Module 10 - The Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Preserving Women’s Rights in Land Titling

The Customer Relations Service of the Department of Lands worked with the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and its nationwide network of branches and members to ensure women’s titling rights in project implementation. They have developed a training curriculum to reduce gender bias among field teams and village authorities and produced posters and brochures on land rights specifically for women in targeted villages. They have written weekly news bulletins on activities of the land titling project for radio and newspapers and performed a drama on women’s titling issues on television.

In the field, the LWU works closely with local women through a series of meetings: a whole village meeting, women’s focus group meetings, and household group meetings. These meetings reached 2,285 people, almost one-half of whom were women. In the meetings, the LWU communicates information regarding women’s rights under the Family Law, inheritance law, property law, and land law. Women are urged to make sure they get their names on titles where appropriate and to participate actively in all stages of adjudication and titling.

The proposed Second Land Titling Project will be the second phase of the long-term land titling program. It aims to develop the land administration capacity to support the country’s economic development and poverty reduction goals.

Benefits and Impacts

The number of land titles issued to women or to women jointly with their husbands has increased. In areas where the systematic titling project is operating, 34 percent of titles are in women’s names, 38 percent are joint titles, and 24 percent are in men’s names. Outside the project area, 15 percent of land titles are in women’s names, 28 percent are joint titles, and 56 percent are in men’s names. A woman’s name on the title is a defensive measure, protecting her in the event of a change of family status through marriage or divorce and from arbitrary decisions by her husband over the disposition of her land or conjugal land.

Women are using their new land titles to secure credit. In the project areas, 51 percent of those who mortgaged land were men and 49 percent were women. Women have both the tenure incentive and the credit to invest in sustainable land-management practices and productive activities, which increase household income and expand the local economy.

Moreover, a study conducted in 2002 indicated that land titles are becoming more important forms of collateral and that the size of loans has increased with the use of land titles.

Lessons Learned and Issues for Wider Applicability

The project has provided an opportunity for the government agencies to interact more effectively with local women at the district and village levels through a key women’s organization, and thus it has made important advances in titling land to women.