Legal Assistance to Women’s Rights to Housing, Land and Property in Syria
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May 23, 2023
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Abstract
This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the Women’s Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Rights in Syria as a crucial pillar to ensure social and economic development and increase the enjoyment of human rights. The paper explores two perspectives to address women’s HLP needs: gender and legal aid services. It also addresses challenges in accessing land that women face in prescribed gender roles, unequal power dynamics, and traditional norms that deny women the chance to access land adequately. To this end, the paper presents the results of desk reviews of the national and international studies that revealed the importance of addressing HLP Rights of women in the post-conflict context to prevent increasing poverty and vulnerability faced by women although it has not focused on the Syrian context directly. The paper provides an analysis of the legal framework used to support interventions on the access to HLP rights by displaced Syrian women. Contrary to what has been assumed, the laws alone are insufficient to guarantee equal access to HLP Rights, when structural gender inequality compromises women’s HLP Rights. This paper may constitute the object of future studies that could investigate the association between HLP Rights and sustainable development. A complex and inclusive approach needs to be adopted by engaging the relevant authorities, community, and international organisations to promote gender justice in addressing women’s HLP Rights and contribute to peacebuilding, sustainable return and reinforcing the rule of law.
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Keywords
HousingLand and property rightsGenderLegal assistanceConflictWomen’s rights
References
Bina Agarwal, A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia, Cambridge University Press (1995).
Feryal M. Cherif, Myths about Women's Rights: How, Where, and Why Rights Advance, Oxford Scholarship Online (2015).
Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim, Land, Law and Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World, UN Habitat and Zed Books (2006).
Scott Leckie and Chris Huggins, Conflict and Housing, Land and Property Rights, A Handbook on Issues, Frameworks and Solutions, Cambridge University Press (2011).
Journals
Jon D. Unruh, Evidencing the restitution landscape: Pre-emptive and advance techniques for war-torn land and property rights reacquisition, 38 Land Use Policy 111 (2014).
–––, Rural land tenure resilience in post-war Syria: Implications for restitution and stabilization, 108 Land Use Policy 102 (2021).
George Somi, Syria under Pinheiro: Reformulating Syrian Domestic Law for Decentralized Reconstruction, 43 Brook. J. Int'l L. 717 (2018).
Martin Clutterbuck, Property restitution in post-conflict Syria, 57 Force Migr. Rev., 66 (2018).
Reports
European Union, National Situation Analysis Report: Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equality Syria, (2010), available at: https://docs.euromedwomen.foundation/files/ermwf-documents/5668_2.139.nationalsituationanalysis-syria.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Gender and Land Rights Database, (2021), available at: http://www.fao.org/gender-landrights-database/en/ (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
–––, Measuring SDG Indicator 5.a.1, (2021), available at: http://www.fao.org/3/I8808EN/i8808en.pd (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
Handbook on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the Pinheiro Principles, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4693432c2.html (Accessed on May. 14, 2022).
Human Rights Council, Housing, Land and Property issues in the context of Internal Displacement, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (2021), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc4737-housing-land-and-property-issues-context-internal-displacement (Accessed on July. 14, 2022).
Japan International Cooperation Agency, Gender Profile of the Syrian Arab Republic, Damascus, (2006), available at: https://www.jica.go.jp/activities/issues/gender/reports/ku57pq00002hdw5l-att/syr_2006_en.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Laura Cunial, Kirstie Farmer and Rachel Sider, Preparing the Ground for Property Restitution in the Syrian Arab Republic, (World Bank, 2018), available at: https://www.oicrf.org/-/preparing-the-ground-for-property-restitution-in-the-syrian-arab-republic (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Norwegian Refugee Council, Housing, Land and Property in the Syrian Arab Republic (2016), available at: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/housing-land-and-property-hlp-in-the-syrian-arab-republic.pdf (accessed on May. 18, 2022).
–––, Displacement, Housing, Land and Property and Access to Civil Documentation, (2017), available at: https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1405606/1930_1503398808_final-nrc-displacement-hlp-and-civil-doc-s-syria-23-07-2017-en.pdf (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
–––, Reflections on Future Challenges to Housing, Land and Property Restitution for Syrian Refugees, (2017), available at:https://www.nrc.no/resources/briefing-notes/reflections-on-future-challenges-to-housing-land-and-property-restitution-for-syrian-refugees/ (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
–––, Legal Identity and Housing, Land and Property Rights of Syrian Refugees from a Durable Solutions Perspective, (2021), available at: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/legal-identity-and-hlp-rights-of-syrian-refugees/legal-identity-and-hlp-rights-of-syrian-refugees-from-a-durable-solutions-perspective---english.pdf (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
Rana Khalaf, Women’s Participation in Syrian Cities Today: Emerging Roles and Opportunities. (European Union, 2017), available at: https://docs.euromedwomen.foundation/files/ermwf-documents/7096_3.180.womenpartcipationinsyriancitiestoday-emergingrolesandopportunities.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Samira Soubh, The Role of Women in Agriculture and Gender Issues in Syria, (National Center for Agricultural Policies, 2006), available at: https://www.napcsyr.gov.sy/dwnld-files/working_papers/en/18_womenrole_ss_en.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
State Planning Commission. The National Report of Sustainable Development in Syria, (2020), available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/syria (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations Children's Fund, Education Section Facts and Figures, (2018), available at: https://www.unicef.org/syria/reports/education-section-facts-and-figures (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Syria Regional Refugee Response, (2022), available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria (accessed on July. 17, 2022).
–––, Syrian Arab Republic’s Factsheet, (2022), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNHCR%20Syria%20Factsheet%20-%20March%202022.pdf (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
–––, Operational Update, (2020), available at:
–––, Syrian Arab Republic: 2022 Strategy and Response Plan Overview, (2022), available at: https://reporting.unhcr.org/document/2040 (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
–––, Multi-Sector Needs Assessment, (2021), available at: https://www.sheltercluster.org/whole-syria/documents/whole-syria-shelternfi-sector-hno-2021-analysis (accessed on May. 20, 2022).
–––, Syrian Arab Republic’s Operational Update, (2021), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Syria%20Operational%20Update%20December%202021.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview, (2022), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/hno_2022_final_version_210222.pdf (accessed on May. 14, 2022).
–––, Humanitarian Needs Assessment Programme in Syria, Shelter Cluster (2020), available at: https://www.sheltercluster.org/sites/default/files/docs/shelter_conditions_-_idp_report_series_2020.pdf (accessed on May. 11, 2022).
–––, Women and the Right to Adequate Housing (2012), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5289e87b4.html (accessed on July. 15, 2022).
Codes and Conventions
Syria Constitution of 2012, available at: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/91436/106031/F-931434246/constitution2.pdf (Accessed on July. 11, 2022).
Code of Criminal Procedure No. 112 of 1950, available at: http://www.parliament.gov.sy/arabic/index.php?node=201&nid=11810&ref=tree& (Accessed on July. 11, 2022.
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Guidance Note of the Secretary-General on the United Nations and Land and Conflict, available at: https://unhabitat.org/node/142477 (accessed on May. 21, 2022).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/universal-declaration-of-human-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Feryal M. Cherif, Myths about Women's Rights: How, Where, and Why Rights Advance, Oxford Scholarship Online (2015).
Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim, Land, Law and Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World, UN Habitat and Zed Books (2006).
Scott Leckie and Chris Huggins, Conflict and Housing, Land and Property Rights, A Handbook on Issues, Frameworks and Solutions, Cambridge University Press (2011).
Journals
Jon D. Unruh, Evidencing the restitution landscape: Pre-emptive and advance techniques for war-torn land and property rights reacquisition, 38 Land Use Policy 111 (2014).
–––, Rural land tenure resilience in post-war Syria: Implications for restitution and stabilization, 108 Land Use Policy 102 (2021).
George Somi, Syria under Pinheiro: Reformulating Syrian Domestic Law for Decentralized Reconstruction, 43 Brook. J. Int'l L. 717 (2018).
Martin Clutterbuck, Property restitution in post-conflict Syria, 57 Force Migr. Rev., 66 (2018).
Reports
European Union, National Situation Analysis Report: Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equality Syria, (2010), available at: https://docs.euromedwomen.foundation/files/ermwf-documents/5668_2.139.nationalsituationanalysis-syria.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Gender and Land Rights Database, (2021), available at: http://www.fao.org/gender-landrights-database/en/ (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
–––, Measuring SDG Indicator 5.a.1, (2021), available at: http://www.fao.org/3/I8808EN/i8808en.pd (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
Handbook on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the Pinheiro Principles, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4693432c2.html (Accessed on May. 14, 2022).
Human Rights Council, Housing, Land and Property issues in the context of Internal Displacement, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (2021), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc4737-housing-land-and-property-issues-context-internal-displacement (Accessed on July. 14, 2022).
Japan International Cooperation Agency, Gender Profile of the Syrian Arab Republic, Damascus, (2006), available at: https://www.jica.go.jp/activities/issues/gender/reports/ku57pq00002hdw5l-att/syr_2006_en.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Laura Cunial, Kirstie Farmer and Rachel Sider, Preparing the Ground for Property Restitution in the Syrian Arab Republic, (World Bank, 2018), available at: https://www.oicrf.org/-/preparing-the-ground-for-property-restitution-in-the-syrian-arab-republic (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Norwegian Refugee Council, Housing, Land and Property in the Syrian Arab Republic (2016), available at: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/housing-land-and-property-hlp-in-the-syrian-arab-republic.pdf (accessed on May. 18, 2022).
–––, Displacement, Housing, Land and Property and Access to Civil Documentation, (2017), available at: https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1405606/1930_1503398808_final-nrc-displacement-hlp-and-civil-doc-s-syria-23-07-2017-en.pdf (accessed on May. 17, 2022).
–––, Reflections on Future Challenges to Housing, Land and Property Restitution for Syrian Refugees, (2017), available at:https://www.nrc.no/resources/briefing-notes/reflections-on-future-challenges-to-housing-land-and-property-restitution-for-syrian-refugees/ (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
–––, Legal Identity and Housing, Land and Property Rights of Syrian Refugees from a Durable Solutions Perspective, (2021), available at: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/legal-identity-and-hlp-rights-of-syrian-refugees/legal-identity-and-hlp-rights-of-syrian-refugees-from-a-durable-solutions-perspective---english.pdf (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
Rana Khalaf, Women’s Participation in Syrian Cities Today: Emerging Roles and Opportunities. (European Union, 2017), available at: https://docs.euromedwomen.foundation/files/ermwf-documents/7096_3.180.womenpartcipationinsyriancitiestoday-emergingrolesandopportunities.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Samira Soubh, The Role of Women in Agriculture and Gender Issues in Syria, (National Center for Agricultural Policies, 2006), available at: https://www.napcsyr.gov.sy/dwnld-files/working_papers/en/18_womenrole_ss_en.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
State Planning Commission. The National Report of Sustainable Development in Syria, (2020), available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/syria (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations Children's Fund, Education Section Facts and Figures, (2018), available at: https://www.unicef.org/syria/reports/education-section-facts-and-figures (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Syria Regional Refugee Response, (2022), available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria (accessed on July. 17, 2022).
–––, Syrian Arab Republic’s Factsheet, (2022), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNHCR%20Syria%20Factsheet%20-%20March%202022.pdf (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
–––, Operational Update, (2020), available at:
–––, Syrian Arab Republic: 2022 Strategy and Response Plan Overview, (2022), available at: https://reporting.unhcr.org/document/2040 (Accessed on May. 22, 2022).
–––, Multi-Sector Needs Assessment, (2021), available at: https://www.sheltercluster.org/whole-syria/documents/whole-syria-shelternfi-sector-hno-2021-analysis (accessed on May. 20, 2022).
–––, Syrian Arab Republic’s Operational Update, (2021), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Syria%20Operational%20Update%20December%202021.pdf (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview, (2022), available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/hno_2022_final_version_210222.pdf (accessed on May. 14, 2022).
–––, Humanitarian Needs Assessment Programme in Syria, Shelter Cluster (2020), available at: https://www.sheltercluster.org/sites/default/files/docs/shelter_conditions_-_idp_report_series_2020.pdf (accessed on May. 11, 2022).
–––, Women and the Right to Adequate Housing (2012), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5289e87b4.html (accessed on July. 15, 2022).
Codes and Conventions
Syria Constitution of 2012, available at: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/91436/106031/F-931434246/constitution2.pdf (Accessed on July. 11, 2022).
Code of Criminal Procedure No. 112 of 1950, available at: http://www.parliament.gov.sy/arabic/index.php?node=201&nid=11810&ref=tree& (Accessed on July. 11, 2022.
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Guidance Note of the Secretary-General on the United Nations and Land and Conflict, available at: https://unhabitat.org/node/142477 (accessed on May. 21, 2022).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/universal-declaration-of-human-rights (Accessed on May. 21, 2022).
How to Cite
Anak, M. E. E. . (2023). Legal Assistance to Women’s Rights to Housing, Land and Property in Syria. International Review of Law, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.29117/irl.2022.0245
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Articles in English