Shanjida Khan Ripa, Association for Land Reform and Development, ALRD Bangladesh

1. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
WOMEN’S ACCESS AND
EFFECTIVE CONTROL OVER LAND
IN BANGLADESH: HURDLES TO
OVERCOME
Prepared by
Shanjida Khan Ripa
Association for Land Reform and Development –ALRD
Bangladesh
Ripa.shanjida@gmail.com; ripa@alrd.org
Increasing Women’s Access to Justice in the Asia-
Pacific: A Common Framework for Programming on
Women’s Access to Land and Property
Bangkok, Thailand
9-10 June 2014
Organised by: UNDP

2. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
OVERVIEW
• WOMEN & LAND
• LEGAL & POLICY FRAMEWORK
• LAND GRABBING BY THE ELITE GROUPS
• DISCRIMINATORY AND CORRUPT
PRACTICES
(TEMPERING LAND DOCUMENTS, & DEEDS;
SURVEY RECORDING IN FRAUDULENT MANNER;
GRABBING; ELITE INFLUENCE; MUTATION;
REGISTRATION ETC.);

3. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
WOMEN AND LAND
As land is not only to be seen as economic commodity
rather
- Social identity; Empowerment; and Dignity of Life
- 48% women are deprived of access to land though they are
engage in agricultural activities.
- Women contributed 61% of the GDP that comes from
agricultural sector.
-96% of private land in Bangladesh is owned by male.
- 4% of the land only women owned.
- 88% of the works in agriculture sector traditionally goes to
women.
- 63% women’s contribution in labour force
National Policy For the advancement of Women (1997)
secretly changed in 2004 and withheld in 2008.

4. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
WOMEN AND LAND
- Budget allocation is gender insensitive in all spheres
- Discriminatory laws especially related to property and inheritance
- Social status, poverty, lack of education and judicial discrimination
are obstacles to claim their ownership in land
- VAW is rampant in Bangladesh, annually 10,000 to 20,000 women
are trafficked
- Separated and divorced women have no right to claim any portion
of their husband’s land.
- Bangladesh does not have the legal concept of co-ownership of
marital property, unless a woman’s name is actually written on the
land document.
• Globalization, commercialization of agricultural land badly affects
women-
• Male members migrate to the urban areas; women forced to
leave these lands by elite land grabbers
• Climate Change and Vulnerability -
• women loss of harvests, often their sole sources of food and
income; results women trafficking and VAW

5. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
LEGAL & POLICY FRAMEWORK
• Bangladesh Constitution-
Article 28(2) states: “Women shall have equal rights with men in all
spheres of the state and of public life”
• Inheritance law-
– Muslim Personal Law— provided daughter, mother & wife some
share in inheritance but not treated equally with their male
counterparts
– Hindu Dayabhaga System— governs the system of inheritance
where Hindu women gets life interest in the property & after her
death on to her own heirs
• Christians Common law — Widow receives one third; lineal
descendants (sons and daughters) receive two thirds divided among
them.
• Land Laws
Khas land management & distribution policy
Char settlement policy
Bengal Alluvion & Diluvion Regulation, 1825 Law

6. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
CHALLENGES TO WOMEN’S
ACCESS & OWNERSHIP TO
LAND

7. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
• Freedom of Mobility and promotion of group approach-
Group farming in Beel Kuralia of Bangladesh.
Some 1,500 landless peasant families have been struggling
to retain a total of 473.23 acres (191.59 ha) of Khas (State-
owned) land in their possession at Beel Kuralia against
illegal land-grabbing.
• Landless people specially landless women established their
ownership in this land after 20 years of strives
• Women as organized collective force against powerful elite
land grabber to establish their land rights
• Media investigation and produced reports in national
newspaper
• Advocacy and mobilization, sensitization of the policy
makers, public representatives and other relevant stakeholders
for unified effort to create win-win situation
LESSON LEARNED

8. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
SCOPE OF WORK
• Land reform policy and program by the Government-
Exam: Khas (Govt.) land policy of Bangladesh entrenched
equal rights
• Protection of Agricultural land and its use Act
• Ratified CEDAW –With reservation on article 2 and 16.A
• Approved National policy for the Advancement of Women
developed a National Action Plan
• Advocacy for full implementation of the existing laws
Appointment of gender focal point in all central
government Ministries
• Increased demand for legal reform – ex: Uniform Family
code

9. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
Recommendations
1. Mainstream gender
• Gender perspectives need to be integrated in all land rights
programs, campaigns and movements.
2. Legal reform in favour of women’s land rights
• laws should be strongly implemented and enforced.
• International commitments exploited as an opportunity to further
interventions towards women’s land rights.
3. More research and documentation
• local contexts must be taken into consideration, since situations are
different depending on the region.
• lessons should be shared among countries, highlighting the positive
stories.
4. Maximization of CSO’s role
• potential role of the international community’s in facilitating, or
tackling corruption to ensure women’s land and property rights
• UN and other donors must target reforms which separate the
executive, administrative and judicial powers and responsibilities
within government, therefore reducing the high level capture of the
state by vested interests

10. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
ALRD’S EXPERIENCE ON
WOMEN ACCESS TO LAND
 Making Effective farmer’s Cooperatives and new supply chain
 In 12 districts with 13 active partners
39 female groups are formed out
of total 103 groups.
Capacity Building of the partners
 Promotion of women cooperative
 7 women farmers’ group have started group savings by
accumulating handful of rice from daily consumption (In Bangla
Musti Chal) and collective farming initiative of vermin compost.
 linked with market chain
 Knowledge Sharing
 Review the existing Khas land
distribution policy

11. ALRD
Association
for Land
Reform and
Development
House # 1/3,
Block # F, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
alrd@agni.com
www.alrd.org
Thank youThank you
Shanjida Khan Ripa
Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD)
House: 1/3; Block-F
Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh.
Phone: (+88 02) 9114660, 8142031
Fax: +88 02 8141810
Web: alrd.org
E-Mail: ripa.shanjida@gmail.com; ripa@alrd.org