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When families are separated or displaced by war, it is the women who must battle their way through institutions and traditions that discriminate against them to provide for their families. They face daily struggles for survival, as refugees and IDPs, and as widows and heads of household. Many are rejected by their own families, who often deny them their right to inherit family property.
As we mark International Women’s Day, we must consider the radical transformations that the humanitarian community can trigger for women in the countries we serve. Legal aid to displaced women who need housing, land and property to rebuild their lives is a case in point.
Even in countries where legal systems are being re-established with new, more progressive laws that incorporate international human rights standards, the reality in remote areas where NRC works is very different. Far beyond the reach of the rule of law in Afghanistan, for example, returnee women are told by their brothers that it is shameful for them to own land: land that has been passed to them by their father and which they and their children have returned from exile to claim.
The safety and security of a home, of a place that shelters and protects ourselves and our loved ones, is one of the most basic needs of any human being. NRC has learned this lesson first hand.
Providing legal aid to women in displacement has taught us that it is imperative to support those women courageous enough to stand up to their families and communities, and sometimes even armed forces. Their claim to land and to a home is tantamount to a claim for a future for themselves and for their children.
There is a period following a conflict – a window of opportunity – where assisting displaced women to secure their land and housing rights can bring about lasting transformation. NRC and others have developed international standards, such as the Pinheiro Principles, encouraging governments and humanitarian organisations to support women’s equal right to ownership, especially in places where they are discriminated against, so that they can return to claim homes they have been forced to abandon.
We can expand this window of opportunity, and challenge discriminatory laws and practices too. This must be done by supporting programs for land allocation, or by assisting individuals with housing rights which will benefit generations of women in exile. Rebuilding women’s rights in the aftermath of conflict makes a difference to peace and stability in the longer term.
In South Sudan, returnee widows with access to land are helping build the country’s future. With our support, many of them now live securely in their own home, able to find work and invest in their children’s education. In Liberia, women supported by NRC have become local leaders who help resolve land disputes, showing what women can bring to peace-building. In Gaza, the security of a home marks the difference between a life of destitution and one of resilience and hope.
As humanitarian actors we work to ensure that displaced women are able to enjoy dignified lives. They can only do this when their land and their homes are secure and they are able to protect their families, free from violence and forced eviction. On International Women’s Day we pay tribute to women’s exceptional contribution to rebuilding individual lives, communities and nations. And we pledge to live up to our responsibility to work for equality in humanitarian action.
Providing legal aid to women in displacement has taught us that it is imperative to support those women courageous enough to stand up to their families and communities, and sometimes even armed forces.
