Thousands of African Women Climb Kilimanjaro for Land Rights

Thousands of women from across the African continent converged at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro for a three-day action that sought to demand land rights for Kilimanjaro for a three-day action that sought to demand land rights for women, while a contingent of the women scaled up the mountain, reaching the peak on Monday.

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The gathering coincided with the International Day of Rural Women, which occurred on Saturday, and was dubbed ‘the Kilimanjaro initiative.’Kilimanjaro initiative.’

Uniting behind the social media campaign #Women2Kilimanjaro, the women demanded governments implement laws and policies to reverse the barriers women face in accessing land rights, such as early marriage, poor access to information and unfair inheritance.

According to TakePart, while women are responsible for 80 percent of agricultural production on the continent, only 1 percent of land is owned by women, a contention owing to colonial times.

At the convergence, a charter was drafted that will be given to the United Nations, the African Union, and the African Rural Women Assembly for implementation of these demands. A petition was also circulated to various leaders in the days before the meeting.

Last November, four regional caravans from the North, South, East, West and Central Africa, saw women from 16 African countries meet in Arusha, Tanzania to strategize on land ownership issues. The initiative was first conceived by rural women in 2012 with support from civil society organizations in a meeting held in Dar e salaam, Tanzania.