Women and Land in the Arab region

Women’s housing, land and property rights are catalysts to ensure the social and economic development of communities and increase food security. They contribute to the realisation and enjoyment of a broad range of human rights such as the right to adequate standard of living, adequate housing, health, work and education.

Housing, land and property rights increase women’s empowerment and participation in decision making within the household and in the public life. They help protecting women from gender-based violence and other health hazards, and they enable women to play an active role in the stabilization of societies affected by crisis and conflict.

The challenges women face in relation to the access and enjoyment of their housing, land and property rights is part of the broader gender inequalities that reflect many aspects of the Arab society. The Women and Land Campaign promoted by UN-Habitat, the Global Land Tool Network and the Arab Land Initiative aims at raising awareness on how to overcome such challenges and at empowering women to improve their housing, land and property rights while drawing the public’s attention to this important theme. 

Through a step-by-step approach, the campaign explains why secure housing, land and property rights are pivotal for the realization of human rights, poverty reduction, economic prosperity and sustainable development leading to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda and other regional and national strategies aiming at poverty reduction and sustainable development. The messages of the campaign are developed around the following five topics, for a total of 62 messages: 

• Why women’s housing, land and property rights matter.

• How to increase women’s access to housing land and property rights in the Arab region.

• How to increase access to housing, land and property rights for women in displacement and crises-affected contexts in the Arab region.

• Women’s empowerment and participation in decision making.

• What Islamic law says on women’s housing, land and property rights.

The cards disseminated through the regional campaign are freely available for download below, in English and Arabic. The campaign can be tracked online through the hashtag #womenandland  and by following social media platforms of: 

• The Arab Land Initiative: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

• GLTN:  Twitter, Facebook

• UN-Habitat: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook

• UN-Habitat Regional Office for the Arab States: Twitter, Facebook

The Campaign is promoted by UN-Habitat, as part of its  mandate to achieve a better urban future for all, and by the partners of the Stand for Her Land Campaign, including the World Bank, the International Land Coalition, Landesa, and Habitat for Humanity.