Grassroots Women Grassroots Women Organizing to Secure Key Organizing to Secure Key AssetsAssets

Jan Peterson,Jan Peterson,Chair of the Huairou CommissionChair of the Huairou Commission

Why land matters for Why land matters for womenwomen

Land is a vital asset Land is a vital asset for ensuring women’s for ensuring women’s security and security and empowerment. Just empowerment. Just ensuring employment ensuring employment is not enough.is not enough.

Grassroots women Grassroots women are finding effective are finding effective ways to secure ways to secure control over land, control over land, housing and basic housing and basic servicesservices

We are calling for new forms of We are calling for new forms of partnerships and resource partnerships and resource

allocations so that organized groups allocations so that organized groups of poor women can build a collective of poor women can build a collective

action platform to exert effective action platform to exert effective control over land, housing, property control over land, housing, property

and other productive assets.and other productive assets.

The gendered asset gap is nothing The gendered asset gap is nothing newnew

Slum/Shackdwellers International works Slum/Shackdwellers International works on securing housing and land rights by on securing housing and land rights by creating mass organizing, based on creating mass organizing, based on changing how knowledge is produced changing how knowledge is produced and who owns and controls that and who owns and controls that knowledgeknowledge

The Huairou CommissionThe Huairou Commission GROOTS InternationalGROOTS International StreetnetStreetnet

Grassroots centered networks are Grassroots centered networks are shifting power-relations and shifting power-relations and helping grassroots women to helping grassroots women to secure landsecure land

Key elements of our Key elements of our approachapproach

Casting women in the role of partnersCasting women in the role of partners Mobilizing community based organizations Mobilizing community based organizations Putting information in the hands of women.Putting information in the hands of women. Creating safe spaces for women and childrenCreating safe spaces for women and children Making institutions responsive and Making institutions responsive and

accountable to communities. accountable to communities. Restoring, diversifying and upgrading Restoring, diversifying and upgrading

livelihoods to collective enterpriselivelihoods to collective enterprise Transferring innovations through peer Transferring innovations through peer

exchangeexchange

Huairou CommissionHuairou Commission

Campaigns are based Campaigns are based in women’s on the in women’s on the ground collective ground collective organizingorganizing

AIDS - Disaster - Governance - Land

Women’s groups Women’s groups engage in engage in negotiations with negotiations with decision-makers local decision-makers local to global to ensure to global to ensure their priorities are their priorities are included in planning, included in planning, policy-making and policy-making and resource allocationresource allocation

An entry point to engage An entry point to engage partners: Land Mappingpartners: Land Mapping Land and property rights Land and property rights

generally understood as generally understood as issues simply of legal issues simply of legal reform and literacyreform and literacy

Grassroots-led mapping Grassroots-led mapping allows women to allows women to undertake more complex undertake more complex analysis of actors and analysis of actors and power relationspower relations

Mapping changes the way Mapping changes the way knowledge is produced and knowledge is produced and who controls it. Knowledge who controls it. Knowledge becomes the basis for becomes the basis for strategic, collective action strategic, collective action and organizingand organizing

In Kenya, mapping resulted in the creation In Kenya, mapping resulted in the creation CommunityCommunity Watch Dog GroupsWatch Dog Groups, a , a

partnership between grassroots women, partnership between grassroots women, chiefs, community leaders and councillorschiefs, community leaders and councillors

Watch Dog Groups, monitor local land

practices, prevent land seizures, raise

awareness of existing land policies and help guide women through the process of getting

their land back

What needs to shift to scale up this What needs to shift to scale up this approach and increase positive impacts approach and increase positive impacts for grassroots women and poor for grassroots women and poor communities? communities?

Support initiatives Support initiatives and actions in and actions in which grassroots which grassroots women are leaderswomen are leaders

Institutions need to Institutions need to be made be made responsive and responsive and accountable to accountable to communitiescommunities

Partners, researchers, development professionals, Partners, researchers, development professionals, UN agencies and donors need to UN agencies and donors need to open up spaceopen up space for grassroots women’s organizingfor grassroots women’s organizing

Women’s Land Link Africa: a partnership between Women’s Land Link Africa: a partnership between grassroots women’s groups (Huairou grassroots women’s groups (Huairou Commission), human rights (COHRE) and UN Commission), human rights (COHRE) and UN agencies (Habitat, FAO), in which grassroots agencies (Habitat, FAO), in which grassroots women are supported to map tenure systems and women are supported to map tenure systems and scale up their own initiativesscale up their own initiatives

Slum/Shack Dwellers International and Society for Slum/Shack Dwellers International and Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) have revolutionized partnerships. Professionals in have revolutionized partnerships. Professionals in SPARC act as support people for Slumdwellers’ SPARC act as support people for Slumdwellers’ groupsgroups

Streetnet International and WIEGO, in which Streetnet International and WIEGO, in which researchers create statistics based on the agenda researchers create statistics based on the agenda set by informal workers’ unions set by informal workers’ unions

Innovative PartnershipsInnovative Partnerships