Liberia is in the throes of finalising one of Africa’s most progressive land rights laws but its potential will be thwarted if women are excluded

In the 42-year history of International Women’s Day, there have been huge advances in women’s rights across the world. But despite these strides, many are still fighting for basic human rights, including to life and security.

This is certainly true in my country, Liberia.

Monrovia – A three-day Experience and Lessons sharing workshop on a range of land tenure topics, including Land Administration Reforms, Customary Land Rights, Land Administration Systems, and Spatial Planning is being convened at a local hotel in Monrovia.

The latest report from Mokoro's WOLTS project team is the product of rigorous field research in a third Mongolian community, in collaboration with the Mongolian NGO, People Centered Conservation (PCC). The report addresses critical issues at the intersection of gender, land, mining and pastoralism in Tsenkher soum, in Arkhangai aimag in central-western Mongolia.

The Constitutional Court’s October 2018 judgment was pivotal in protecting the secure land tenure by persons previously disadvantaged by apartheid laws

The current clamour for redistribution of land in SA has heightened interest in land reform and placed raging sociopolitical discourse at centre stage.

Cape Town – A legal battle for ownership of rights to land leased to a major petrol station has ended up in the Constitutional Court.

Shell South Africa had in 1991 built a petrol station in Nelspruit (now Mbombela) in Mpumalanga, on land it leased from HL Hall & Sons and, according to court papers, Hall had undertaken that, if ever it wished to sell the land, it would first offer it to Shell.

The energy giant would then have 30 days to exercise its right.

Authorities have claimed that some 100 families who clashed with police in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district last week have no legal rights to the land as they do not possess proper titles.

However, the villagers claim to have lived there for a significant time after having paid for their plots – something not recognised by the authorities, with one vowing to die for his.

On 17 December 2018, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly voted in favour of the ‘Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Persons Working in Rural Areas’. The declaration is a major step forward for rural communities around the world, and especially in the Global South, as it recognises a wide range of rights such as the “right to land”, the “right to water” and the “right to food sovereignty”.

More than 8,000 residents of Shimoni in Kwale County want 700 title deeds issued last year by the government revoked.

Speaking to the Nation in Shimoni on Wednesday, the locals from eight villages said the issuance process was flawed and a new one should be initiated.

They said a complete survey to nullify other two previous surveys done on their land must be carried.

The move is aimed at ending decades of deadly conflict and granting greater control over land and natural resources

BANGKOK - Nearly three million minority Muslims in southern Philippines voted on Monday in a referendum on autonomy, a move that is aimed at ending decades of deadly conflict and granting them greater control over their land and natural resources.

After a controversial land-reform program transferred many commercial farms from white to black ownership, some of the new farmers have struggled to prove that they own the land. But since the government has replaced title deeds with 99-year leases, uncertainty remains about what “ownership” really means.

BINDURA, ZIMBABWE — On the outskirts of town, Blazio Dengu grows maize, soybeans and wheat on more than 60 hectares (148 acres) of land.

Dengu expects high yields this year, but he worries that he might not be able to profit from them.

On July 21, 2011 the then Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal announced the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate 77 land leases which were issued under the Somare government’s Special Agriculture & Business Leases (SABL). The inquiry, which was later extended by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in October 2011 for a further five months, discovered that over 90 percent of the leases totalling over 5 million hectares were illegally obtained from traditional landowners (Zealand, 2015).

Throughout human history, private property has been a subject of debates. In some societies and communities, private property has become a foundation of democracy and freedom. In some others, strict control over property and severe limitations imposed on property ownership and rights created a framework for reducing inequality and eliminating socio-economic disparities. In either case, private property and the right to own property raise not only economic but also moral dilemmas.