Gender Aspects of Land Reform Discussed in Dushanbe

Date: Wednesday, 7 July 2010

According to the research carried out in Tajikistan over the period 2004-2008, the number of dekhkan and farmer households (DFH) headed by women increased from 2,695 to 3,782. However, attention was drawn to the fact that the proportion of DFH run by women over this period has decreased from 13.9% to 12.3%.
These data was presented by Mrs. Tatiana Bozrikova, a UNIFEM expert at press-conference on gender aspects of land reform which took place in the National Press Center in Dushanbe on 5th of July.

The members of a temporary working group, established specifically to develop proposals for amendments to the land legislation, shared their views and presented proposals to journalists during the press-conference. The working group includes representatives of various stakeholders, such as representatives of the Committee on Women and Family Affairs, State Unitary Enterprise “Markaz Zamin” and UNIFEM, as well as experts and representatives of various HGOs.

“Access to land is a strategic link in the access to resources, and equal access to land for women depends largely on overcoming gender inequalities” - stated Mrs. Tatiana Bozrikova, a UNIFEM expert.

Another UNIFEM expert, Mrs. Nargis Bozorova, reported that gender analysis of the existing Land Code showed that this document did not discriminate against either women or men, but appeared to be gender neutral. “One of the main proposed requirements of the working group for a new Land Code is to ensure equal opportunities for men and women”- she said – “Today we all can see that de facto the main land users are women, but de jure, land users are mostly men."

Nargis Bozorova presented the following suggested proposals, developed by the working group:

In disposition of land use rights, the interests of women should be taken into account with the establishment of a procedure ensuring implemented actions by a land user are with the consent of his/her spouse;
To extend the rules of common property regime of spouses to include land use rights;
To include the land use rights in the range of objects to be divided in case of divorce.