Reducing systemic inequalities, mitigating and adapting to climate change, and conserving biodiversity through nature conservation, sustainable land management and restoration

by Emily Robertson, Moritz Hauer, Frederike Klümper | 13 July 2023
Land is at the interface and at the center of all three Rio Conventions. It must be managed sustainably if we want to mitigate and adapt to climate change, halt the loss of biodiversity, and achieve land degradation neutrality.” -Sebastian Lesch, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) UNCCD National Focal Point Germany
In collaboration with the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), TMG Research gGmbH brought together around 60 stakeholders from more than 30 countries to the first ever workshop on women’s land rights with all three Rio Conventions. The workshop included key actors that are working to implement women’s land rights including National Focal Points, Convention secretariats and other UN bodies, and civil society organizations. From July 3-5, 2023 in Berlin, participants worked to address the question: How can we leverage synergies and develop concrete actions to advance women's land rights across the UN's Rio Conventions?

A Space for Collaboration
To truly foster collaboration, the workshop participants came together in carefully designed breakout groups. The groups served as dedicated spaces where vital discussions on women's land rights and the land rights agenda within and across the Rio Conventions could thrive. Each breakout group approached specific themes, such as establishing enabling environments for women's land rights at the local level, fostering alignment and coordination among National Focal Points across the three Conventions, advocating for coordinated efforts, ensuring meaningful participation of legitimate tenure right holders, and exploring transformative funding approaches. Through these purposeful and collaborative discussions, participants actively contributed to identifying pathways to empowering women's land rights while actively reflecting on the workshop's central goal of creating a space for fruitful collaboration.

Enabling environments for women’s land rights at the local level
Greater financial, technical, and legal empowerment of women, girls, and grassroot organizations is fundamental to ensuring women’s land rights. Additionally, men, boys, and traditional leaders must be engaged to sensitize them about the importance and benefits of women’s land rights. The participants also recommended for women’s land rights to be addressed in an interrelated manner, relevant issues such as access to education or sexual and gender-based violence need to be on the agenda as well. Multi-stakeholder dialogues among civil society organizations (CSOs), grassroots organizations, women leaders, and governmental officials can facilitate a safe and inclusive discussion on women´s land rights. Coalitions of CSOs at multiple levels play an important role in advancing such dialogues across the global and local level in a coordinated and inclusive manner.
“The benefits arising from gender equality in the control and access to land often extend well beyond the individual to greater security and stability for rural communities.” -Andrea Meza, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCCD

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