[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 158 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 158

  Recognizing the importance of inheritance rights of women in Africa.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2003

 Ms. Millender-McDonald (for herself, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Lee, 
  Mr. Snyder, Mr. Payne, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Towns, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mrs. 
  Maloney, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Kildee, Ms. 
 Slaughter, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Ms. Norton, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Capps, 
 Mr. McNulty, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Waters, Mr. Stark, Mr. 
   Kennedy of Rhode Island, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Farr, Mr. 
 McDermott, Mr. Cummings, Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Waxman) submitted 
    the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the importance of inheritance rights of women in Africa.

Whereas access to and control over land, housing, and property is one of the 
        most critical factors in the overall struggle for women's equality in 
        gender relations and empowerment, as it is essential to women's daily 
        survival, economic security, and physical safety;
Whereas in many regions of the world, and particularly throughout the African 
        continent, land and housing have traditionally been regulated by 
        customary law under which widowed women do not inherit land and housing 
        but are allowed to remain in the matrimonial home until death or 
        remarriage;
Whereas over the past several decades, this social safety net has eroded 
        drastically, creating a human rights crisis of enormous magnitude;
Whereas, in some cases, religious law also plays a role in restricting women's 
        right to inherit;
Whereas statutory laws in some African countries have superseded customary and 
        religious laws restricting women's right to inherit, but nonetheless 
        have had minimal impact on actual practice;
Whereas the denial of inheritance rights to women devastates the lives of 
        millions of women who become completely destitute upon the death of 
        their husbands, when the family of the deceased husband often takes 
        immediate possession of the land, housing, and property;
Whereas the result is not only extreme poverty for individual women and their 
        dependents, but a profound, negative impact on the social and economic 
        development of countries in Africa;
Whereas the HIV/AIDS pandemic has resulted in the exponential growth in the 
        number of young widows, orphaned girls, and grandmothers becoming heads 
        of households and has led to the urgent need for secure inheritance 
        rights for women;
Whereas this phenomenon has been exacerbated by the horrific conflicts that have 
        gripped many African countries in recent years, in the aftermath of 
        which there is usually an increase in female-headed households; and
Whereas the denial of inheritance rights also results in violence against women, 
        both at the time when they are forcibly dispossessed and after they 
        become homeless: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) greater attention should be paid to the strong 
        relationship between the denial of inheritance rights to women 
        and its negative impact on economic development, particularly 
        in Africa;
            (2) when considering responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 
        programs that focus sharply on ensuring secure inheritance 
        rights to widows and orphans of HIV/AIDS should be carefully 
        considered;
            (3) ensuring secure inheritance rights for women should be 
        included in strategies addressing the issue of violence against 
        women;
            (4) in post-conflict and reconstruction situations, the 
        rights of widows and other female heads of households to 
        inherit land and property should be included in the priorities 
        of reconstruction;
            (5) the Secretary of State should examine the issue of 
        women's inheritance rights in Africa in the annual human rights 
        report of the Department of State;
            (6) the United States Agency for International Development 
        should consider conducting a study of African countries in 
        order to document and establish the effect of the denial of 
        women's inheritance rights on economic development of those 
        countries; and
            (7) the Annual Day of Action on Women's Inheritance Rights, 
        initiated in 1999 by the International Human Rights Law Group 
        and implemented over the past three years by nongovernmental 
        organizations throughout many countries in Africa, should be 
        acknowledged and supported.
                                 <all>