Project Update: Property Rights and HIV/AIDS

ICRW, in partnership with the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA) and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is examining links between women's and girls' property and inheritance rights and their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. In a new grants competition, eight organizations in sub-Saharan Africa have received $25,000 each to create a body of evidence that demonstrates effective programs to address links between HIV/AIDS and property rights.

Click here to learn more about the African NGOs that received grants and a description of the work that they will do.

Property Ownership for Women Enriches, Empowers and Protects

Through its work for the Millennium Project, ICRW has been a forceful proponent for property and inheritance rights for women and girls as a key precondition for achieving the third Millennium Development Goal — gender equality and women's empowerment.

Read ICRW's brief, Property Ownership for Women Enriches, Empowers and Protects, based on work done for the Millennium Project.

 

PROJECTS

Women's Rights | Back to Projects

• Gender Mainstreaming in National and International Institutions
• Gender Programming Accountability and Learning with Oxfam America
• Progress on Gender Equality and its Relationship to Development Outcomes
• Property Rights and Domestic Violence
• Property Rights and HIV/AIDS
• Property Rights in South Africa and Uganda

Gender Mainstreaming in National and International Institutions

Gender mainstreaming is a tool that assesses how development interventions affect women and men differently. The tool can help policy-makers and program staff design, implement, monitor and evaluate their efforts in ways that promote gender equality — a specific target of the Millennium Development Goals. Its implementation at the country level as well as in the international development community, however, has been mired with challenges. A critical analysis of past and current efforts to mainstream gender in development efforts is required to move this strategy forward.

Drawing from country experiences as well as the experiences of international institutions, ICRW researchers will document the circumstances for which gender mainstreaming has and has not worked. Based on this data, ICRW will recommend how to make gender mainstreaming more effective in both policies and programs.

By highlighting the challenges and benefits of using a gender-mainstreaming approach, the project seeks to increase the international community's understanding of gender mainstreaming.

For more information, please contact Aslihan Kes.

Gender Programming Accountability and Learning with Oxfam America

ICRW is working with Oxfam America to promote a gender perspective in their programs. Recognizing the importance of gender integration in program efforts, Oxfam America approached ICRW to develop a gender policy for the organization and help implement this policy in all departments and regional offices.

ICRW will coordinate and strengthen cross-unit collaboration within Oxfam America to promote gender in agency programs and communicate the importance and impact of this work.

We will also work to improve Oxfam's organizational culture and processes to better support gender equality, which includes mechanisms for accountability, engaging men in gender-related activities, monitoring progress and impact, and fostering learning on both women's rights programming and gender-relevant approaches to development.

For more information, please contact Sarah Degnan Kambou.

Progress on Gender Equality and its Relationship to Development Outcomes

ICRW is collecting and analyzing data on the relationship between indicators of gender inequality and development outcomes for approximately 100 countries. By assessing — in the context of a globalizing world — international progress and gaps on women's status over the last decade, our analysis aims to provide an understanding of how and why trends and patterns emerge as they do, and potential areas for policy action.

ICRW's development of a database on gender indicators and development outcomes also will identify areas in which stronger data collection efforts may be most useful.

For more information, please contact Anju Malhotra.

Property Rights and Domestic Violence

ICRW is researching the association between women's experience of domestic violence and their ownership of property across different cultural contexts.

By exploring community perceptions, attitudes and practices related to women's land ownership and promoting dialogue on the issue, ICRW aims to increase women's social protection against violence.

For more information, please contact Nandita Bhatla.

Property Rights and HIV/AIDS

Ownership and control over economic assets, such as housing and land, can protect women who are affected by HIV/AIDS from destitution. While there are a number of efforts to strengthen women's property and inheritance rights in many parts of the world, very few of these include consideration of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

ICRW is documenting the association between property rights and women's vulnerability in the conext of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and analyzing legislation, policies and customary practices that can restrict women's property rights.

For more information, please contact Nata Duvvury.

Property Rights in South Africa and Uganda

A lack of secure property rights exacerbates women's vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS and may be a risk factor for gender-based violence. To learn more about these linkages, ICRW is working with in-country partners to conduct a qualitative research study in South Africa and Uganda to explore women's experiences with property ownership and access within the context of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence.

Evidence from the research will be used to inform local, municipal and national governments of the benefits associated with securing women's property rights as part of broader land reform measures.

For more information, please contact Hema Swaminathan.