Panel 1: Whose Right to Land?
This panel will investigate women’s control over and access to land. Women’s control over land is not only about legal ownership (mostly unequal) and gender sensitive amendments in land reform proposals; it is also about how they can exercise autonomy over land as a source of livelihood and food security. Women find themselves increasingly disadvantaged in tandem with the increasing commercialization of agriculture. This results not only in malnourishment for women and children, it has also led to the erosion of traditional knowledge systems such as seed preservation and the related continuation of indigenous seed varieties, which was largely carried out by women. The issue of access relates to the manner in which women exercise control over land; whether they can make decisions about what is to be grown on a piece of land or if they can access the income generated from land and spend it according to their priorities.
South Asian countries present a rich geographical scenario (mountains, plains, desserts, coastal areas where land value varies) of diverse experience. From India where recent legal changes have made women eligible to equal inheritance rights to land to Pakistan and Bangladesh where they are legally disadvantaged to Afghanistan where conflict has resulted in loss of livelihood from land or Sri Lanka or Maldives where cultivable land is scarce, this panel will capture the complex issues involved in land tenure and land ownership across South Asia. It will examine the policy implications of allotting land to women on an equal basis and the resultant social change that South Asia might undergo as a result of pursuing gender justice.
Contact:
Saba Gul Khattak, Executive Director, SDPI
Email: saba@sdpi.org
Kiran Habib, Project Associate, Women’s Land Rights, SDPI
Email:kiran@sdpi.org
Panel 2: Reducing or Inducing Risk: Gender and Migration in South Asia
Transnational migration is an important livelihood strategy all over South Asia. Whereas, the majority of migrants from the subcontinent leave their homes in search of work and a better life for themselves and their families, others are forced to move due to political unrest and ecological distress.
With the exception of Sri Lanka, migration across borders in the subcontinent is male-dominated. Migration to a different environment may allow traditional structures to slowly change, thereby providing power to people who were formerly excluded because of gender, age, class or caste. At the same time, rigid gender relations in ‘sending’ regions that involve women’s exclusion from formal and informal networks may also increase vulnerabilities.
The panel seeks to understand the gendered networks of exchange and support across national boundaries and to suggest steps to make sure that those who move, as well as those who stay behind, benefit.
Contact:
Karin Astrid Siegmann, Research Fellow, SDPI
Email: karin@sdpi.org
Panel 3: Bridging the Subcontinent’s Gender Digital Divide
The importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for economic development has been widely recognized during the last decade. It is assumed to make economic processes more efficient, create employment opportunities, support development of skills and provide greater health care coverage and quality, as well as network building.
The ‘digital divide’ refers to the uneven distribution ICTs and their benefits, and the drastic differences in levels of ICT access between different population groups. This gap is wide between rural and urban areas. Moreover, another significant but less visible aspect of the digital divide, is the gap in access to and use of ICTs between women and men, girls and boys. In developing countries, there is evidence of an increasing gender gap in access to ICTs, with women and girls lagging behind. This may especially be true for South Asia, where existing patriarchal power relations bias the enjoyment of benefits from ICTs against women and girls. The gender gap in education, including English-proficiency and computer skills, women and girls’ domestic responsibilities, mobility restrictions and lesser economic power are obstacles to women and girls’ access to and use of ICTs.
This panel aims at making the South Asian experience concerning this ‘gender digital divide’ visible. It will bring together policy-oriented research suggesting measures to bridge the divide and to ensure that access to ICTs supports gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Contact:
Karin Astrid Siegmann, Research Fellow, SDPI
Email: karin@sdpi.org
Panel 4: Ignored Producers: Women's Role in South Asian Agriculture
Women in rural areas of South Asia play a major role in agricultural production and rearing livestock. About one-third of all agricultural work in rural Pakistan, e.g., is undertaken by women. These tasks are commonly carried out in addition to their domestic chores.
Despite their economic involvement, women hardly have ownership of or control over productive resources. A majority of women work as unpaid family helpers. They work and produce on land, which they commonly do not own. Due to the societal perception of men as the household’s main ‘breadwinners’ and women as supplementary income-earners, women are often prevented from searching paid employment and, consequently, have limited access to and control over financial resources.
This panel brings together the experience of women as important, but often ignored agricultural producers in the sub-continent, and discusses best practices of including their interests and voices in policies and interventions.
Contact:
Karin Astrid Siegmann, Research Fellow, SDPI
Email: karin@sdpi.org
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