National Council of Malagasy Women – CNFM - Madagascar

Empowerment of women in Madagascar

Instruments for promoting women's empowerment:

In Madagascar, the Constitution and a number of written laws recognize women's equal rights to property. Relevant laws include:

• The Constitution of 2010 (art.6 and 34), guarantees to everyone the equal right to property and declares illegal the deprivation of property,
• Law No. 2007-022 of August 20, 2007 relating to marriage and matrimonial regimes, guarantees both spouses the same rights and obligations, guarantees the spouses to jointly administer the property of the community, the spouses cannot alienate movable property and immovable without the consent of either.
• Law No. 68-012 of July 4, 1968 relating to inheritance, wills and donations establishes the equality of men and women
• Ordinance No. 60-146 of October 3, 1960 relating to land tenure, amended by Law No. 2003-029 of August 27, 2003, admits the right of the wife to claim rights on the property registered by the husband in the event of of fraud of his rights,

Brief overview of the problems related to access to land in general and to women's access in Madagascar:

- The Malagasy legal framework grants women the same rights as men in terms of access, ownership and control of land, and allows them to participate in decision-making on land issues, however, in practice, women remain in a situation of inferiority due to the persistence of certain customs and traditions. As a result, the number of women holding land in their names is a minority. Customary law, which is still practiced alongside constitutional laws, obliges women to access land through their fathers, brothers, husbands or other men.

- In theory, Malagasy women have the right to conclude contracts in their own name such as credit agreements, real estate transactions, commercial transactions, etc. but they face several failures due to society's deep attachment to customs.

- The laws governing access to land are complicated because they have been accumulated for several decades. They are only partially updated and are mainly written in French. Consequently, a limited number of citizens can have access to all of these texts and understand their spirit and procedures.