata, Dzodzi
    Women produce more than 80 per cent of the food in Africa, yet own only one per cent of the land. Despite supportive laws in some countries, women face discrimination, particularly when widowed or divorced. To ensure that women obtain leverage in land matters will require revisiting land distributive mechanisms. If women were able to access credit, they would be able to increasingly break the barriers of the land market and be able to purchase and own land. Snippets of dialogue are quoted in this brief article in relation to land reform and women’s rights.
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    Customary law still bars women’s access to land
    (Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), 2010)
    This article brings the problems of land administration, women’s rights and access to land, and hereditary law into focus. When her husband died, Namukasa did not struggle with his relatives for a share of his estate; she moved back to her own family home in central Uganda with her children. But when her father died, his sisters/her aunts decided that only her younger brother was entitled to a share in the land, and asked her to leave. Uganda's constitution grants women equality and legal protection against discriminatory traditional practice, but there have been no reforms to the law and the constitutional provision has had little impact.
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    Empowering women through access to and control over land in context of gender biased green revolution policies : action research project in Manhiça district, Mozambique
    (Fórum Mulher, Maputo, MZ, 2009) Andrade, Ximena; Cristiano, André; Casimiro, Isabel; Jose, Andre; de Almeida, Irene
    Political strategies for the agrarian sector endanger the right to land for smallholder families, and particularly for women, as the ones who traditionally cultivate the land. This research identifies problems faced by women in access to and control of land in the District of Manhiça (Mozambique). Many men leave their families to work in South Africa. The women have no claim to the land and rely on it for food security. They depend on men to control and register it. Recommendations are made in support of literacy, land reforms, legal information, titles and joint titles for women.
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    Promoting women’s access to and control over land in the Central Highlands of Madagascar
    (2011) Ravoniarisoa, Lilia Hantanirina; Ramiaramanana, Danièle; Ramaroson, Mino Harivelo; Andriamamonjy, Fidy
    The project analysed and supported women’s struggles for their legal and customary rights to access and control of land in two rural regions of the central highlands of Madagascar. As well, the project defined a set of specific objectives which included lobbying for land reform and land administration policies and practices. Women either do not inherit land at all or may receive a small piece of upland from their parents when they get married.
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    Brief project paper : women’s access to land and their household bargaining power; a comparative action research project in patrilineal and matrilineal societies in Malawi
    (2011) Kathewera Banda, Maggie; Kamanga-Njikho, Veronica; Malera, Grace; Mauluka, Gift; Kamwano Mazinga, Martino; Ndhlovu, Stephen
    Land is the primary resource in livelihoods and food security in rural Malawi where communal / customary tenure systems predominate. The research reveals that even in matrilineal society where women own land, it is the man who makes crucial decisions. Customary practices and statutory law should to take into account both women’s and men’s land requirements. In cases where statutory laws fail, customary laws ought to enable women to negotiate their land rights, such as asserting the rights of widows to secure land because of the lobola (bride wealth) paid. Interventions would encompass raising awareness of women regarding their rights while also tackling issues of masculinity.
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    Agrarian land reforms in Zimbabwe : are women beneficiaries or mere agents?
    (Institute of Environmental Studies (IES), University of Zimbabwe (UZ), 2011) Sunungurai, Chingarande; Prisca, Mugabe; Krasposy, Kujinga; Esteri, Magaisa
    This paper specifically addresses the hypothesis that access to land and forest resources is gendered and poverty-related among land reform migrants in Zimbabwe. Post-independence land reform in Zimbabwe has tended to focus on addressing racial imbalances without due attention to other social issues such as gender imbalances. There is disparity in the access to resettlement land between men and women. The two–year project assesses linkages between migration, rural poverty and forest resource management in Chimanimani district in Zimbabwe. Recommendations include coordination of land registration structures so that policy is easily translated and implemented, with involvement of women as key.
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    Women’s rights and “living” customary law
    (2011) Budlender, Debbie; Mgema, Sibongile; Motsepe, Ketleetso
    This project explores women’s rights and customary law in South Africa, and compares regions where land tenure and access may be mitigated by local history and customs. It focuses on land rights, but includes related issues of inheritance, marriage and involvement in decision making processes. Preliminary analysis of the survey results has begun.