The Global Land Tool Network gender evaluation criteria for assessing the gender-sensitivity of large-scale land tools was recently launched with over 65 participants at a side-event as part of the 22nd session of the UN-HABITAT Governing Council. The event was chaired by Ms. Tubwita Grace Bagaya, a Member of Parliament from Uganda. After opening remarks by Mr. Nick You of UN-HABITAT and an overview of the criteria by GLTN's Secretariat, reflections were presented by Mr. Birte Scholz, Huairou Commission, Stig Enemark, International Federation of Surveyors, and Ms.Siraj Sait of the University of East London as GLTN partners in developing the criteria. They underscored the necessity of a participatory process to make the evaluation criteria relevant for multiple stakeholders, and encouraged usage of the criteria by a wide range of individuals and organizations to enhance gender equality in access to land.
Key presentations on the next steps were delivered by Ms. Patricia Chaves, Espacio Feminista, Brazil and Ms. Sama Vraja on how civil society organizations intend to pilot the criteria in their respective countries as part of the land policy formulation in Nepal and in the application of an urban policy statute in Brazil. Led from a grassroots perspective, the piloting will start shortly, in collaboration with other stakeholder groups including land surveyors.
There was a lot of interest in the criteria as a practical tool to advance gender inequality in the land sector, with requests for the tool to be tested and adapted to the contexts of several other countries including Burundi, India and Kenya and in the Africa land policy guidelines process, and for immediate translation of the criteria into French. There was also a request for similar evaluation criteria to be established by UN-HABITAT for the housing sector. |
