Women’s Land Rights Fellowship Program

The Women’s Land Rights (WLR) Fellowship is a two-year program for recent graduates from Columbia Law School who are dedicated to strengthening women’s land rights in developing countries.  The fellowships provide opportunities to gain the expertise and experience needed to work with policymakers and non-governmental organizations in developing countries, and the international donor community, to effectively advocate and obtain secure land rights for women and their families in developing countries.

Objectives of the Fellowship

The WLR Fellowship is a vehicle to develop and support a multi-disciplinary network of professionals who work at local, national, and international levels to strengthen women’s land rights. The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights (LCWLR) offers in-house training, mentoring, and hands-on work in a structured environment designed to enhance Fellows’ knowledge, skills, and effectiveness by providing them with tailored opportunities to:

• Enhance understanding of legal and customary systems, as well as the socio-economic conditions and institutions that shape women’s land rights in various contexts;
• Increase commitment to working on women’s land rights through professional development activities;
• Augment their ability to design, implement and evaluate projects to protect or improve women’s rights to land; and
• Acquire and develop complementary skills to enable more effective development work.

The LCWLR will continue to support Fellows after they graduate from the WLR Fellowship Program to encourage and support a network of professionals working to strengthen women’s land rights.

We are not accepting applications for 2013. Any questions can be directed to: inquiries@womenandland.org.