An aspect that has been gaining importance in LAPs is gender equity. The struggle for recognition of land use and control by women was helped, particularly from the 1970s onwards, when the governments of Latin American countries began to include the recognition of women’s rights to land and property in their national development programmes. During the 1980s and 1990s the majority of Latin American countries approved legal reforms to their civil codes, removing discriminatory clauses about women’s rights both in the family and in the field of inheritance and marriage¹.

Despite the inclusion of the subject in land reform, titling and registration activities, the results were sometimes unsuccessful. This was the case in Bolivia and Nicaragua, where despite the specific mention of equal rights between men and women to land in their respective legislations, titled land was for the most part in the man’s name only, and did not even include joint ownership². In many countries social and cultural norms are not in favour of women having rights to land as men do.

To achieve gender equity results in the development of LAP activities, it is not therefore sufficient to have appropriate legislation; the barriers represented by these social and cultural norms, which often form part not only of the cultural legacy of communities but also of the culture of the institutions and staff who manage LA work, need to be overcome. In this respect, training and awareness work in gender aspects should be considered at all implementation levels of the project, including beneficiaries, LAP staff and all the agencies involved in implementing the project. Initiatives to inform women about legislation, their rights and the processes for achieving equal rights in both titling, registration and decisions taken with regard to land should also be considered. These initiatives should be included in the LAP at the design stage.

In this respect, training, awareness and monitoring initiatives need to be considered in gender aspects at all implementation levels of the project, including beneficiaries and LAP staff for all agencies involved in implementing the project. Information initiatives aimed directly at women about legislation, their rights and the processes for achieving equal rights in both titling, registration and decisions taken with regard to land should also be considered. These initiatives should be included in the LAP at the design stage.

As regards the monitoring and evaluation of LAPs, the tool proposes collecting information on aspects of the legal framework and including gender-disaggregated data concerning activities related to the three intervention levels. Baseline data must be defined which include measurement of how informal tenure and land use rights are assigned to men and women both within the community and within the household. Men and women must be interviewed to determine both the situation and opinion of future beneficiaries of the project as regards gender equity in assigning land rights.

For more information on how to evaluate gender equity in access to land, visit the FAO Gender and Land Rights Database³.

Finally, for the purposes of this publication, the words of Susana Lastarría-Cornhiel, Renee Giovarelli and other authors about what an LAPs can do to consider gender aspects in all phases of the project⁴ should be noted:

• Interviews with women users of LAS and beneficiaries of LAPs actions should aim to strengthen ownership rights.
• Always keep existing legislation in mind, including the civil and family code, despite traditional practices that discriminate against women in land rights.
• Always treat gender aspects as part of the goals in each phase of the project.
• Train all staff and agencies involved in project implementation in gender aspects.
• Where possible, support the use of titling which provides access to and control of land for women regardless of whether they are in a marriage relationship or consensual union.
• Land registration regulations should require the registration of the title deed in the name of both persons if it has been assigned to the couple jointly. The regulations should contain specifications for registering the title deed to the couple whether they are married or in a consensual union, if relevant legislation exists.
• That the LAPs should consider the provision of legal or paralegal services to support women to achieve recognition of their land rights, according to the provisions of the corresponding legislation.

For the above reasons, the guide sought to include aspects related to gender equity across all three main modules.