Government of Uganda to Advocate for Equal Land Ownership Rights for Women
The Government of Uganda is set to create equality of ownership to land to protect the rights of women in owning and acquiring land.The revelation was made by lands minister Judith Nabakooba while opening a five-day Regional Workshop for Catholic and non-Catholic actors organized at Kampala Kolping Hotel in Kampala on July 24 to devise means to support advocacy for Women’s Land Rights.
Minister Nabakooba, in her address, recognized the numerous challenges that women face in accessing and owning land in Uganda. She stated that the NRM government is fully committed to addressing these problems, as a part of its broader obligation to uphold and protect the human rights of women. Nabakooba assured that the government is moving towards ensuring women enjoy full and equal dignity with men, specifically regarding land ownership.
“Government has made considerable progress in designing and implementing measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the land sector,” she noted.
The lands minister Judith Nabakooba shared that the government has legal and policy frameworks undertaken to improve women’s access to and control over land and address gender inequalities prevalent in Ugandan society.
On the International Level, Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Elimination against Discrimination of Women (CEDAW) protected under article 14 of CEDAW, where the government is required to report on the situation of rural women and how steps are being taken to address the prevalence of negative customs and traditional practices that prevent women from inheriting or acquiring ownership of land and other property.
On the regional level, the government together with other Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states has developed an action plan to address issues of Women’s land rights reciting the implementation of the Kilimanjaro Declaration on actualizing women’s land rights in Africa (2016).
The minister shared that 52 percent of the population in Uganda is female and 48 percent is male but land ownership by females currently stands at only 20 percent.
The National Resistance Movement Government shall continue investing in the registration of women’s land rights to economically empower them, leading to food security and improved livelihoods.
The Minister’s revelations underscore the government’s progressive stance on gender equality and its determination to abolish the longstanding barriers to women’s land ownership. Such barriers have their roots in deeply entrenched cultural norms, which have historically favoured male property ownership and marginalized women, particularly in the rural areas of Uganda.
