Land and Property Rights

Policymakers should ensure that women and men are treated equally in the public allocation of land. Eligibility for land reform programs, for example. should not discriminate against women's perform claims whether the women are heads of households or members of households headed by men. When communities have been resettled or when a project allocates land to participating producers, women should have the same rights to land as men For refugee and displaced women returning to their homelands. often as de facto heads of households. need fair and equal treatment to allow them to establish a Farming or enterprise base as soon as possible. Whet-e land is in short supply, it may be necessary to recognize the land rights of certain groups, as well as their individual rights. The Indian National Sericulture Project is an example; it has leased land to women's groups and promoted women's access to land under state land-grant schemes (Quisumbilig 1994).

Some countries have enacted legislation to ensure gender equality in property and contractual rights. Under China's Law of Succession, for example males and females have equal rights to inheritance. Complementary measures are needed to ensure that women know their rights. Such measures include legal programs and campaigns to make judges and administrators sensitive to gender issues in the area of property rights (see box 2.1)