SIERRA LEONE NETWORK ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD (SiLNoRF)

REPORT OF THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN’S LAND RIGHT

HELD AT THE MAKENI CITY COUNCIL HALL ON THE 12TH AND 13TH AUGUST 2013

SUPPORTED BY

FUND FOR GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UNDP ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROGRAM

SUBMITTED BY:

SiLNoRF Secretariat

September 2013

CONTENT

1.0 Summary

2.0 Context and background

3.0 Aims and objectives of the conference

4.0 Conference opening and key statements

5.0 Presentations/Panel discussions and issues raised by delegates

6.0 Key action points by delegates

7.0 Key Conference outcomes

8.0 Conclusion

1.0 SUMMARY

The Regional Conference on Women’s Land Rights came about as a result of current work being done by SiLNoRF and other partners (such as Green Scenery, COOPI, NAMATI, NMJD etc.) on land rights issues more especially women’s access to and ownership of land in Sierra Leone. Based on gains made through previous actions such as conferences organised by Green Scenery and SiLNoRF and also by COOPI in 2012 with specific focus on land rights, SiLNoRF wanted to focus the debate to the situation in the Northern Region where they are currently operating. SiLNoRF strongly believed that in order to change the status quo, there needs to be strong grassroots mobilisation around the issue. The reason for hosting the event in the Northern region is because during our interventions in the North, women’s property rights have stood out strongly as the most challenging issues especially related to large scale investment in land by multinational companies.

The conference brought together eight (8) Paramount Chiefs from three regions in Sierra Leone, eighty (80) women delegates four fourteen (14) districts in Sierra Leone, Civil Organisations, Media and other key stakeholders. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) participants were in attendance and the conference took on the 12th and 13th August 2013 at the Makeni City Council Hall in Makeni. The objective of the conference was to create a platform for engagement among grassroots women and key stakeholders on women’s property rights (particularly land rights) for their engagement and total participation in decision-making process in order to influence change on the current status of women in Sierra Leone. The expected outcomes of the conference were: best practices on women’s access and ownership of land in other areas in Sierra Leone are identified and used to inform advocacy on women’s access to land, support for advocacy against barriers that affect women’s property rights is mobilised; engagements and discussions/debate around women’s property rights especially land rights is enhanced bringing on board more actors; women are legally empowered through bridging communication gaps, as well as increased knowledge regarding land protection strategies and women and land rights legal standards and voices of grassroots women on their challenges regarding property rights are amplified through a communiqué.

The conference was able to bring together people especially from various backgrounds with different views and challenges faced in terms of accessing and owning land in Sierra Leone. Participants had the opportunity to interact with one another to discuss the challenges they face in their day to day life regarding their access to land. One key opportunity the conference gave to participant was that it helped them to interact with paramount chiefs in order to discuss the barriers that prevent women’s land ownership in Sierra Leone.

Through key presentations, participants were also able to gain knowledge on how to legally empower themselves to address the situation they are faced with access to and owning land. Key deliberations were also made on the extent to which grassroots mobilisation can achieve women’s land rights in Sierra Leone.

In conclusion, participants were able to come up with keys strategies and actions for advocacy on women’s land rights in Sierra Leone. Through a communique, participants were able to come up with key recommendations for achieving women’s land rights in Sierra Leone.

2.0 CONTEXT/BACKGROUND

Land is highly a contentious issue in Sierra Leone, and one of the major structural causes underlying the 11 years civil war that claimed the lives of somany people.There had been a big rural/urban divide in Sierra Leone over the years that caused a neglect of countryside with less rural and agricultural development.Sierra Leone also operates under a complex and outdated Land Tenure System/policy of 1962 which is also a major cause for women’s marginalisation in terms of access to and ownership of land. In response to improving women’s right situation in Sierra Leone, the government passed the three Gender Acts in 2007. These Acts were meant to bridge the huge gender gaps between men and women in Sierra Leone. Despite the efforts of the government and its partners in promoting human rights in Sierra Leone, several challenges still continue to impede the realization of basic human rights by many Sierra Leoneans particularly women and children and also in the area of accessing and owning land.

Like other rural communities in Sierra Leone, women in the Northern Region of Sierra Leone contribute significantly to household food production and income generation. In addition to helping the men on the rice farms, women also do market gardening, fishing, petty trading, and animal rearing which are geared towards supporting the home. Traditionally women in rural areas have been more attached to land than men but the land tenure system in this part of the country strongly discriminates against women. As indicated by Unruh and Turay (2006)18, women cannot own or inherit land but can access it for farming through male relatives. Even though the 2007 Devolution of Estates Act grants women inheritance rights, customs and tradition bar women from inheriting land and enjoying full tenure rights in Bombali, Port Loko and Tonkolili Districts. That discrimination has been heightened by the influx of multinational companies in the region. Women had little say in the arrangements though there are reports that they took part in the consultations leading the acquisition of large tracts of land farm land by multinational corporations. Since land is owned by households and families which are headed by males, land lease fees are evidently paid to and shared by male family members. Women beneficiaries are normally obviously sidelined in the process and the arrangements did not take into consideration the specific needs of women like access to water sources and distance to farm sites and local markets. These issues have contributed negatively to the wellbeing of women in the project affected areas. In response to this, SiLNoRF receives financial and technical support from one of its partners Global Funds for Human Rights to promote women’s right to access and own land for productive livelihood activities in the Paki Masabong Chiefdom in Bombali district.

The Regional Conference on Women’s Land Rights came about as a result of current work being done by SiLNoRF and other partners (such as Green Scenery, COOPI, NAMATI, NMJD etc.) on land rights issues more especially women’s access to and ownership of land in Sierra Leone. Based on gains made through previous actions such as conferences organised by Green Scenery and SiLNoRF and also by COOPI in 2012 with specific focus on land rights, SiLNoRF wants to focus the debate to the situation in the Northern Region where they are currently operating. SiLNoRF strongly believes that in order to change the status quo, there needs to be strong grassroots mobilisation around the issue. The reason for hosting the event in the Northern region is because during our interventions in the North, women’s property rights have stood out strongly as the most challenging issues especially related to large scale investment in land by multinational companies. Therefore, mobilizing grassroots support will go a long way in creating a constructive discuss and engagement around the issues of women’s land rights.

3.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE

3.1 Overall Conference Objective:

The objective of the conference was to create a platform for engagement among grassroots women and key stakeholders on women’s property rights (particularly land rights) for their engagement and total participation in decision-making process in order to influence change on the current status of women in Sierra Leone.

3.2 Specific Conference Objectives:

3.2.1 Best practices on women’s access and ownership of land in other areas in Sierra Leone are identified and used to inform advocacy on women’s access to land;

3.2.2 Support for advocacy against barriers that affect women’s property rights is mobilised;

3.2.3 Engagements and discussions/debate around women’s property rights especially land rights is enhanced bringing on board more actors;

3.2.4 Women are legally empowered through bridging communication gaps, as well as increased knowledge regarding land protection strategies and women and land rights legal standards and

3.2.5 Voices of grassroots women on their challenges regarding property rights are amplified through a communiqué.

4.0 CONFERENCE OPENING AND KEY STATEMENTS:

The conference took place on the 12th and 13th August 2013 at the Makeni City Council Hall and it brought together with support from the UNDP Access to Justice Program and Fund for Global Human Rights. The conference brought together eight (8) paramount chiefs from the South, East and Northern Regions of Sierra Leone, eighty (80) women representatives from all the fourteen districts of Sierra Leone, Civil Society Representatives, media representatives, representatives from the National Land Policy Reform Committee, representative from the UNDP and Fund for Global Human Rights and other partners.

The conferences began with an opening prayer done individually followed by the introduction of the chairman Mr. Abdulai Yollah Bangura of the Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone which was done by Mariama Tarawalli of SiLNoRF.

4.1 Chairperson’s opening remarks

The chairperson in his opening remarks thanked all conference participants for leaving their tight schedules to attend the conference which showed that they consider women’s rights as a serious issue. He made a reflection about Human Rights in general and why it is important for women to have their rights particularly that relating to owning property such a land. He stated that the situation of women during and after war has been very deplorable especially those in rural communities, but with perseverance they have been playing key roles to attend to the needs of their homes in different communities. With detail explanation on the role of women in society, he clearly stated the importance of the conference and implored the attention and fullest participation of participants from the respective regions of the country as the issue of not permitting women neither giving them the right to own property especially land in some parts of the country seems to be a great concern and challenge that need to be addressed for the promotion of women’s welfare. In his closing statement, he stated that participants should not only gather in Makeni for two days to eat and enjoy but they should be able to come up with concrete strategies on how to engage with key stakeholders in order to achieve women’s land rights in Sierra Leone.

4.2 Overview of Conference

In given the overview of the conference Mr. Abass Kamara who is the Programmes Coordinator for SiLNoRF stated that land is highly a contentious issue in Sierra Leone and across the continent for which women have continued to suffer. He also stated that over the years in Sierra Leone, men have been in major control of key resources including land thereby excluding women in land ownership which is as a result of very old land laws of the country. He expressed his profound gratitude to the wife of Paramount Chief Massayeli Ntham II of Makarie Gbanti Chiefdom who is currently ill, by representing her husband, the wife of the chief has clearly shown that women can equally step in the shoes of men he went on to say. He also commended the UNDP and Fund for Global Human Rights for supporting the conference and the participants that took their time to attend the program as he said without their support the conference would not have been possible. He stated that the conference has been jointly organised by SiLNoRF and NAMATI in other to clearly bring out the challenges faced by women in relation to land ownership in mainly rural Sierra Leone. He said that the conference will create a space for women and other key stakeholders to discuss challenges faced by women in accessing and owning land in rural Sierra Leone and to map out joint strategies in addressing these issues. He stated that women are supposed to enjoy equal rights as men when it comes to accessing, owning and utilizing land, but this is not the case. He concluded by stating that women are responsible for taking the lead in the fight for their right to own land and property and should use the conference as platform for agitating for their rights to access and own land.

4.3 Statement by the Mayor Makeni City Council

The Mayor of Makeni City Council Mrs. Sunkarie Kabbah Kamara in her statement expressed gratitude to the conference organisers and sponsors for organizing such a laudable event. She stated that discriminatory traditions and customs over the years have contributed to debarring women from owning property particularly land and mainly in the northern region of Sierra Leone. She described the situation of rural women in Sierra Leone as being deplorable wherein women are given little privileges in taking part in active decision making process both at home and in governance. She went on to state that it is widely hoped that the new National Land Policy would be able to address the challenges faced by women in terms of access and owning land in rural Sierra Leone. She concluded by stating that there is need for women to have more space in governance and decision making process and thereby called on all women delegates to support the outcome of the conference and to continue engaging key stakeholders for their rights to access and own land.

4.4 Mr. Raymond Senesie (Board Chairman SiLNoRF)

Mr. Senesie started by thanking the supporters of the conference and all delegates and partners that were in attendance. He mentioned that women and land are inseparable and interrelated since women depend on land to take care of their children and their families as well. He noted that the sub Saharan Africa are with more fertile and viable land for agriculture but at the same time appears to be poor as a result of issues of land rights and land grabbing to which he gave examples of the injustice women are facing with specific reference to the ADDAX Bioenergy project and other investments around the country where women are equally suffering. He enlightened members about his assessment visit in Koinadugu where he noticed that women have no access and ways to own land as the laws are always in favor of men and thus leaving women in abject poverty. This he said is prevalent in the northern region. He clearly told audience that SiLNoRF is not against investors in lands but have obligations to fulfill the necessary terms and conditions so those associated with the use of land can also realize benefit from it. He concluded by wishing all the delegates and partners a successful conference and deliberations as he went ahead to officially declare the conference opened.

4.5 Dr. John Kabia (Funds for Global Human Rights)

A representative of the Funds for Global Human Rights (FGHR) Dr. John Kabia began his remarks by expressing his appreciation for such a wonderful conference and gave a brief background about the joint collaboration FGHR and New Field Foundation is doing with SiLNoRF and YWCA. He stated that the FGHR is based in the United States of America and presently operating in nineteen countries with the primary focus on women’s right as a priority and seven out of the organisations they are supporting, have received direct funding on women’s right. He expressed his happiness about SiLNoRF collaboration with UNDP for their tremendous support to make a successful conference. The collaboration to them as donors he said would serve as milestone to increase the awareness and promote women’s right in Sierra Leone. He further expressed his appreciation since land policy makers are present and other civil society organization which is a sign that matters related to land rights will be duly deliberated. He wished participants a fruitful discussion and assured them about their continued support to SiLNoRF as women issues are of priority and also admonished them to come up with a clearly strategy for engaging with relevant stakeholders on attaining women’s land rights in Sierra Leone; as several conferences have been held without any concrete action thereafter.

4.6 Mr. Walter Neba (UNDP Access to Justice Programme)

Mr. Neba thanked the organisers of the conference and also commended Fund for Global Human Rights for jointly supporting the conference with the UNDP Access to Justice Program. He also acknowledged the presence of Dr. Foray from the National Land Reform Committee. He stated that the draft National Land Policy would possibly evolve into an overall final document for use by government

to make laws that have govern land use in Sierra Leone and hence it is important that the general public fully participate in the process. He said he is however, concerned that customs and traditions are highly associated with the land policy and that the actual factors that would promote women’s seem to be missing in the draft national land policy. He stated that the voices of women must be taken into consideration, because they also can make meaningful contribution to decision making processes. He further stated that customs and traditions can be respected but those that do not conform to development should not be regarded as good traditions and therefore must not be tolerated. He emphasised that even though change is a gradual, the process must be stalled as a result customs and traditions that do not respect or protect human rights. He said that the UNP Access to justice is supporting the justice in Sierra Leone including enhancing access to justice for women and if customs and traditions still prevent women from enjoying those rights, then it means that their work is going in vain. On this note, he called on all participants to clearly bring out traditional and customary issues that prevent them from enjoying their rights as women in Sierra Leone.

4.7 Mr. Abu Dingie (UNDP)

Mr. Dingie started his statement by thanking the organisers of the conference and also stated that the conference is a step in the right direction. He stated that the National Land Policy reform is in line with the President’s Agenda for Change. He said that the land policy document has undergone several reviews by an inclusive committee appointed by government and supported by the UNDP. He mentioned that the land reform process is geared towards a holistic development in Sierra Leone. He stated that different development partners including civil society organisations have gone through the various drafts of the policy and have given feedback. These feedbacks he said prompted the UNDP to engage government on the outcome of the policy so far. He also commended Dr. Foray who did several researches and made key recommendations including:

To set up a steering committee to strengthen the land reform process;

Establishment of a technical working group with the involvement of Professor Harry Turay;

That the process should be participatory as land is not only political but also economic and social;

To conduct a survey and to share survey findings with credible institutions for accreditation and recommendation.

He further stated that their team is currently putting together an abridged version of the land policy for further public consultation. He ended by stating tthat the policy is still open for comments and he hoped that the conference will come up with key recommendations for improving on the policy.

4.8 Dr. Foray (National Land Reform Committee)

He started his presentation by expressing his thanks and appreciation for such a conference that will promote awareness on the draft national land policy document and women’s land rights in Sierra Leone which is also a key consideration for the policy. He mentioned that to develop a national land policy means a lot of difficulties and challenges will be encountered because land matters are very crucial and there is need for the incorporation of key players on land. He said that even though the policy has undergone several reviews it is still awaiting to be presented to government. He stated that the policy document is over one hundred pages and hence will be difficult for the public to read easily. For this reason, he said that they are presently putting together an abridged version of the policy which will capture the following areas of concern:

Land management and administration.

Land use and regulations.

Land adjudication.

He stated that the policy has also made the following recommendations:

1. The establishment of a National Land Commission which will comprise of the following

Regional Land Commission

District Land Committee

Chiefdom Land Committee 2. Establishment of a special court to deal with land issues 3. Increase women’s right to property with preference to equitable land ownership

He further mentioned that the policy will also pay special consideration to the following areas:

The right of women to access and own land to be recognized but customs, traditions and social norms must be considered and not abused;

The government to modify the existing laws that prevent women to access and own land in Sierra Leone;

The registration of ownership of property to secure property inherited for marriage daughters must also be highly considered;

The government to ensure representation of women in all land governance institutions;

The government to consider land right for the vulnerable groups, for example HIV/AIDS disables;

The government should strengthen the legislation and laws for environmental protection;

The government to build the capacity of line ministries in order to address the issues of land;

The government to involve host communities in planning development programmes;

The government to provide adequate measures to ensure development conservation facilities;

In conclusion, he mentioned that the policy document emphasised that in acquiring land, the following has to be observed;

In-depth consultation with land owning families and communities;

Payment for land is to be duly negotiated by the land owners;

5.0 PRESENTATIONS/PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND ISSUES RAISE BY DELEGATES

5.1 Presentation by NAMATI: Analysis of Customary and Traditional Barriers that prevent women’s property right in Sierra Leone.

The presentation was jointly done by Alison Rabe and Achmed Deen Sesay of NAMATI. The key focus of the presentation was on;

Legal framework in Sierra Leone

Customary law and women

Customary law and statutory law interacting

Women’s land rights in practice: legal empowerment examples on the ground

The presentation highlighted that:

Women are huge contributors to agriculture and food production and they also constitute the largest group of agricultural laborers. Most of them usually only access small plots of land for purposes of household gardening and they also rarely own or control land. Because of their low status, they are considered to have less right than men in general and hence are unable to participate in decision-making and owning property.

The presenters also highlighted that: There are two main land tenure systems in Sierra Leone,

1. Customary laws and traditions

The customary tenure system they said, mostly applies to rural communities in the provinces.

2. Statutory freehold system. This allows individual land ownership and exists mainly in the western area.

They said rural land is held by landowning families, with a chieftaincy structure, extended families are attached to areas within chiefdoms and Paramount chiefs are made custodians of the land. Under this system, access to land is granted to individuals and families by the chief in consultation with other community elders. Also under this system they said decision makers in land matters are usually men and women rarely hold decision-making positions either as chiefs, family heads, or elders. Women are vastly perceived as unequal wherein wives are considered as “strangers” or properties themselves and daughters are also considered as “leavers.” The presenters further stated that 52% of the population in Sierra Leone are women who do a lot of work in farming but realized very little or nothing at the end of harvesting but since the paramount chiefs are the custodians of land who are mainly men, they most of the time prevent women from owning it.

He explained that NAMATI is presently reviewing the recent draft of the Land Policy and they are hoping to engage the Land Reform Committee on their findings in terms of gaps in the policy. He concluded by stating that the major barrier for women’s land rights in Sierra Leone is the National Constitution which still ties women’s property rights to customs and tradition and until such laws are reviewed it would be difficult for women to have full rights to property.

5.2 Panel discussions

The presentation of NAMATI was followed by a panel discussion by Paramount Chiefs on the tradition barriers that prevents women land rights and was moderated by Walter Neba of the UNDP.

Paramount Chief Alhaji Issa Kamara from Pujehun district started the discussion by giving a historical background of land acquisition. He stated that lands were claimed in those days by warriors who were mainly men; through conquering battles and victorious warriors grabbed large areas of lands and even possess the inhabitants of those lands including women and many other things. He stated that these warriors did conquered and occupied lands and then passed it on from one generation to the other. In order to have the family protected from intruders and invaders the men heads of the families are always put in charge of the land. The men heads were meant to protect the land for all the family members including the women. He said this order has over the years strongly contributed to a male dominant tradition and customs which have marginalised women. He however stated that there are chiefdoms where traditions and customs are friendly to women and this includes his own chiefdom, as women are allowed to own property just as men including land. He further mentioned that besides owning property, women deserve to take active parts in decision making processes at home, local and even at national level. He stated that in his opinion tradition or customs must not prevent women from owning property or playing leadership roles. He said he sympathises with women from the north who claim not to enjoy their property rights and also cannot play active leadership roles as men do. He said he hoped that these traditions will change gradually for the sake of development. He ended by stating that the conference should be a platform for championing women’s right issues.

The deputy paramount chief of Bombali Sebora Chiefdom, ‘’Pa misim’’ stated that the ‘poro’ society in the northern region has been part of the barriers that have prevented women from attaining the position of paramount chiefs in the region. He stated that initiates into this society are required to undergo rigorous initiation rites which can render women childless. He stated that change is gradual and that positive signs are now showing as they have for the first time the only female Local Court Chairperson in Port Loko district and the first female Mayor ever of the Makeni City Council. He stated that they as chiefs also support women issues because women are their wives, children and sisters and therefore

their issues must be taken seriously. He mentioned that women have been meeting them to sign land documents which shows some indications that they too are now owning land.

The wife of paramount chief Massah Yeali Artham II of Makari Gbanti chiefdom Bombali district, in her remark stated that there are more problems in the northern of Sierra Leone than any other region when it comes to women’s right as customs and traditions do not considered women important. She said that women have continued suffering just because men want to be in control and therefore do not give women any important role to play. She also stated that the ‘’poro’’ society should not be a barrier for women to become paramount chiefs, because the highest rite in the ‘’poro’’ society is been performed by women (the ‘’maboreh’’). She therefore pleaded to the conference organisers to also engage men and not only women. She stated that women in the north have suffered for long because of the so-called tradition and customs. She also mentioned that women can equally perform well in leadership roles but yet she wonders why they are refused the right to take active part in decision making processes. She went further to state that some positive signs are showing and she believes that very soon women in the northern region will start to enjoy their rights including that of their property rights. She concluded by encouraging participants to seize the conference as an opportunity to make their voices heard by policy makers so that the lives of in Sierra Leone will change for the better.

Also Paramount Chief Matilda of Pujehun district argued that men must not claim supremacy over land because in the past lands were owned by women also. She stated several great women such Madam Yoko, Madam Ella Koblo and others were all land owners and so she said she is surprised that land is now mainly owned by men who technically bullying women. She stated women should be considered as partners in developed. She said that women should also have total access and control over land because they use even more than the men.

The followings issues and concerns were raised by participant as response to the panelists:

Participants wanted to know whether the ‘poro’ society does exist in the east and southern provinces and how does it affect women’s rights;

Participants also wanted to know how inter marriages look like in Kono District;

Participants wanted further explanation on the role of paramount chiefs in relation to land reform policy draft document;

A participant from Malen Chiefdom in Pujehun district alleged to have been threatened by the paramount chief when he failed to give up his plantation to the Socfin Company. He stated that the company also destroyed his plantations without any proper consultation;

A participant was concerned about the independence of the Land Reform Commission and whether paramount would still continue to be custodians of land;

A participant from Bo District commented that, the Paramount Chiefs are only custodians of the land and overseers of the laws. Therefore, she said paramount chiefs should not negotiate for land but rather facilitate the process. She also stated that tradition and customs must not be a barrier to women’s land ownership;

Other participants from Bo and Pujehun districts commented that development towards ensuring women’s access and ownership of land is a gradual process. They made references to the female paramount chiefs who were on the panel as a good example of the important role women can play in decision making processes. They expressed hopes for an independent land commission which will not be manipulated by any government agency.

A female representative from Kono expresses concerns over issues regarding their access to land she highlighted some of the challenges that they are faced with as women in Kono district which mainly includes lack of access to fertile land for farming. She stated that the mining activities in their district have taken over most of their arable and watered lands. She said that women in the district are very much concerned that if measures are not put in place to manage mining activities in the district; all their lands will go;

A participant from Kenema district was also concerned whether the Land Reform Committee takes into consideration the various Genders Laws in Sierra Leone in order to make better provisions for women in the policy;

A participant from Bonthe District stated that companies in their area have destroyed their crops, fish ponds and oil palms and with this trend she wonders how women will continue to survive in their district.

Other issues and suggestions that came up during the panel discussion were:

The draft policy should also recommend the involvement of families and land owners in all land negotiation and deals;

To build the capacity of government personnel to implement the land policy;

Recommended for a national land registration to be conducted;

To strengthen existing and independent court since there are always delay in presiding over land matters;

Civil Society Organization to assist in popularizing land policy for better understanding by the general public;

To carry out regular meetings at district and later regional level in order to discuss land related issues;

5.3 Presentation /discussion on the role of civil society in women’s property right in Sierra Leone done by Mrs. Ramatu Fornah (WAHD)

Her presentation highlighted the followings:

Government of Sierra Leone already putting together key documents for land protection even the documents has several gaps.

Because of the global food crisis, government has placed premiums on agriculture and food production.

In farming activities, women fully participate from scratch to harvesting period but at the end they realise very little.

The international community has taken a bold step to reduce hunger and discrimination against women in Africa.

Civil Society Organisations in Sierra Leone over the years have worked hard to advocate for women’s right and they have also made tremendous successes. For example they played a pivotal role in advocating for the enactment of three gender laws in 2007.

They have also worked to mobilise and organise communities to advocate for women’s rights issues.

There is the need for Civil Society Organisation to network and create more linkages in their in order to create a greater impact.

5.4 The presentation was followed by a panel discussion by representative of Civil Society Organisations. The discussion was focused on: To what extent can grassroots movements achieve women property rights in Sierra Leone? Panelists were: Mrs. Mariama Kabba (COOPI), Ms. Adenike Cole (YWCA), Mrs. Sadiatu Kemokai Leigh (ACT) and Mr. Titus Massallay (Humanist Watch).

Key deliberations were focused on efforts and actions by grass-roots movements/organizations over the years to achieve women’s property right in Sierra Leone. They said various grassroots movements emerged immediately after the war ended in 2002. Through these movements, more awareness was raised on issues affecting women and the discrimination and abuse they faced during the war. They stated before now a woman did not had right to her husband’s property if her husband dies, because women themselves were classed as property.

One of the panelists Ms. Adenike Cole stated that grassroots are those feeling the brunt of hardship and therefore must be in the forefront in fighting for their rights. She stated that without support from grassroots movements it will be difficult to achieve women’s rights issues in Sierra Leone. She said that CSOs must work together with the grassroots to advocate for the rights more especially women’s property rights.

Mrs. Mariama Kabba stated that CSOs have major roles to perform in society and that the close collaboration and sharing of information among CSOs has achieved a lot. She mentioned that her organisation COOPI has created a platform/ forum where women are given the opportunity to express their rights and discuss issues affecting them particularly their rights to ownership and access to land. She also stated that as a result of their work and that of other grassroots organisations in Kono district, women are now aware of their rights. She expressed confidence over the works of CSOs and other grassroots movements and said if only much attention is paid to grassroots mobilisation, then a lot can be achieved for women in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Titus Massallay, another panelist stated that culture and tradition are dynamic and can change with time and as such, paramount chiefs should accept changes and respect women’s right, as women too have potentials like them. He stated that CSOs have worked a lot to change the negative mind set of people about women’s rights in Sierra Leone.

5.5 Key contributions and concerns raised by participants during the panel discussion were:

Madam Zainab of Worreh Yeama in Makarie Gbanti Chiefdom mentioned that women all over the country in remote areas are the most vulnerable and have very little to realize from the use of land. She also told the audience that SiLNoRF’s contribution into their lives as women especially in her community is great as they have empowered them as grassroots women to be able to advocate for their rights to own land.

Edwin K.G Bangura a participant from Bo district stressed the need for grassroots women to stand up to the challenge of fighting for their rights. He said that the actions and demand for rights has to originate from the grassroots and therefore grassroots mobilisation must be strengthened. He called on women to form a united front in order to coordinate the advocacy for their rights.

Ms. Beatrice Kargbo from Tonkolili district suggested that there should be more grassroots engagement on traditional issues in order to change the mindset of people.

The second day of the conference started with the launching of SiLNoRF’s Annual Monitoring Report on the Addax project. The Project Officer of SiLNoRF Mr. Lansana Hassan Sowa gave a brief background about the annual monitoring report. In his statement he mentioned that the Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) is an advocacy network of various Civil Society Organisations advocating for the effective and efficient realisation of the right to food in Sierra Leone. The network he said is an affiliate to the African Network on the Right to Food (ANoRF), which is also a network of African Countries advocating for the right to food in Africa. He stated since the existence of SiLNoRF, they have been working with farming communities to help build their capacity for the effectively and efficiently realisation of the right to food. He said the work of SiLNoRF is to monitor the impact of multinational companies’ operations on local communities’ livelihood. He stated that Addax Bioenergy Company is one of the companies SiLNoRF has been closely monitoring for the past three years and have been producing annual monitoring reports on the company’s operations. He also stated that SiLNoRF has partnered with NAMATI to provide legal support to communities affected by large scale land investment in Sierra Leone and they have also now expanded their monitoring activities to other areas. He closed by stating that SiLNoRF is not against any investment company in Sierra Leone but wants to ensure that companies’ operations do not negatively impact on local communities’ livelihood.

The second annual monitoring report on the Addax Bioenergy Company was officially launched by Dr. John Kabia. He thanked SiLNoRF for giving him the opportunity to launch such an important document. He stated the conference is a perfect platform for launching such a report it will attract public attention and will also open the minds of participant to issue happening in other areas in the country. He mentioned such monitoring reports would help to shape the operations of multinational companies and come up with key recommendations which can help in addressing the challenging issues affected communities are faced with. He stated the major gap he has noticed in the works of civil society organisations in Sierra Leone is in the area of research. He said little is done by civil society organisations in the area of research and therefore they normally do not advocate from an informed position. He also stated that he was opportune to have read the first monitoring and this second report shows that several developments and changes have taken in the company during the second reporting period. He went ahead to state some of the improvements in the companies’ operational area such as:

Increase in the household’s income of some community members who received compensation for the destruction of their crops and the use of their lands;

More people have been employed during the reporting period;

Farmer Development Program is still on going in affected communities etc.

He stated that despite these developments, the reports show that there are still issues that need to be addressed by the company such as;

Negotiation of the land lease agreement which the communities think is not favourable to them,

Low compensation for land use and tree crops are also of concern to affected communities.

There are also concerns over the ineffectiveness of the Farmer Development Program etc.

With these statements he went on to launch the report and encouraged everyone to read the report and also share with others that are not attending the conference.

5.6 Presentation on the importance of women’s legal empowerment and land protection in Sierra Leone, by Alison Rabe of NAMATI and Walter Neba of the UNDP Access to Justice.

Alison Rabe stated that women are of greater value and notably huge contributors to agriculture and food production but in reality only access small plots of land for purposes of household gardening/income. They also constitute the largest proportion/group of agriculture labourers and yet hardly own or control land. As a result she said women are subordinates and less in status since they have less right than men as compared generally and unable to participate in decision making and system of owning property.

She pointed out that there are two main systems of land ownership in Sierra Leone, the Crown Colony system which allows freehold of land such as in the western area and Provinces Land Law under which the customary and traditional land laws fall. She stated that the provincial or customary law applies only to lands in the provinces of Sierra Leone wherein lands are owned by communities and families. She said in this type of arrangements, lands are held in custody of the Chiefdom Councils on behalf of land owners. She mentioned that chiefs are only look after the lands and therefore do not have the authority to dispose of land without the consent of land owners.

Mr. Neba stated that there are provisions in the national constitution under section 27 that gives right to women, but however he said these laws have limitations. He commented briefly on the customary land tenure that has close interaction with statutory law. He highlighted the three gender acts as follows, the Domestic violence act 2007, the Devolution of Estate Act (which provides the inheritance of property for women) and the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act. He said that all these protection mechanism are available to protect women but they are all limited by customs and traditions. He said the Devolution of Estates Act recognizes the rights of all women to own and inherit property. He said

the act is also supposed to protects women against property grabbing including land, but customs and tradition serve as barriers for women not to enjoy these rights.

He also stated that Section 18 of the Local Government Act of 2004 also states that women have right to own property. He encouraged all Paramount Chiefs to pay more attention to the Local Government Act, as it does not allow or make provision for them to conduct court sittings, but rather to do mediation. He said that the Paramount Chiefs have a very important role to play in settling minor community disputes especially those that have bearing to land use. He concluded by stating that all of the above laws both national and international laws such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against women ( CEDAW) are all geared towards the promotion of women’s property rights and other related rights.

5.7 The following key issues and concerns came up from participants;

Most decision makers in the country are men as women are considered to be in the back seat of governance.

Traditional and customary practices are still barriers that are preventing women from enhancing their status in society, despite the important role they play.

Paramount Chief Alice Vibbie expressed her appreciation for such a wonderful conference to promote the rights of women and mentioned that Sierra Leone is a signatory to several international treaties. Therefore citizens have the right to respect and abide to these laws as government has an obligation to ensure that the right of women are been recognized and respected. She stated that government can sometimes be held accountable if these rights are violated. She said the CEDAW outlined protective measures for women’s rights. She mentioned that more referrer pathways should be created for women to get access to redress systems when their rights are violated. She said that women must be united and organised to raise awareness and demand for their rights own land.

Alison Rabe cautioned stakeholders about the dangers of signing land lease agreement without properly understanding it. She advised chiefs to always consult an independent lawyer before they sign an agreement. She said they can consult SiLNoRF or NAMATI for free legal advice.

6.0 KEY ACTION POINTS BY DELEGATES

In order to develop a post conference action plan, the facilitator Mr. Sheku James worked with participants to define strategies for engagement and advocacy. He stated that in order to have a clear strategy, participants need to have a clear understanding of what it means to them to access and own land. He also wanted participants to understand the difficult journey which lies ahead of them in achieving women’s property and land rights. He stated that for women to succeed in this venture, they must be able to identify the key limitations that prevent them from accessing and owning land, the root causes and strategies to be involved in overcoming these limitations. He said, in designing our advocacy intervention, we should clearly state our goals and what strategies could be used to achieve these goals. On this note, participants were later grouped into regions to come up with strategies for advocacy on women access to and ownership of land. The facilitator admonished participants to think about the following point while they are in their various groups.

How women can organize themselves?

What are women standing point in terms of decision making, the traditional rule with natural resources for women to meaningfully participate. We are doing so not provoke issues with our counterparts.

How are we to convince the illiterate women and who are the target groups?

How can we translate what is on the document into a collective action?

How do women work closely with SiLNoRF to disseminate the campaign messages?

At the end of the group discussions participant came up definition of what they think access to and ownership of land really mean and also came up some action points and strategies for engagements at regional level:

Northern Region Group:

The Northern region group said for them access to and ownership of land means the availability and control of land. They said that their limitations are:

Customs and traditions

Poverty

The 1991(section 27.40) constitution of Sierra Leone

Illiteracy

Negative mind set

Their advocacy goal is:

To mainstream women’s access, ownership and control over land in all laws of Sierra Leone.

The objectives they want to achieve through their advocacy are:

To build structures that will enhance women’s participation in the formulation and development of policies, legal institutional framework that will regulate the range of tenure rights that exist over land;

To build the capacity of women to be able to access and control of land;

To implement measures that will enhance engagement with local authorities and other Right holders for women accessing and control over land;

To strengthen the capacity of CSOs and the media to participate in actions that promotes women access to land.

Conduct survey document and report the percentage of women accessing and controlling land.

ACTIVITY TARGET AUDIENCE EXPECTED RESULT

Conduct a survey on women’s access to and ownership

Local authorities

women

youth

Disable

90% women accessing and controlling land.

Dialogue Forum PC,MPs, Councilors, section chiefs, youth groups, women’s leaders, Religious leaders

Awareness raised in women’s property right

Awareness raising campaign on existing laws

PC,MPs, C councilors, section chiefs, youth groups, women’s leaders, Religious leaders

Review of existing laws

Training of communities on effective advocacy and lobby

Land committee Laws that alert women inheritance right are adhere

techniques to.

Eastern Region

The goal of Eastern Region representatives is: To influence policy makers in repealing laws that prevent women from accessing and owning land.

Their objectives are:

To take measures in preventing land conflicts in future;

To strengthen and increase knowledge of women accessing and owning land;

To strengthen the capacity of women to effectively address gaps in communication and talk for their rights in accessing and owning land.

Strategy:

Research on the following: National laws, international laws on land policies and customary/ traditional laws.

Activities:

Engage policy makers in a meeting to discuss obsolete laws;

Engaging the public on the outcome of the research.

Target audience

Policy makers;

Land owners and local authorities.

Expected result

Clauses in national laws that prevent women’s property rights are removed.

Strategy 2

Awareness raising on women’s land rights and the status of the national land policy.

Activity

Public meeting;

media engagement;

Multistakeholder engagements.

Target audience

Land owners

Local authorities

Parliamentarians

Government officials etc.

Expected outcome

Increased knowledge about women land rights and the national land policy.

Strategy 3

Organize District and Regional conference on the status of women’s access to and ownership of land.

Activity

Town hall meetings,

Learning platform on land policies.

Target audience:

PCs, MPs, local court officials, land owners and other relevant stakeholders

Southern Region

Goal: To achieve equitable, secure and sustainable women’s access to and ownership of land in Sierra Leone.

Objectives

To participate and contribute to the improvement and development of policies, legal and institutional frame work that supposed to regulate the range of tenure rights that exists over land.

To ensure that policies, regulation, laws, plan and budgets are developed and implemented to increase women’s rights in accessing and owing land at both national and local levels.

To strengthen the capacity of women and men led owned the civil society organizations and the media to advocate and participate in actions that promote women’s right to land.

To implement measures that prevents our engagements with local authorities and other tenure right holders from exalting into violent conflict through collaborative networking.

To do a thorough stakeholders analysis to identify and engage true allies and opponents.

Strategies

To conduct a baseline survey on women’s access and ownership of land and develop a national data base followed by policy dialogue;

Stakeholder’s consultation and dialoguing;

Capacity strengthening through training, exposure trips for learning and sharing conferences, seminars etc;

Conduct robust advocacy and lobby activities;

Monitor the implementation and outcome of agreements involving large scale transaction in land acquisition;

Come out with a declaration or manifesto of women’s stance on land issues in Sierra Leone;

Place women at the forefront of community mobilizing, organizing and empowerment activities.

Limitations

Traditional/culture barriers

Religious barriers

Lack of awareness

High rate of dependency of women on men

High illiteracy rate

Activities Target audience Expected result

Conduct baseline survey Rural women Data obtained which can influence policy dialogue

Community engagement or focus group discussion

Rural women community stakeholders, youth

Informed communities on women’s access to and ownership of land

Training of Cso’s on women’s land rights at community and dist. level

Cso’s ,CBO , women’s groups FBO’s

Trained CSO’s on women’s land rights issues

Radio discussion: jingles drama, meetings, focus group discussion outreach program

Rural women, youth traditional leaders, wider community

Informed community on women land right issues

M and E Cso’s/ women’s group Validation and control of the activities

Western Area

Goal 1

Equal access and space for `women to own and control land.

Objectives:

To ensure women properly understand land issue.

To build the capacity of women to effectively contribute to review of policies, regulation and the national constitution review process.

To establish / strengthen/ in cages, cooperation and partnership women’s right groups

To increase the percentage of women owns accessing and controlling land.

Key Strategies

Review all related land policies and previous research reports.

Organize FGD’S consultation forum’s base line surveys etc.

Build the capacity of relevant stakeholders.

Conduct advocacy and lobbing activities.

Identify allies – stakeholders mapping, monitoring to ensure companies

Activities

Sensitisation and awareness raising

Popularise research findings

Capacity Building, media engagement, impact mitigation training, advocacy visits

Traditional authorities

M P’S/ local councils

Polices makers

Civil societies, C B O’S, media

Expected results:

All discriminatory law against women are expunged from the laws;

Women are capacitated to advocate for their access to and ownership of land;

Increased percentage of women accessing owning and control land.

7.0 KEY CONFERENCE OUTCOMES

The key conference outcomes were that:

Participants are able to interact among themselves and the paramount chiefs and had a general discussion on barrier that prevents women from owning land in some regions in Sierra Leone.

Participants were able to rally support among for the advocacy as paramount chiefs made commitment to support the advocacy process.

Also at the end of the conference participants were able to come up actions and strategies for advocacy on women’s land rights at regional level.

Finally, through a communique participants were able come up key recommendations for further actions. (see below)

Makeni Declaration on Women's Access to and Ownership of Land in Sierra Leone

13th August, 2013 We,

Delegates drawn from all Fourteen (14) districts in Sierra Leone and gathered in Makeni from the 12-13 August, 2013 at the Conference on Land organized by the Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) with support from UNDP Access to Justice Project and Fund for Global Human Rights and Fund for Global Human Rights;

Aware that customary and traditional norms in the country continue to constitute a serious and central obstacle barring women from accessing rights and contributing meaningfully to developmental strides in the country;

Recognizing the Government of Sierra Leone's efforts in addressing gender inequality and its commitment to amend discriminatory dispositions in the Sierra Leone Constitution of 1991;

Noting with great concern the ambiguous language in the Sierra Leone draft Land Policy on women's land rights vis a vis customary norms and traditional practices;

Have come up with the following fundamental recommendations:

1. That Section 27 (4) (d) and (e) of the 1991 Sierra Leone Constitution and other discriminatory practices that limit women's rights be amended;

2. That the draft Land Policy Statement SHOULD provide FULL and equal protection of women's land rights without any claw-back clauses or reference to customary laws and traditional practices limiting women's rights;

3. That ALL Policy Statements which limit gender equality and women's land rights with reference to customary law and traditional practices SHOULD be removed from the Policy;

4. That Policy Statements SHOULD clearly state that ALL customary practices and traditions limiting women's equal rights to land and property are NULL and VOID;

5. That Government SHOULD respect Regional and International obligations and best practices including the CEDAW and the African Union (AU) Guidelines and framework on Land Policy in order to respect gender equality and protect women's land rights and right to participate in decision making processes;

6. That Government of Sierra Leone SHOULD commit to changing not only the legal but also de facto discriminatory practices and work towards removing ALL barriers hindering women's access to equal rights;

7. That gender equality SHOULD be one (1) of the guiding principles of the Land Policy and its implementation SHOULD be done in a participatory manner as provided for by the AU Guidelines/International Standards;

8. That the Land Policy SHOULD ensure a minimum of 30% representation of women in ALL land governing bodies;

9. That the Final Land Policy should ensure that the rights of women and communities are protected in large land investment acquisition deals with adequate legal representation provided to women and their communities during negotiations.

Done and Signed in Makeni this 13th August, 2013 (by us delegates drawn from 14 districts across Sierra Leone) The communiqué was unanimously endorsed by all delegates at the conference including paramount chiefs.

8.0 CONCLUSION:

Key concluding statements were made by various stakeholders:

PC Matilda said it is clear that SILNORF has a huge task to perform and as such collaborate with other partners and stakeholders in order to bring them on board to strengthen the advocacy on women’s land right issues. She encouraged all participants to give their full support in rolling out the post conference agenda and she also pledged her moral support to the campaign.

Dr. John Kabia thanked SiLNoRF, NAMATI for organizing the conference and also thanked delegates for the wonderful deliberations and discussions throughout the conference. He reaffirmed his organisation’s commitment to support the process and also the post conference plan and also promised to discuss with New Field Foundation to come onboard the process. With this few words, he encouraged all delegates to work closely with SiLNoRF to fold out the post conference plans.

Mr. Raymond the Chairman of SiLNoRF Management Board thanked the various representatives for the two days attention and quiet confident that they had in deliberations of the conference. He said a lot of experiences have been gained from the conference. He appealed all delegates that are coming from organisations to integrate the action plans that came out of the conference into their organisation programs.

In the chairman’s closing remarks, he thanked SiLNoRF and NAMATI for organizing such a very important conference. He stated that the outcome of the conference has met his expectations and he hope that delegates will full take part in the post conference action plan. He also stated that the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone is always ready to support the works of SiLNoRF and its partners. He thanked the paramount chiefs for leaving their busy schedules and taking part in the conference for two days as this express the love they have for women issues. With this few words, he declared the conference officially closed.

Annex

Photos from the conference