WOLTS Action Research on Gender, Land and Mining in Pastoralist Communities

The Women’s Land Tenure Security Project (WOLTS) is a long-term global partnership between Mokoro, HakiMadini (Tanzania) and People Centered Conservation (PCC, Mongolia), committed to strengthening gender equity within inclusive and participatory land governance worldwide.

WOLTS began conducting action research in 2015, investigating the intersection of gender and land relations in different mining-affected pastoralist contexts and developing a methodology for long-term community engagement and capacity building to protect and support the land rights of all vulnerable people. Employing a range of participatory fieldwork techniques, with multiple site visits to validate and triangulate data, the WOLTS team aimed to strengthen the evidence base, collaborate with local and national stakeholders to identify ways to secure land rights, and support communities to withstand threats to their land and natural resources through a contextually-appropriate programme of training men and women community champions on gender and land.

The WOLTS approach – iteratively crafted over more than seven years of in-depth fieldwork and community engagement – has proven itself in strengthening cross-project learning, fostering local ownership, boosting participation and inclusivity in land governance, and challenging gendered social norms.

About WOLTS partners

People Centered Conservation (PCC) is a Mongolian NGO established in 2006, which aims to promote the protection of natural resources through support to the activities of local residents and civil society, with a strong commitment to addressing issues for gender equality and vulnerable groups. HakiMadini is a rights-based organisation working to support small-scale miners and communities living around Tanzania’s mineral abundant areas since the late 1990s, with an established programme focused on gender and mining.

WOLTS Action Research

The WOLTS team initially worked in five local communities affected by mining investments: Bornuur soum (district) in Tuv aimag (province), Dalanjargalan soum in Dornogovi aimag and Tsenkher soum in Arkhangai aimag, all in Mongolia, and Mundarara village in Longido district and Naisinyai village in Simanjiro district, in Tanzania. Following extensive community validation, early research findings were shared at National Multi-Stakeholder Workshops held in Ulaanbaatar and Arusha, in October and November 2017, respectively. Participants included community representatives, national and local government officials, and representatives of CSOs, development partners and the private sector.

Outputs and Publications

Findings from the WOLTS Action Research on Gender, Land and Mining in Pastoralist Communities in Mongolia and Tanzania have been published in a series of country and community research reports, research summaries and recommendations, and blogs. Findings have also been shared in different national and international events and presentations, in person and online, and Mokoro has regularly reported WOLTS Action Research news.

Visit the WOLTS Community Gender and Land Champions’ Training Programme page