The Network of African Women for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) and the Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI) have recommended the extension of land ownership rights to women as Liberia finalizes its new land laws.

The recommendation is an offshoot of deliberations from the Third Regional Workshop on Gender, Climate Change, Land and Forest Tenures in Africa organized by both bodies in conjunction with Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), and was passed to President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf at Liberia’s International Women’s Day Celebrations in Monrovia.

The bodies urged the President to include “clear safeguards and specifics on how women’s rights to own, access, use and control land would be recognized and protected” in the new land law which is currently being scrutinized by the country’s internal vetting committee.

Although President Sirleaf had stated in an interview with Reuters last year that “women will have the full right to own their land like anyone else,” and welcomes the initiative, the process through which it would be achieved and become a reality has not been clearly defined

“We must remember that action is necessary and we need more than just promises,” Solange Bandiaky-Badji, Africa Program Director for RRI said

In a bid to garner solidarity, REFACOF sought international support by gathering signatures from six continents in an online petition

They believe this would put pressure on the President to grant women rights to land; a step they consider necessary in realizing not just land equality but gender equality in Liberia and other African countries such as Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of the Congo where land reform processes are just beginning

“For real political and social change to take place, there are three issues that need to be addressed, we need legislation that protects equal rights for women, mechanisms that provide for political and social equity, and a change in social and cultural perceptions of women,” Cécile Ndjebet, REFACOF President said

The requested policy if passed into law is expected to empower women and enable them to provide food for themselves and their households, fight poverty and defend themselves against domestic violence, providing opportunities for women to become actively involved in social and political processes