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The state of land tenure and land ownership rights for women in Sub-Saharan Africa Conference

by Stefanie Braun

"One World - No Hunger" International Conference

The special initiative “One World-No Hunger – Strengthening Women’s Land Use and Land Ownership Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa” which is implemented not only in Namibia, but also in Malawi and Zimbabwe hosted an international conference in Windhoek, Namibia. During the conference the project managers from the corresponding Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) offices as well as cooperation partners came together to discuss the situation concerning the status of land rights access of women in the countries and the accomplished project activities.

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The international conference took place from the 22.-23.02.2017 at River-Crossing Lodge in Windhoek, Namibia, and was attended by representatives of the project partners and stakeholders: Ministry of Land Reform of Namibia, Regional Councils of Namibia, Women’s Action for Development (Namibia), Legal Assistance Center (Namibia), University of Namibia, Women’s Legal Resources (Malawi), Action Aid Malawi, LandNet Malawi, National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi, Farmers Union of Malawi, Self Help Development Foundation (Zimbabwe), Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association as well as Women and Land in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Thomas Keller, Resident Representative of KAS Namibia and Angola welcomed all participants and emphasized in his speech the connection between access to land and the fighting of hunger and famine, which are unfortunately still part of every day’s life in Africa. In addition Mrs. Andrea Kolb, Team Sub-Saharan Africa, KAS Berlin, especially appreciated the stable and peaceful situation in Namibia in her remarks.

KAS was delighted by the attendance of Hon. Priscilla Boois, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Land Reform, Namibia. In her opening remarks Hon. Boois mentioned that although the land rights access for women in Namibia has already improved through legal adjustments, there are still existing disadvantages for women especially in rural regions where many women still depend on their spouses or families. This challenge was also addressed by Mrs. Louise Shixhwameni, Director Performance Improvement, Office of the Prime Minister of Namibia, in her passionate speech in which she claimed to harmonize the customary land rights with the Namibian Constitution. KAS also appreciated the attendance of the Hon. Chairpersons of the Regional Councils of the four project regions in Namibia: Hon. Gerson Kapenda (Oshana Region), Hon. Modestus Amutse (Omusati Region), Hon. Samuel Shivute (Oshikoto Region), Hon. Erickson Ndawanifa (Ohangwena Region). Their attendance shows the governmental awareness of the project and indicates their efforts to face the women’s situation.

The conference gave the very first opportunity to present the results of the baseline studies from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The presentations gave detailed information on the current situation and legal frameworks in the project countries. Afterwards the various country perspectives were discussed fruitfully by the cooperation partners and KAS representatives which led to good prospects of appropriated next steps in the projects. The project managers Stefanie Braun for Namibia and Dr. Samson Lembani for Malawi and Zimbabwe gave an outlook on their planned project activities, which for Namibia include further workshops with women in rural areas, Traditional Authorities and members of the Communal Land Board as well as publishing information materials and repeating the very successful roadshow during the Ongwediva Trade Fair in August 2017 to raise awareness on women’s land rights.

The conference was very enlightening and helpful for the ongoing project work. KAS thanks Hon. Priscilla Boois, the Chairpersons of the Regional Councils and all partners and stakeholders for their attendance, their sharing of information and fruitful discussions.

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