The international community is beginning to recognize that women’s lack of rights in, access to and control over land, housing and property constitutes a violation of human rights and contributes significantly to women’s increasing poverty. Despite this important recognition, however, there is little information and research on the application or meaning of these rights in the context of armed conflict and reconstruction, even though women’s rights to land, housing and property are violated on a mass scale during and post conflict situations and regardless of the fact that the violation of these rights during and post conflict has a particularly acute impact on women. In turn, this report synthesizes and analyzes women's experiences across regions in accessing and controlling land, housing and property in the context of armed conflict and
reconstruction. It also provides a summary of the central barriers women face in
claiming and enforcing their rights to land, housing and property, it delineates the foundation which must be laid to render these rights enforceable, and suggests activities which are required to continue the struggle for women’s rights to land, housing and property.