A/HRC/25/54 discrimination of any kind, have access to emergency shelter. A rapid assessment of the land tenure situation should be conducted, recognizing the multiple tenure arrangements that exist or existed prior to the conflict or disaster.77 Non-documented evidence of tenure, like testimonies from neighbours, should be collected during this process. The findings should be used to design measures to facilitate the delivery of housing recovery and reconstruction assistance to those in need, including through negotiation and mediation to resolve disputes over tenure rights. Measures should also be taken to ensure access to adequate housing to those without evidence of tenure, such as homeless persons. G. Promoting women’s security of tenure 60. Discrimination on the basis of sex exists under all types of land tenure systems. Patriarchal laws, attitudes and customs affect the governance of land in many societies. The financialization of land and housing has, in some cases, further marginalized women and reduced their tenure security.78 61. States should guarantee the right of women to security of tenure, independent of their relationships with males or community members. States should adopt legislative and administrative measures to prohibit and eliminate discrimination against women in this respect by, inter alios, landlords, public housing providers and credit institutions. States should remove barriers to formal and substantive gender equality whether in laws, policies or programmes affecting tenure. The legal recognition and promotion of diverse tenure arrangements is crucial to removing barriers to tenure security for women, since, currently, they are much less likely than men to own land.79 62. States should adopt measures to strengthen women’s registration of tenure rights. The registration of tenure rights in joint or multiple names, including of women, should be promoted as standard procedure, in order to avoid de jure or de facto discrimination if registration is authorized solely in the name of the head of the household. For example, in Tajikistan, law reform in 2004 made it mandatory to list all family members on certificates when families receive plots of land from former collective farms.80 Practical measures include requiring men and women to be present at the registration process, during which all documentation should be read aloud and explained; and providing space on documentation for recording multiple names. Under the Ethiopian land certification programme, for example, certificates are issued jointly with photos of both husband and wife.81 Incentives can also be used to promote registration of tenure rights in the name of women. For example, in 2006, Nepal introduced a partial tax exemption for plots of land registered to women.82 63. In relation to customary and religious tenure systems, States should adopt measures, in consultation with communities, and with due respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and religious freedom, to eliminate discriminatory practices that deny women security of tenure. Efforts should be made to engage and cooperate with community and religious leaders in designing and implementing such measures. Women-led initiatives, in particular, 77 78 79 80 81 82 Ibid, chap. 3. See Special Rapporteur’s report, A/HRC/19/53. International Center for Research on Women, www.icrw.org/what-we-do/property-rights. Law amending the Land Code, art. 15. Klaus Deininger, “Rural Certification in Ethiopia Empowers Women”, March 2008. Available from http://go.worldbank.org/NGH3VV93Y0. Laura Turquet et al., In Pursuit of Justice: 2011-2012 Progress of the World’s Women (UN-Women, 2011), p. 22. Available from http://progress.unwomen.org/pdfs/EN-Report-Progress.pdf. 19