Development Workshop worked with ARD and its partner, the Rural Development Institute (RDI) to implement a program supported by USAID called “Strenghtening Land Tenure
and Property Rights in Angola”. The program implemented between 2006 and 2008 aimed at helping the Angolan Government to address land tenure and property rights issues early on in the post-conflict strategy of national development. Land access, land possession, and land rights (land tenure) are among the most significant issues confronting post-conflict Angola, as they
typically affect displaced peoples and returning combatants. The sequence of land reforms leading to secure land tenure and property rights contributes to good local governance, economic growth, and sustainable natural resources use.The project has set the groundwork for land concessions, eventual land tenure regularisation, land markets, sustainable agricultural development, and
economic growth. Women’s access to land and housing, and the type and strength of women’s rights to land and housing, have been recognized as an important development issue. Secure property rights for women can have an impact on intra-household decision making, income pooling and acquisition, and women’s overall role and position in the household and community. This study attempts to further the body of work on gender relations and land tenure and property rights by examining successful interventions that have improved and strengthened women’s access to and control over land. In this way, the study seeks to identify best practices and lessons learned with regard to integrating gender concerns and focus in relation to the five land issues identified in USAID’s LTPR Matrix. These are: • Conflict and/or instability that impact land rights, • Insecure tenure rights, • Landlessness and land redistribution, • Land markets and their influence on communal and individual ownership, and • Natural resources (pastures, wetlands, forests) management.
Women Property Rights – Project BestPractices
October 1, 2006