Despite the fact that women represent about half of the global population, produce the majority of global food supply, and perform 60% to 80% of the agricultural work in developing countries, women own less than 20% of land worldwide.

Written laws often fall short of adequately protecting women’s tenure rights; while in some countries, formal national laws explicitly discriminate against women. In post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction, women face particular hurdles to secure tenure and shelter.

Even in areas with strong protections of equality and non-discrimination, displaced women often struggle to assert their property rights. On March 8, 2016, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Habitat for Humanity Internationallaunched its first global advocacy campaign, “Solid Ground,” which envisions a world where everyone has access to land for shelter. Promoting gender equality has been a primary focus of the campaign. — blog.wb.org/blogs