Secure land rights for women is recognized as critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly for eradicating poverty and ending hunger and gender equality (Goals 1, 2 and 5). Progress has been made in securing women’s land rights through titling, but the challenges women face require a more robust range of interventions to ensure that they can make decisions on land use and reap benefit from the land. These include more gender-equitable laws as well as training and capacity-building for women. Secure land rights uplifts the whole community and moves the world closer to realizing the SDGs.

The evidence on the ground establishes that secure land rights for women are key to achieving gender equality. Tenure security for women acts as a catalyst for a range of economic and social benefits, including inclusive growth, food security, poverty reduction, and more democratic and resilient communities. The caveat is that it must be done right.

Focusing on title or documentation alone, without addressing persistent barriers faced by women, not only misses the mark, but could also end up being counterproductive. Any policy or intervention to secure women’s land rights must also address women’s reality on the ground, including their lack of access to resources and information, unequal status in land and family laws, discriminatory customary norms, and limited ability to claim or enforce rights and seek justice. Examples from around the world of how to provide secure land rights for women vary from simple changes such as adding women’s photographs to the title or certificate to integrating gender outcomes in program design, implementation, and evaluation; improving women’s legal status; and showing evidence that protecting women’s land rights uplifts the entire community. There are considerable benefits to be had from securing women’s land tenure; it is high time it was secured globally.