Realizing women’s rights to land and other productive resources (second edition)

Women’s rights to land and other productive resources are essential to realizing their rights to equality and to an adequate standard of living, among many other human rights. Women’s secure access to land and resources supports their independence and autonomy, provides for their day-to-day needs and those of their families, and allows them to weather some of life’s most difficult challenges. Realizing women’s land rights is an integral part of the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This second edition, co-published by UN Women and OHCHR, aims to provide guidance to lawmakers and policymakers, as well as civil society organizations and other stakeholders, on supporting the adoption and effective implementation of laws, policies, and programmes to respect, protect, and fulfil women’s rights to land and other productive resources. The publication also provides recommendations for realizing women’s rights to land and other productive resources based on promising practices and lessons learned from around the world, which have been supplemented by explanatory comments.

UN Women and OHCHR hope that relevant stakeholders will apply the approaches outlined in this revised edition in the contexts in which they live and work, in their efforts towards the fulfilment of women’s rights to land and other productive resources.