Land Tenure and Legal Pluralism
in the Peace Process,
Jon D. Unruh
Peace and Change, Vol. 28, No. 3, June 2003

Unruh J (2005) Property restitution laws in a postwar context: the case of Mozambique. African Journal of Legal Studies 3:147-165

Unruh JD (2009) Humanitarian approaches to conflict and post-conflict legal pluralism in land tenure. In: Pantuliano S (ed). Uncharted territory Land, conflict and humanitarian action. Practical Action Publishers, Warwickshire, UK.

Land Policy Reform, Customary Rule of Law and the Peace Process in Sierra Leone
Jon Unruh. African Journal of Legal Studies (2008) 2: 94-117

Toward sustainable livelihoods after war:
Reconstituting rural land tenure systems. Jon Unruh 2008. 32 103-115

Strengthening women's inheritance and property rights can be an effective means of decreasing poverty and increasing gender equality, and thereby accelerating progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper presents two case studies from Rwanda and Ethiopia to illustrate the potential impact that advocacy, legislative reform and law enforcement in this area can have on the achievement of the MDGs in developing countries.

Strengthening women's inheritance and property rights can be an effective means of decreasing poverty and increasing gender equality, and thereby accelerating progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper presents two case studies from Rwanda and Ethiopia to illustrate the potential impact that advocacy, legislative reform and law enforcement in this area can have on the achievement of the MDGs in developing countries.

In the experience of GROOTS Kenya, HIV-positive widows are often thrown out of their matrimonial homes, their land grabbed by in-laws as they are blamed for their husbands’ deaths and/or feared to die within a short period of time. Due to a lack of awareness on land rights, as well as the importance of retaining legal documents to lodge court cases, the ability of widows and orphans to control land and other family assets in Gatundu district is threatened.

This paper reviews the literature on women's empowerment and suggests supporting empowerment both as an end in itself and a way to educational, economical and health development. It begins with a discussion of the various conceptual frameworks of women's empowerment, and then examines the ways in which women's empowerment projects have been implemented and measured, ending by stressing the positive development outcomes of women's empowerment.

The importance of land to poor people’s livelihoods cannot be over emphasized. Land provides the foundation upon which people construct and maintain livelihoods. Consequently, secure access to land is a prerequisite for securing livelihoods. Women are the majority of the poor as they have limited access to social and economic resources. This increases their dependence on basic resources like land. The majority of women rely on a land based livelihood mainly as subsistence agricultural producers.

This lesson brief discusses how statuatory law and customary law  frame the rights of customary authorities to transact in the land that they govern, and compare this to what is happening in practice.

This lesson brief presents the situations faced by modern Ghanaian women and compare their evolving land rights across regions. It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Rights online educational tool.