Pakistan

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Genuine Concerns or Political Considerations

Taking the case of the new Shia family law introduced in Afghanistan in 2009, the author argues that international pressure for women’s rights is selective. There is no pressure for granting the Sunni women of Afghanistan or teenagers in Pakistan their rights as human beings. The current phase of condemnation is less about women’s rights and more about achieving the agenda of some Western nations to malign President Karzai’s government. I do not intend to defend President Karzai in any way but at the same time refuse to support this politicization of the Human Rights issue.

Awareness raising and capacity building on women’s property rights, a project with Sangtani Women Rural Development Organisation Rajanpur, Pakistan

This project was implemented by Sangtani Women Rural Development Organisation Rajanpur (Sangtani) as part of their ongoing programme. Sangtani is an organisation that has been working in Rajanpur, one of Pakistan’s least developed areas, to provide counselling, mediation and free legal aid to needy women in family disputes to ensure their access to justice.

Awareness on inheritance rights, a project with Women Workers Help Line, Pakistan

This project was implemented by Women Workers Help Line (WWHL), an organisation that has been working in Pakistan to promote women’s social, political and economic rights, including campaigns for the repeal of all discriminatory laws against women. In this project, WWHL provided capacity building, leadership training and knowledge dissemination for women peasants, for whom land rights are closely linked to issues of food sovereignty. A charter of demand for women’s rights to land and property was drawn up after consultations with different stakeholders, social movements and NGOs.

Women’s Right to Land Ownership in Swat State Areas: The Swat State era and the post-State scenario

This paper deals with women’s right to land in the former Swat state areas. The author argues that inheritance was according to customary law (riwaj) which did not recognize women’s Islamic right of inheritance, disputed cases could be taken before the quazi to be decided according to the Shariat although at the discretion of the leader. But the extension of the West Pakistan Muslim personal Law (Shariat) application Act of 1962 to the Swat region in 1976 formally provided for women’s inheritance according to Muslim law.

Summary: Land Rights for Muslim Women: Review of Law and Policy

This document provides a short summary of law and policy impacting on women’s land rights in Pakistan.

Land Rights for Muslim Women: review of law and Policy, Sustainable development

This research report argues that women’s land ownership and control has important connections with their empowerment and there has been negligible research on how many women own land in Pakistan. This study aims to fill this gap and examine the connection between land ownership and empowerment. The focus in on women’s land ownership vis a vis private agricultural land, not residential or commercial property.

“Sindh: ‘Reports of flaws in land distribution’: Revenue Minister”

“Sindh: Government Land Distribution”

This is a report of the study on the issues and challenges of the land development programme prepared by the Participatory Development Initiative (PDI), in coordination with Oxfam-GB.

Pakistan: The tenants’ struggle on Okara Military Farms

This article reports on the conflict between the military farm administrations and the tenants at Okara Military farms when the former forcibly tried to replace the age-old crop-sharing system of cultivation with cash-rent and yearly lease system. The tenants who had tilled the land through generations felt the new system was meant to have them evicted.

A series of articles on the struggle for land in Okara