On December 15th, USAID and the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) launched a nationwide public information and awareness campaign about Afghan women’s rights to inherit and own land and property. The campaign is part of USAID’s Land Reform in Afghanistan (LARA) which works with the Government of Afghanistan to build the local capacity necessary to design and implement transparent, effective land tenure reform.
Afghanistan has a complex, overlapping and often conflicting system of land and property rights, which includes informal systems, civil law, sharia law, and state laws. The LARA project works to clarify and strengthen property rights while improving public information and awareness so that Afghans – especially vulnerable populations, such as women and minorities – can better exercise those rights.
According to USAID Afghanistan Director Dr. S. Ken Yamashita:
“The campaign we are launching today is of critical importance to the citizens of Afghanistan, men and women. Many Afghan citizens still struggle to secure their rights to land and property.”