*[Enwl-eng] Press Release: World leaders urged to prioritize women’s land rights at the UN

[enwl]

Press Release: World leaders urged to prioritize women’s land rights at the 
UNPress Release: World leaders urged to prioritize women’s land rights at 
the UN


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                              PRESS RELEASE


                              World leaders urged to prioritize women’s land 
rights at the UN

                              Bonn/New York, 16 June 2023 – Women facing 
worsening droughts, raging wildfires and other climate change impacts will 
deliver an urgent message to the international community at the United 
Nations in New York, calling for better land rights for women and girls 
everywhere.

                              Drought, land degradation and 
desertification – all of which are becoming more frequent – are impacting 
women and girls first and worst, world leaders will hear at an event in the 
United Nations General Assembly on 16th June to mark Desertification and 
Drought Day.

                              The theme of this year’s global observance, 
led by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is ‘Her Land. 
Her Rights.’

                              Women make up around half of agricultural 
workers in developing countries and produce 60-80 per cent of food grown in 
these regions yet own less than one-fifth of all land worldwide. When land 
degrades and water and other resources become scarce, women and girls are 
exposed to poverty, hunger, displacement and violence.

                              Among the leaders and gender equality 
champions advocating for women’s full land rights will be the Prime 
Ministers of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir and of Namibia Saara 
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, and the Vice-President of the Government of Spain 
Teresa Ribero Rodríguez. They will be joined by Finland’s first female 
President Tarja Halonen, UNCCD Goodwill Ambassadors and musicians Baaba 
Maal, Inna Modja and Ricky Kej, as well as indigenous and youth activists 
from countries as diverse as Canada and Chad.

                              In a shared call to action, they will show 
there is a solution: women. They will say that when legal barriers to women 
owning and inheriting land are removed, women are able to make decisions on 
how to manage land, and both soil health and agricultural yields improve. 
Women are also more likely to invest in their family’s nutrition, health and 
education which benefits the whole of society.

                              UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said: 
“Investing in women's equal access to land is not just an act of justice. It 
is an investment in our future, a commitment to the prosperity of our 
planet. It is an affirmation that we value not only the land beneath our 
feet, but the hands that work it.”

                              To coincide with the event, UNCCD is launching 
a new analysis, which shows:

                                a.. Despite comprising nearly half the 
world's agricultural workforce and producing up to 80 per cent of food in 
developing countries, women’s rights to inherit their husband’s property 
continue to be denied in over 100 countries.

                                b.. Discriminatory practices related to land 
tenure, credit access, equal pay and decision-making often impede their 
active participation in sustaining land health. Today, less than one-in-five 
landholders worldwide are women.

                                c.. If women had equal rights to land, 
agricultural production in the poorest regions would increase by up to 4 per 
cent and malnourishment would decline by 12–17 per cent, resulting in 150m 
fewer hungry people globally.

                                d.. Countries with more women 
parliamentarians prioritize women and girls’ role in land protection and are 
more likely to ratify relevant treaties and set aside land for conservation. 
Meanwhile, only 12 per cent of the 881 national environment-related 
ministries run by elected officials are led by women.

                              The event will continue to build on UNCCD’s 
‘Her Land. Her Rights.’ campaign, which was launched on International Women’s 
Day in March 2023.

                              Organized jointly by the UNCCD with UN Women, 
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN 
Human Rights Office, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the high-level 
event “Her Land. Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration 
Goals” will include debates and discussions on a woman’s role in sustainable 
land management.

                              A digital photo exhibition entitled ‘Her Land’ 
created and curated by Inna Modja will offer an immersive experience of the 
daily realities facing women and girls living on the frontlines of 
desertification, land degradation and drought. She will also be joined by 
fellow Goodwill Ambassadors Baaba Maal and Ricky Kej in a live musical 
performance.

                              In addition to New York, other events to mark 
Desertification and Drought Day – which officially falls every year on June 
17th – will take place in all parts of the world, including China, Fiji, 
Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Serbia, Türkiye, and Vietnam.

                              ENDS

                              Notes to editors

                              For interviews and enquires please contact: 
unccd at portland-communications.com or press at unccd.int

                              About UNCCD

                              The United Nations Convention to Combat 
Desertification (UNCCD) is the global vision and voice for land. We unite 
governments, scientists, policymakers, private sector and communities around 
a shared vision and global action to restore and manage the world’s land for 
the sustainability of humanity and the planet. Much more than an 
international treaty signed by 197 parties, UNCCD is a multilateral 
commitment to mitigating today’s impacts of land degradation and advancing 
tomorrow’s land stewardship in order to provide food, water, shelter and 
economic opportunity to all people in an equitable and inclusive manner.









































            United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification · UNCCD · 
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, Bonn, Germany · Bonn 53113 · Germany


            From: UNCCD Secretariat
            Sent: Friday, June 16, 2023 3:59 AM
            Subject: Press Release: World leaders urged to prioritize women’s 
land rights at the UN





 
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