The OxHRH is thrilled to announce the publication of its first working paper series based on our conference Women and Poverty: A Human Rights Perspective, held in Rwanda in April 2014 in conjunction with our project partners, the Oxford Martin School Human Rights for Future Generations Programme.

The six papers bring together the challenges and insights from the lively and impassioned discussions from the conference on the many complex issues that women’s poverty raises. Chief Justice of Rwanda, Sam Rugege provides nuanced insight into the current laws and policies in Rwanda that advance gender equality. Sandra Fredman (Oxford University, OxHRH Director) draws on transformative equality and evaluates how current development policies take account of women’s needs. There are many systematic constraints in terms of women’s access to economic opportunities rooted both in law and social norms. Jeni Klugman (Kennedy School, Harvard University) and Sarah Twig (IFC Consultant) provide a current overview of these challenges.

Juliana Masabo (University of Dar es Salaam) provides a sophisticated analysis of the legal regime in East Africa that facilitates the free movement of workers, noting that there are a myriad of factors limiting the mobility of female workers. Drawing on years of fieldwork in Rwanda, Pamela Abbott (University of Aberdeen) and Dixon Malunda (Institute for Policy and Analysis, Rwanda) critically evaluate Rwanda’s current gender equality machinery. Tabeth Masengu (University of Cape Town) analyses a current jurisprudence from Botswana on the interaction between inheritance, gender and customary law.

These six papers draw on expertise from around the globe and make an important contribution to the continuing discussion on the potential of human rights to solve women’s poverty.