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Women's Inheritance and Property Rights

WRRC work on women’s inheritance and property rights focused on strategies to counter the disempowering uses of ‘culture’ (including religion,  beliefs, customs and traditions) in three key areas:

  1. Women’s right to inherit land and other forms of property
  2. Women’s right to meher (bridewealth), as provided for in Muslim marriages
  3. Women’s access to land under the control of the State or customary authorities

A Working Group carried out the work and supported strategies of eight partners in seven countries:

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Results 1 - 10 of 15
31/8/2011
WIPR Working Papers

Three working papers for the women's inheritance and property rights theme were written under the WRRC Programme:

23/8/2011
Women’s rights to agricultural land in State laws, Muslim laws and customary laws, a project with Réseau des Femmes Pour la Paix (REFEPA), Niger

REFEPA’s goal in this project was to give voice to women to assert their rights to property and inheritance in the context of State laws, Muslim laws and customary laws. The project undertook action research in two sites – Hamdallahi and Kollo Zarma – and used the following strategies to achieve the above goal:

23/8/2011
Women’s Rights Club, a project with Foundation of Solidarity for Justice, Afghanistan

This project was implemented by the Foundation of Solidarity for Justice (FSJ), an organisation that has been working in Afghanistan to promote human rights, especially the rights of victims from the conflicts of the past three decades. Women’s Rights Club is FSJ’s new initiative to bring together people from different sectors of society to discuss controversial issues related to Afghan women’s rights within tradition and religion, and to raise public awareness about their rights, including rights to inheritance and property.

23/8/2011
WIPR network at the World Social Forum (7-9 February 2011, Dakar, Senegal)

The multi-country network on Women's Inheritance and Property Rights (WIPR) organised panels at the World Social Forum (7-9 February 2011, Dakar), which focused on three key topics:

22/8/2011
WIPR participation in the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15 (Oct 22-24 October 2009, Quezon City, Philippines)

The WIPR Working Group participated in the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15 (Oct 22-24 October 2009, Quezon City, Philippines) by producing a position paper “Addressing men-made disasters: how women have been dispossessed of rights to land, food security and livelihood”, which waspresented on its behalf by Roya Rahmani at the Forum.

 

22/8/2011
Women’s rights to property and inheritance of land, a project with Mutawinat Benevolent Company, Sudan

This project, implemented by Mutawinat Benevolent Company(Mutawinat), sought to secure inheritance rights of Muslim women, which are generally denied in customary practice, even though their rights are recognised in Muslim laws. The project addressed the lack of public awareness of such rights and the stigmatisation of women who demand their inheritance. 

Mutawinat adopted a strategy that included the following aspects:

22/8/2011
WRRC projects with Semarak Cerlang Nusa, Indonesia

Semarak Cerlang Nusa had three projects under the Women's Inheritance and Property Rights working group:

22/8/2011
Capacity Building Workshop on Women’s Inheritance and Property Rights (WIPR), Jakarta, Indonesia, 14 – 17 June 2010

While the first face-to-face WIPR meeting in June 2009 in Dakar, Senegal, had included only working group members, the second face-to-face meeting included working group members and representatives of eight organisations, which had been selected as project partners. In late 2009, in response to a call for proposals, the proposals of these eight organisations had selected through a rigorous review process, out of a total of sixteen proposals received. A second face-to-face workshop was thus organised to build the capacity of these partners to support the implementation of their projects.

22/8/2011
Mapping and Consolidation Meeting on Women's Inheritance and Property Rights, 7-9 June 2009, Dakar, Senegal

This first face-to-face meeting of the working group on Women’s Inheritance and Property Rights (WIPR) achieved the following objectives:

19/8/2011
Building women’s capacity for effective land ownership and inheritance in poor areas, a project with Réseau Africain Pour le Développement Intégré (RADI), Senegal

This project was implemented by RADI to address discrimination suffered by Senagalese women in relation to inheritance and land ownership. Although women’s equal right to inheritance is recognized in the Constitution, certain interpretations of Muslim laws and customary laws continue to discriminate against women in Senegal.  The project was undertaken in the Senegal River Valley, using three strategies: (a) social mobilization, (b) capacity building, and (c) advocacy with decision-makers.