Liberia: Promoting Women's Rights and Land Ownership in Liberia

Nov 17, 2022 | UNSDG
View Original

“In the past, women never owned land here but today, women, men, and youth can sit together with the elders and decide issues on land ownership,” said Wleetibo Dennis, a resident of Maryland County, Liberia.

Typically, women in Liberia have difficulty retaining land in the event of divorce or after the death of their husbands. Competition over land-related issues is one of the root causes of conflict that often leads to tension and violence among communities in Liberia. Violent conflict around land ownership is often stoked by grievances related to land scarcity and historical injustices.

To prevent and peacefully manage land-related conflicts, the Government of Liberia together with UN Women, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are working to strengthen coordination on land governance initiatives, implement the land decentralization policy and support alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, which provide quicker and more flexible responses to community conflicts. Funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) this is a part of a $4 million project implemented over three years in 42 communities across four counties of Nimba, Cape Mount, Sinoe and Maryland.