Introduces a new IIED blog series looking at principles to strengthen women’s land rights. Over the past 15 years pressures on land across sub-Saharan Africa have increased and these have tended to affect women more severely as they have little control over the land they traditionally use. Awareness of the importance of women’s land rights is higher than ever and global commitments to women’s land rights have never been stronger, yet there is no consensus on which strategies most effectively strengthen women’s land rights in practice. IIED has learnt that land governance and gender issues vary greatly in place and time. No one-size-fits-all solution exists. The ‘how often’ matters more than the ‘what’. IIED have identified some core principles and, with partners, will be exploring these over the next six months in a series of blogs.