On South Africa's Green paper on land reform

On the 31^st August 2011, the South AfricanMinistry of Rural Development and land Reform released its anticipated greenpaper on Land Reform in the country. The green paper was received with a number of criticisms that focused on the ‘lack of available’ constitution to which thereport should be based on.  The issue of land (land ownership and distribution) serves as a function of various economic activities in the country, one of which is housing. The green paper began with a motivation for the need for land reform, based on the radicalization of the rural economy and apartheid, and the suggested processes and establishments that will address the efficacy of the plan. Two points were mentioned as outcomes of the land redistribution: increase in the rural agribusiness and housing. But the green paper didn’t provide sufficient guidance on how housingas an outcome, will be possible. Also issues surrounding infrastructure were not included. The discussion on infrastructure is important in the discussion of land reform, because it almost dictates the uses of the land and determines the value of land, especially when it is hoped that the land will be a financial asset to its new owners.

I hope that the several recommendations and comments will be considered when drafting the actual policy

World Development Report 2011: Gender Equality and Development

“Women should work. Why should I stay at home if I can work outside? I should also earn income and my people and myself should enjoy the money I can make. Those days where our mothers were to ask for money from our fathers, even for simple things like underwear are gone: we need our own money and this means that we should work.”

Young woman in Bukoba municipality, Tanzania

The World Bank recently published its World Development Report 2012, this time around focusing on Gender Equality and Development. It is a lengthy report (452 pages) that covers all areas that are deemed important when referring to gender equality and reform.  The report provides extensive data that covers issues of health, education, economic participation and the progress of the millennium development goals. With the help of the data, the report takes an empirical approach to understand the major differences between the state of welfare of men and women. The report uses historical data (drawn from the World Bank’s past research) to understand the progress thus far. Major themes  that the report covers besides the economic outcomes include: the impact of globalization on gender equality, economic opportunities, and women’s agency. The report ends with a section on the necessary policy interventions needs to fasten the progress of gender equality. Some of these policy interventions and their related initiatives include:

Closing gender gaps in human endowments

• Increasing access to education among disadvantaged groups
• Increasing access to clean water
• Increasing access to specialized maternity services

Closing gender gaps in voice and agency

• Increasing women’s access to the justice system
• Shifting norms regarding violence against women

Supporting evidence based public action

• Generating new information
• Facilitation knowledge sharing and learning

This report might not qualify as a summer read, but definitely an excellent point of reference to anything related to gender (in)equality, and if you are in the sector this report will no doubt add value to your current work.