Partnerships for gender equality in land ownership and control. Good Practices from Western Balkans and beyond.

The activity has facilitated country reporting and monitoring under SDG indicator 5.a.2, and contributed to its implementation by local agents of change. The results of the legal assessments carried out in 2015-2016 were updated in early 2020 to support the next round of SDG reporting. These assessments were carried out using FAO’s Legal Assessment Tool (LAT) for gender-equitable land tenure which is specifically designed to implement the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of national food security (VGGT) principle of gender equality and to facilitate country reporting under SDG Indicator 5.a.2. Applying the LAT has helped identify some of the legal and technical impediments to women’s access to land ownership, and brought to light some implementation challenges. FAO and GIZ have partnered with International Union of Notaries (UINL) to identify the capacity needs of notaries and registration offices in the region and to help bridge the implementation gap identified in the assessments. A workshop was organised, bringing together representatives of the ministries of justice in the region, notaries and registration offices. This forum allowed local practitioners to share their experience, challenges and solutions, and has helped development partners provide integrated and targeted support, rooted in local realities and with the aim of implementing the VGGT and SDG 5.a.2. This collaboration has led to the publications of the “Guidelines on strengthening gender equality in notarial practices – South-East Europe”. FAO, GIZ and UINL are now supporting the national adaptation of these guidelines to tailor them to the national legal frameworks and specificities of each country.