A/HRC/19/53 for women, researchers have found that a full or modified community of property regimes which recognize joint rights with equal powers between spouses best protects women‘s right to adequate housing and to equality. 29 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its recent concluding observations on Sri Lanka underscored this point when it noted ―that discriminatory practices prevent women from acquiring ownership of land since only the ‗head of household‘ is authorized to sign official documentation such as land ownership certificates and receive pieces of land from Government.‖30 In that case, the Committee urged the Government to abolish the concept of ―head of household‖ in administrative practice and recognize joint or co-ownership of land, and to amend its national legislation to ensure joint or co-ownership. 28 Women‘s access to and control over land is also a critical issue which connects in very real ways to women‘s right to adequate housing. 31 At national levels, advancements in this area are also taking place. In Tajikistan, a joint effort of UNIFEM (now UN-Women) with the Government of Tajikistan, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other partners resulted in the establishment of the Coordination Council dealing with women‘s ownership issues, whose key task was to mainstream gender in Tajik land reform. 32 In 2004, seven changes were made to the clauses of the national Land Code which previously discriminated against women.33 Changes in the Land Code made it mandatory that all family members – women included – are now listed on land use certificates when families receive pieces of land from former collective farms. 34 Over the course of a few years, those changes coupled with media campaigns, the provision of free legal advice, and the collection of sex-disaggregated data, resulted in raising women‘s land ownership from 2 to 14 per cent.35 29. In Africa, a region where the issue of women‘s access to and control over land emerged as a key theme within the consultation, the recent ―Framework and Guidelines for Land Policy in Africa‖ also represents a positive new development from the standpoint of women‘s equal right to access and control land, with specific sections on strengthening the land rights of women.36 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 10 Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, ―Respect, Protect and Fulfill: Legislating for Women‘s Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS — Volume Two: Family and Property Issues‖, 2009, pp. 3-15 to 3-27. CEDAW/C/LKA/CO/7, paras. 38-39 See also: A/HRC/7/16, Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/25, and Sub-Commission resolutions 1997/19 and1998/15. Mirzoeva, Viloyat, ―Gender Issues in Land Reform in Tajikistan‖, in Economics and Rural Development, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2009, p. 23. Articles 15(a), 37(c), 47, 66(4), 68(1), 68(7) and 71 of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Amending the Land Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2004. Article 15(a) of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Amending the Land Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2004. UN-Women, Women’s Land and Property Rights. See also: Non-governmental Organizations of Tajikistan, Tajikistan Shadow Report on the Realization of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Dushanbe, 2006, pp. 14-15. African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and African Development Bank (AfDB) Consortium, ―Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa: Land Policy in Africa: A Framework to Strengthen Land Rights, Enhance Productivity and Secure Livelihoods‖, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (September 2010).