From Theory to Reality: Using Data to Move the Bar on Property Rights for Women and the Most Vulnerable

Property is a building block of individual prosperity. However, although laws and regulations may exist to secure property rights, too often there is a gap between the legal requirements and their application, particularly for women. Data driven approaches to this issue, which is critical to the achievement of the New Urban Agenda, hold promise for filling the gap as well as for ensuring that adequate national and city level policy attention is paid to the issue of property rights. This evidence-based session draws upon current experience of four diverse groups and will present and discuss research findings and promising practice to secure property rights for all. It will explore different ways in which data is collected and applied in order to affirm property rights. It will examine different challenges faced in different geographic and cultural contexts, ranging from custom to tenure systems to lack of awareness to the availability of accurate information.