
For many decades, women from developed countries have provided guidance and support to their counterparts in the developing world. Idealists, young and old, have travelled far and wide to act as guides and leaders providing guidance and training in fields such as management, education, health care and agriculture in developing countries.
What about knowledge and support in achieving women’s “housing, land and property” rights? Even if that expertise existed in the developed world, it might well represent a dangerous export, viewed by the government of a developing country as a hostile threat to pre-existing male dominated order.
But do we actually have evidence that such expertise exists in this developed nation, or that? Rather the contrary, in fact. There seems to be little self-evident guidance available in the mechanics of realizing Canadian women’s housing, land and property rights. Why else would Canada’s Federal Housing Advocate have called upon the National Housing Council to review homelessness amongst women and gender diverse people, who are not able to enjoy their right to adequate housing1?
Does Canada, smug in its ‘word-class’ economic standing, believe that its promotion of women’s rights are inevitably superior to that of other nations?
Or should that nation move forward with a mote or two of humility and consider the possibility that in a changing modern world, there may be more to be learned from other nations, and less to be taught? What follows might be some useful ideas of how Canada can learn from housing, land and property rights initiatives in other countries. Read more in World Bank Blogs: What will it take for women to gain equal rights to housing, land, and property?