Kevin Doyle, the Team Leader for the USAID-funded Kenya SECURE project, has published an article in SWARA magazine providing background and context for SECURE. The article appears in the July-September 2010 issue of SWARA magazine, published by the East Africa Wild Life Society. Used with permission.
Ms. Fayzinisso Ashurova and her five children were unjustly evicted from their home after her husband passed away. The USAID Land Reform Project took Fayzinisso’s case to the Supreme Court, which decided in her favor.
In Tajikistan, as in many developing countries, a range of cultural, social, and political factors combined with a lack of awareness regarding legal issues prevent women from enjoying their rights to land and property, often subjecting them to unjust and sometimes fraudulent practices.
Ms. Fayzinisso Ashurova and her husband purchased a house near Khujand in 1998. The seller, Mr. Kubilov, took Fayzinisso’s money and promised to finalize the necessary paperwork in a few days time. However, Kubilov unexpectedly moved to Uzbekistan and never provided Fayzinisso with the proper title to the house.
Fayzinisso tried to find the seller for years, but to no avail. Having learned that Fayzinisso was widowed in 2008, Kubilov, still in Uzbekistan, sought to take advantage of the situation. Kubilov gave power of attorney to his friend, who in turn drafted a purchase agreement granting the title of Fayziniso’s house to Parvina, the friend’s daughter. Parvina then immediately evicted Fayzinisso and her five children.
“I did not know where to turn for help” said Fayzinisso. Her son suggested that she contact the USAID Land Reform Project in Khujand having heard that the project provides legal services to farmers and rural citizens. “I had nothing to lose, so I prayed and went to the office” said Fayzinisso.
Legal Aid Director Ms. Nodira Sidykova interviewed Fayzinisso and reviewed all her documents. After a thorough study of the documents and the relevant legislation and international conventions, Nodira took the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Tajikistan on Fayzinisso’s behalf. Court records reveal that the documents granting title to Pariva were void, based upon fraud and collusion. On June 18, 2010 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fayzinisso and returned the house to her and her children. Fayzinisso exclaimed “I can’t thank Nodira and USAID enough!”
The USAID Land Reform Project is one of the many assistance projects the American people, through USAID, have provided in support of the people of Tajikistan. Since 1992, the American people have provided approximately $900 million in programs that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education and economic growth.
In a groundbreaking symposium on women’s access to land in Africa, with mostly researchers and institutional officials as attendees, the Huairou Commission delegation provided a unique community-based perspective. The Huairou Commission delegation of 12 grassroots women leaders from Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa participated in two important panels, “Promoting Security of Tenure and Land Rights for Women in Urban Areas” and “Grassroots Women’s Practices on Land Access and Control”.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has supported research and capacity-building for long-term development for forty years. Opening speaker Dr. Connie Freeman, regional Director of the East and Southern Africa Regional Office IDRC affirmed that this was a time to link action research around women’s secure access to land to real action and policy reform, and affirmed that women’s rights to land guarantee their full citizenship. The conference was a chance to consolidate and communicate research findings and analysis from research projects and activities related to gender, women’s rights and access to land in Africa, in order to inform and influence policy, advocacy, and scholarship.
On the first day, Huairou Commission members Fati Alhassan of Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation (GSF) Ghana and Joyce Nangobi from Slum Women’s Initiative for Development (SWID) spoke in the panel, “Promoting Security of Tenure and Land Rights for Women in Urban Areas.” Joyce spoke of the processes they used in community mapping and local dialogues, and the recent success they have achieved with revolving loan funds for securing women’s purchase of land, including 42 women have acquired security of land tenure and certificates of completion was granted by Jinja Municipal Council, and two houses are currently being built. Fati spoke of the tremendous challenge and accomplishments achieved in the GSF Project pilot project they had done in partnership with the Global Land Tools Network facilitated by UN Habitat.
The Huairou Commission lead the session “Grassroots Women’s Practices on Land Access and Control”, moderated by Esther Mwaura-Miuru of GROOTS Kenya, with panelists Emily Tjale of LAMOSA South Africa, Violet Shivutse of GROOTS Kenya, Scolastika Porokwa of MWEDO, Tanzania, and Mastullah Nakisozi of UCOBAC Uganda. They spoke of the realities of grassroots women’s access to land, the strategies they have created and employed to secure tenure and reverse evictions, and called for researchers and donors to partner effectively in action research and invest in long-term organizing and grassroots peer exchange.
Mastullah Nakisozi closed the panel with a moving statement about her own experience. “After I was diagnosed with HIV and my husband died, I was thrown out of my house. That is why I am fighting now, and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”
Concluding Recommendations
To date, there has been limited use research around women’s land tenure, and this symposium was meant to be a catalytic opportunity to further push the evidence into real policy recommendations. For the Huairou Commission, it was also a chance to build partnerships with other research institutions and encourage action research in partnership with grassroots groups, and strengthen relationships with UN partners and the IDRC.
Violet Shivutse and Brenda Dosio of GROOTS Kenya were asked to be members of the policy drafting committee that met twice daily to draft the final outcome policy recommendations for the final outcome document, as well as a catalytic document to be used across Africa in policy advocacy and lobbying. Some of these recommendations, such as recognizing that women are not homogenous, and groups with unique needs, such as survivors of conflict situations, HIV/AIDS positive persons, female headed households and the rural and urban poor, must be considered through special measures when developing laws and policies; and Investments should be made to strengthen networks working on women and land rights, to promote learning amongst grassroots groups, land coalitions, and policy makers, and to strengthen their influence in the planning and policy making process. Finally, we stressed that all research is done with grassroots women in the lead, in a manner that ensures that the grassroots women are the collectors and custodians of the data, and that data is used to understand and address real priorities and strategies of communities.
As The Minister of Land James Orengo that Kenya had said in his opening remarks, the symposium was a chance to further galvanize Kenya and the rest of Africa around making these research action results into policy recommendation. Finally, congratulations to IDRC on their anniversary of 40 of groundbreaking development research!
Country profiles for 62 USAID presence countries have been drafted to provide information on key issues and constraints for land tenure security, legal framework and land administration, as well as summaries of tenure issues with freshwater, trees and forests and minerals for each country. Check back under the PRRG Products tab, Country Profiles for additional profiles.
In the early 2000s, ARD, with support from USAID—through GLT2—facilitated the development of land tenure profiles for 86 countries around the world. These profiles provided important information on fundamental land tenure issues, including tenure types, legal framework, and land administration and institutions. While some profiles had certain shortcomings, many profiles were effective in informing US government (USG) foreign assistance agencies in Washington and missions abroad, and contributed to policy discussions and the design of new strategies and investments.
Based on the success of this first set of profiles, PRRGP was tasked with developing a second generation of country profiles for 62 of the 86 countries profiled under GLT2, including many countries that receive significant USG foreign assistance. The 62 countries are grouped into three categories—Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 countries—with Tier 1 countries being the most important from a USG investment perspective. PRRGP project partners, ARD and its subcontractors The World Resources Institute (WRI) and The Rural Development Institute (RDI), aim to post all 62 profiles on the PRRG portal by the end of 2010. Please check back under the PRRG Products tab, country profiles for new profiles.
With the posting of the Kenya PROMARA Chief of Party, Ian Deshmukh, in August 2010 the PROMARA project has officially begun. PROMARA is a two-year PRRGP project working with USAID/Kenya in the Mau Forest Complex towards the southwest of Kenya. PROMARA, or “for the Mara”, aims to enhance sustainable and equitable management of Kenya’s rich biodiverse resource areas, which are essential to the protection of the human environment and natural ecosystems.
Kenya PROMARA Project Gets Underway.
The Mara-Mau catchment area is one of the most critical areas not only in Kenya but in East Africa for both biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. It is also fragile politically and socially with many disenfranchised people and weak institutions. PROMARA will focus on enhancing the financial and social benefits associated with conservation. Based on the Kenyan experience since the 1990s, these benefits are expected to attract and motivate local communities and individuals to change their behavior regarding natural resources.
PROMARA is also designed to address several of the US government and Government of the Republic of Kenya’s key joint concerns including: political stability, conflict and insecurity; threats to biodiversity; good governance and the rule of law; and economic development. With PROMARA, USAID/Kenya is making an initial investment to address these issues, particularly resource tenure and natural resource management, in the Mara – Mau. The goal is to contribute to a long-term strategy of recovering the integrity of the Mara-Mau ecosystem.
PROMARA will have four activities:
The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for Communications Professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, the Communicator Awards receives over 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.
PRADD Diamonds, Development and Property Rights Video Wins Award of Excellence!
The Award of Excellence, the highest honor, is given to those entries whose ability to communicate puts them among the best in the field. The Award of Distinction is presented for projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement.
PRADD’s Diamonds, Development and Property Rights video was submitted under the category Film/Video – Education (for academic use) and it received the Award of Excellence.
Learn more about the award.
PRRGP chief of party Mark Freudenberger and land tenure specialist Kent Elbow carried out a scoping mission to Liberia from March 27-April 10, 2010 which led to the decision to open up a new PRADD program in Liberia. The new chief of party, Bocar Thiam, and administration and finance director, Robert Merritt, are setting up the new project headquartered in Monrovia. Work plans are being developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy in preparation for the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding. The project is intended to support the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme through the strengthening of the internal chain of custody of the artisanal diamond mining sector with a focus on identifying and formalizing the claims of diamond miners in up to four pilot sites.
The PRRGP chief of party, Mark Freudenberger, attended the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in Tel Aviv, Israel from June 21-24, 2010.
Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development Project (PRADD) COP Attends Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
The PRRGP chief of party, Mark Freudenberger, attended the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in Tel Aviv, Israel from June 21-24, 2010. The PRADD project actively participated in plenary and inter-sessional meetings and contributed financially through a contract with Partnership Africa Canada to provide field based information to the Enforcement Seminar held on June 24th. Over 50 participants from the KP family participated inthis innovative workshop attended by international law enforcement agencies and the KPCS representatives of government, civil society, and the diamond mining industry. Informational presentations spelled out the nature of international smuggling in diamonds and enforcement issues confronting the Kimberley Process. Participants from West Africa held a two hour session on enforcement issues specific to the Mono River Union countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. PRADD financed in addition the participation of 3 delegates from customs and enforcement from Vietnam, Burkina Faso, and Liberia.
In advance of the meetings in Tel Aviv, and with financial support from Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), PRADD held a series of preparatory national level stakeholder meetings in Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The KPCS tripartite representatives from government, civil society, and the diamond industry in each country held in-depth discussions on the causes and consequences of smuggling and other illicit activities around artisanal diamond production. PRADD Liberia contributed to the costs of site visits to three mining areas led by the Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy. Over 500 diamond miners and other stakeholders contributed very actively to these informational meetings.