In December 2023, SOCODEVI launched a new awareness campaign in the western Côte d’Ivoire village of Krikoréa to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The theme of SOCODEVI’s campaign launch was access to property, particularly land, for women and girls. The goal of the launch event was to raise awareness among community members and push for change from community leaders.
The plan for the launch event was to start by educating participants about laws governing property rights. Participants then got into groups to discuss the barriers preventing widows and children from inheriting property and limiting women’s access to land, and brainstorm possible solutions and strategies.
The conversations brought to light the many benefits of women having access to land. A dozen women who took part in the discussions affirmed that having their own plot of land was of vital importance—a testament to our ability to effectively engage the participants.
After the discussions, customary law officials said they understood how important this issue was to women and promised they would continue to examine how men might be able to transfer land to their wives, sisters and daughters.
We took the awareness campaign to three other communities and saw the same level of interest and excitement from the men who took part. The customary law officials in those communities once again affirmed their commitment to the issue of women’s access to land and said that they understood the importance of the campaign’s messages.
By Christelle Fokou, communications manager for PROCED, a project in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Ghana.