Women’s Land Rights in Rwanda: How Can They Be Protected and Strengthened as the Land Law is Implemented?

Citation:

Brown, Jennifer, and Justine Uvuza. 2006. Women’s Land Rights in Rwanda: How can they be protected and strengthened as the Land Law is implemented? Seattle: Rural Development Institute.

Authors: Jennifer Brown, Justine Uvuza

Abstract:

This report discusses the importance of strengthening women’s rights to land in Rwanda, a country where civil war, genocide and HIV/AIDS have resulted in female-headed households constituting 30 percent of all households in the country. As in much of the developing world, women in Rwanda are heavily involved in and dependent on agriculture. However, despite women’s dependence on land, their access to land generally hinges on their relationships with their birth or marital families and they rarely hold land in their own right. Women in Rwanda still face customary restrictions on land acquisition. The report provides research findings of women’s current land rights, including the rights of women widowed from HIV/AIDS and the Rwandan genocide. The report also discusses Rwanda’s new body of land legislation, RDI’s efforts to develop complementary land legislation to ensure that women’s land rights are taken into careful account, and suggested next steps. (Abstract from Zunia)

Topics: Gender, Women, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2006