Parallel Event

UNIFEM-UNCHS(Habitat) Parallel Event

Strategies for Realizing Women's Right to Land and Property "Peace for Homes, Homes for Peace" Dag Hammerksjold Auditorium,
8 June 2001,
1.15 to 3.15 pm

Objective
In recent years, women's land and property rights have received considerable attention within the United Nations system. The Global Platform for Action emanating from the World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 acknowledged that women's right to inheritance and ownership of land and property should be recognized.

The Habitat Agenda adopted at the Habitat II Conference held in Istanbul in 1996 includes commitments from governments to "providing legal security of tenure and equal access to land to all people, including women... and undertaking legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and ownership of land and other property…"

Since 1997, the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities and the UN Commission on Human Rights have passed several resolutions on women's right to adequate housing, and to land and property. Further, UN General Assembly has recently passed a resolution on the subject of women, peace and security.

The objective of the Panel Discussion is to discuss the way forward in promoting and realizing women's rights to land and property.

Tentative Agenda

Chair:
Noeleen Heyzer , Executive Director, UNIFEM

Moderator: Diana Lee-Smith , Special Advisor on Gender Mainstreaming, UNCHS(Habitat)

Introductory Remarks: by UNIFEM and UNCHS (Habitat)

Presentations:

1. Monitoring the implementation of the Rights to Adequate Housing for All, by Miloon Kothari, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

2. Follow up to the UN Resolution of April 2001 on: " Women's equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing" by Leilani Farha, Coordinator Women's Housing Rights Programme, Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)

3. "Land Rites": Innovative Approaches to Secure Tenure for the Urban poor by Geoffrey Payne, Coordinator, DFID funded International Research Project

4. Country case: Bolivia by Sonia Montagno, Chief, UNIFEM Latin America and Caribbean Bureau.

5. Women's rights to land and property in conflict and post-conflict situations. Presentations from East Timor; Rwanda; Women for Peace Network.

6.

Discussion Conclusions

Participating Organisations:

UNCHS, Global Campaign on Secure Tenure; UNIFEM; COHRE-WHRP; Women For Peace Network; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Department for International Development-DFID-United Kingdom/International Research Project on Secure Tenure

Focal point persons:
UNIFEM,
Laketch.Dirasse@undp.org,
UNCHS(Habitat)
Sylvie.Lacroux@unchs.org,
Wandia.Seaforth@unchs.org