I just came across a press release from the World Bank about a successful project for registration of land rights in Ethiopia, which the Bank has supported. It states that the women, because they have learned that they have the same rights to land as men and because they have received land title certificates, have become stronger and more self-confident.
Usually I am sceptical about press releases from NGOs and other organisations about their successes. I always find it too difficult to establish the difference between what has actually been achieved and what potentially could be achieved if they had more money, if the world was decent, and if people were honest and nice to each other. But actually I find the World Bank statement about these Ethiopian women quite credible.
I have experienced the same phenomenon with Maasai women here in Tanzania who, according to Maasai tradition, cannot own land. But after having received information about their rights and after having applied for land, either for themselves or together with their family, they change. When I ask them how they can own land like that, they usually answer; Because my name has been written - no one can take that land away from me.
I am always amazed when I hear those statements. Just a few years ago those women would loose everything if they got divorced or if their husbands died. Back then they knew they could only access land through their husbands, never on their own.
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