A/HRC/22/72 discrimination based on gender, race, socio-economic position, disability, age, not separately, but as a compound of any such two or more characteristics. 21 22. The topic of the report compels the adoption of an intersectional approach since it involves two categories (rural–urban) and gender; combined, these categories reveal experiences that are not necessarily shared by urban women, or by men in rural areas, but are discriminatory experiences specific to rural women. Moreover, the discrimination against the two particular groups on which the report focuses, i.e. female-headed households and temporary seasonal workers, can be fully grasped only in an intersectional framework. A. Access, control and ownership of land and water resources by rural women 23. Based on an international comparison of census data, a 2010 report estimates that at global level less than 20 per cent of land is owned by women.22 In North Africa and West Asia fewer than 5 per cent of land-holders are women, while the figure for Sub-Saharan Africa reaches a meager 15 per cent.23 An estimation cited by UN-Women puts the ownership of property by women worldwide less than 2 per cent of all property. 24 The access, control and ownership of land and water resources by rural women are influenced by a number of factors, some related to the specificities of rurality, others affecting women more broadly. 1. Nature of the rights recognized to women in respect of land 24. Concern arises in cases where women have access to land and resources based not on property or ownership rights, but on user rights, while control rests with the senior men in the community. In the absence of relevant assets, women may also lack decision-making powers in the household and the community. 25 As a direct consequence, women also own fewer and smaller animals. Women have the care of the animals and of the trade of the resulting products, while the decisions on the income and expenses belong to the male-head of household.26 The lack of land-ownership rights also impacts the possibility of women to access credit. With no stable income, women have difficulties in nourishing their children.27 25. Certain customs recognize women’s ownership rights but only in community with the male head of household, with his approval, or signature. For instance, in Indonesia, although land is co-owned by spouses, it is often registered only on the name of the male head of the household. This situation is mainly due to the fact that authorities and 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 8 antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics”, University of Chicago Legal Forum (1989), pp. 139–140 and 149 ff. In its resolution 2002/50 of 23 April 2002, the Commission on Human Rights states “the importance of examining the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination”. FAO, Gender and Land Rights, Economic and Social Perspectives Policy Brief. No.8, March 2012. Ibid. UN-Women, Facts and Figures on Gender and Climate Change, available at www.unifem.org/partnerships/climate_change/facts_figures.html?#1. UN-Women, FAO, IFAD, WFP, Expert Group Meeting, Enabling Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment: Institutions, Opportunities and Participation, Submission by Catherine Hill, EGM/RW/2011/BP.1, September 2011, p. 11. Commission on the Status of Women, Report of the Secretary-General, The Empowerment of Rural Women and Their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication, Development and Challenges (E/CN.6/2012/3), 9 December 2011, para 25 (hereafter CSW Report). OECD, Gender Inequality and the MDGs: What are the Missing Dimensions?, September 2010.