The Platform launches today at the LANDac Annual International Conference 2019.
Read their statement here.
4 July 2019, Utrecht - The International Land Coalition (ILC) is a network of over 250 organisations putting people and communities first in the fight for land rights. Together, our members are challenging inequalities and creating opportunities for securing land rights by working across national boundaries and sectors.
This is especially true for ensuring women have equal access to and control over land. Despite the fact that 164 countries explicitly recognise women's right to own, use and make decisions on equal terms with men, only 52 countries guarantee these rights both in law and practice because of discriminatory customary laws.[1] This is more frequent and perverse for women living in vulnerable conditions and poverty.
Ten strong women leaders from the Coalition have decided to challenge this reality and take matters into their own hands, creating a global platform on Women’s Land Rights – the Feminist Land Platform - which will launch today at the LANDac Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands. The workshop will take place in Dealingroom, from 11:30am to 1:00 pm, under the theme: From Discourse to Practice in Women’s Land Rights; the presenters will share their knowledge of the practices of the women’s organisations from diverse regions around the world.
The women involved have followed their own paths of resistance, fighting for gender equality in their own communities, often under adverse conditions. The work of the platform will reflect the realities and demands of their collective experiences, as they will be the ones setting the agenda.
This also applies to ILC's internal governance structure, which ensures women are given equal space in decision-making. The network has undergone several years of membership expansion and its current leadership is charting a new way forward with strong women represented on the Council.
"ILC has grown a lot over the last years, and the need to give more space and visibility to constituency-based organisations has become even more necessary", confirms Amina Amharech, Founding Member of AZUL, Morocco, accompanied by Patricia Chaves, leader of Espaço Feminista, Brasil. Both women sit on ILC’s governing Council.
“Now we seeing the right conditions for using the ILC as a space to advance women’s land rights and gender justice, both inside and outside of the Coalition’s work”, Amharech reiterated.
Regardless of where women live, Africa, Asia, Latin America, urban or rural areas, they face the same problems related to inequality and rights. And while increasing pressure over land, territories and natural resources is having especially negative impacts on women´s lives and livelihoods, the Feminist Land Platform believes that addressing these issues is not only a question of justice, but sustainability.
By joining forces, the Feminist Land Platform is strengthening their capacities and bringing together their organisations to fight for what should be ensured in term of justice and equality between men and women, regardless of their cultures, religion, sexual preferences or ethnical background.
As the contours of this new platform take shape, it is sure to have a big impact on ILC and on wider civil society spaces.
Participating Organizations:
Plurales, Argentina.
Espaco Feminista, Brasil
Luna Creciente, Ecuador
GROOTS Kenya, Kenya.
Pastoralist Women’s Council – Tanzania
PWESCR – India
AZUL - Morocco
Trashumancia y Naturaleza – Spain
Councilors:
Anne Larson – CIFOR
Kathrin Wessendorf - IWGIA
[1] SIGI 2019 report: https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/sigi-2019-global-report_bc56d212-en#page123