A conference in Kigali.

• Position: On women's land property right during conflict and reconstruction; Kigali, Rwanda

To address the issue of women's land and property rights in situations of conflict and reconstruction, an interregional consultation was held in Kigali, Rwanda from 16 to 18 February 1998. It was jointly organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements - UNCHS - (Habitat), the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Its main purpose was to institute a workable plan of action to promote women's access to land and property in situations of conflict and reconstruction, and to strengthen the Women for Peace Network. During the consultation, over 100 women from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean exchanged experiences on problems faced by women in conflict and reconstruction phases, and on successful land reform and legislation initiatives which have empowered women and promoted gender equity in war-torn countries.

Most participants acknowledged that, while most statutory were were non-discriminatory, in practice, women were bound by traditional customary laws which did not recognize women's capacity to own or inherit land or property in their own names, except via a system of vicarious ownership through their husbands or fathers.

Moreover, both statutory and customary laws in most countries do not specifically address the issue of women's land and property rights in situations of conflict and reconstruction. For instance, in many African countries, where communal rights to land often conflict with statutory laws which require title deeds to establish rights over land, women's rights to land or property become even more uncertain after conflict. Displaced populations who have no "traditional rights" to settle on the land and have no title deeds for the land thus find themselves rendered homeless.

"If the situation of women regarding land and property rights, whether under customary or statutory law, is precarious in times of peace, it is even more so in situations of conflict", says Makimu Mwagiru of the Centre for Conflict Research in Nairobi, Kenya. "In situations of conflict, all the traditional and cultural support systems existing before the conflict break down. Moreover, because most of these women have no access to a title deed, which could protect them, they are unable to assert any rights over the land or property."

Women's lack of access to land or property in the reconstruction period not only...