The Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights Programme is a flagship initiative of the Initiative for Gender Equality and Development in Africa (IGED-Africa) focused on promoting and protecting women’s rights to own, inherit, access, control, and benefit from land, housing, and other productive assets.
Across Africa, property and inheritance rights remain central to women’s economic security, dignity, and social status. Yet many women continue to face discrimination in property ownership and inheritance due to customary practices, unequal inheritance systems, limited awareness of legal rights, and inadequate access to legal and financial services.
These barriers often leave women economically vulnerable, especially during widowhood, separation, divorce, displacement, or family disputes. When women are denied access to land, housing, inheritance, or productive resources, the effects are felt across households and communities, contributing to poverty, dependency, food insecurity, and broader gender inequality.
Through this programme, IGED-Africa works to empower women and girls with the knowledge, support, and tools needed to understand, secure, and exercise their property rights. The programme promotes public awareness of women’s rights to property ownership, inheritance, land tenure, and productive assets through community education, advocacy, and capacity building.
The programme also supports access to legal assistance for women facing discrimination, unlawful evictions, disinheritance, property disputes, and other violations of their rights. By strengthening women’s access to legal support and justice mechanisms, IGED-Africa helps ensure that women are better positioned to defend their rights and protect their livelihoods.
A major focus of the programme is advocacy for gender-responsive legal and policy reform. IGED-Africa works with partners to support the development, implementation, and enforcement of laws and policies that protect women’s property and inheritance rights across civil, customary, and religious systems.
The programme also engages traditional authorities, religious leaders, and community stakeholders to address harmful cultural practices that limit women’s access to property and inheritance. These partnerships are essential to ensuring that legal protections are supported by community-level understanding and change.
By promoting women’s ownership and control of land, housing, and productive resources, IGED-Africa contributes to women’s economic empowerment, poverty reduction, social justice, and sustainable development across Africa. At its core, the programme affirms that women’s property and inheritance rights are not only legal issues, but fundamental human rights and development priorities.
