{"id":110132,"date":"2023-06-16T11:43:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T15:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=110132"},"modified":"2023-06-16T11:51:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T15:51:06","slug":"press-release-world-leaders-urged-to-prioritize-womens-land-rights-at-the-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2023\/06\/press-release-world-leaders-urged-to-prioritize-womens-land-rights-at-the-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release: World leaders urged to prioritize women\u2019s land rights at the UN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World leaders urged to prioritize women\u2019s land rights at the UN<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bonn\/New York, 16 June 2023<\/strong> \u2013 Women facing worsening droughts, raging wildfires and other climate change impacts will deliver an urgent message to the international community at the United Nations in New York, calling for better land rights for women and girls everywhere.<\/p>\n

Drought, land degradation and desertification \u2013 all of which are becoming more frequent \u2013 are impacting women and girls first and worst, world leaders will hear at an event in the United Nations General Assembly on 16th June to mark Desertification and Drought Day.<\/p>\n

The theme of this year\u2019s global observance, led by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is \u2018Her Land. Her Rights.\u2019<\/p>\n

Women make up around half of agricultural workers in developing countries and produce 60-80 per cent of food grown in these regions yet own less than one-fifth of all land worldwide. When land degrades and water and other resources become scarce, women and girls are exposed to poverty, hunger, displacement and violence.<\/p>\n

Among the leaders and gender equality champions advocating for women\u2019s full land rights will be the Prime Ministers of Iceland Katri\u0301n Jakobsdo\u0301ttir and of Namibia Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, and the Vice-President of the Government of Spain Teresa Ribero Rodri\u0301guez. They will be joined by Finland\u2019s first female President Tarja Halonen, UNCCD Goodwill Ambassadors and musicians Baaba Maal, Inna Modja and Ricky Kej, as well as indigenous and youth activists from countries as diverse as Canada and Chad.<\/p>\n

In a shared call to action, they will show there is a solution: women. They will say that when legal barriers to women owning and inheriting land are removed, women are able to make decisions on how to manage land, and both soil health and agricultural yields improve. Women are also more likely to invest in their family\u2019s nutrition, health and education which benefits the whole of society.<\/p>\n

UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw<\/strong> said: \u201cInvesting in women’s equal access to land is not just an act of justice. It is an investment in our future, a commitment to the prosperity of our planet. It is an affirmation that we value not only the land beneath our feet, but the hands that work it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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To coincide with the event, UNCCD is launching a new analysis, which shows:<\/p>\n