Legal
Empowerment’s Working Groups bring
together some of the world’s greatest experts and
practitioners together with international and civil society
organizations, donor governments and countries that have implemented
reforms. The
Working Groups are drawing on the historical
knowledge and leading edge research from Africa, Asia, Latin America
and
Click here for an overview of the Working Groups structure and scope of work.
Below are some of the people and ideas behind the Working Groups.
Francis Cheneval Leading Expert of Working Group on Property Rights
"Prosperity occurs when property rights systems protect both, property and the fair access to property. This
concept is implied in the understanding of property
rights as human rights. On the operational level, it
leads to a general challenge that we have to address in our Working Group. People owning property often do not have the same interests as people striving to acquire property. The poor are mostly in need of acquiring property and they are better empowered if they can pool secured assets...
... In the urban and rural realms, the Working Group tries to expand the property rights agenda from a focus on titling to a comprehensive policy framework and systemic understanding of the property rights regime. The latter is like a chain only as strong as its weakest link. For the sake of empowerment, the content of property law and policies are as important as the fact that they be designed in a participatory manner at the lowest possible level of governance."
Read the complete interview with Dr.Cheneval.
Banashree Banerjee
Working Group on Property Rights
“There is need to ensure up front
that
well-intentioned legal empowerment agendas
actually have real benefits for
the poor, and
that conditions are created for them to access
those benefits.
The legal empowerment agenda has prompted many governments to enact laws that
are aimed at ending exploitation of the poor. Land reforms in South Asian
countries have ensured land ownership for small peasant farmers; decentralized
governance in many countries has created space for voices of poor citizens to
reach institutions.
Being a member of a group that has people from very
different backgrounds with such diverse experiences on the common theme of
property rights has opened up the horizon of possibilities for me. The insights
gained from the contributions of fellow group members have already helped me to
develop a wider perspective on my work on improving the legal access to land
for the urban poor in Indian cities.”
Matthew Stephenson
Leading
Expert of Working Group on Access to Justice
“We have also solicited the views of over 100
experts
from around the world. Our research teams have also
conducted
comprehensive surveys of the existing
literature on our key topic areas. We
recognize, of
course, that these efforts are necessarily incomplete,
especially
since there is not one 'reality on the ground,' but rather millions of
'realities on the ground' that reflect the unique circumstances of
different
individuals.
There are not generic solutions to the problem of the problem of
legal empowerment, and there is widespread disagreement about what approaches
are more appropriate. The best we can held for is to get as broad a range of
perspectives as we can and try to offer some general principles or rules of
thumb that might be helpful to reformers who are trying to work out solution to
concrete problems in particular contexts."
Vivek Maru
Working Group on Access to Justice
“Widespread
access to legal or
justice services is essential for
delivering legal
empowerment,
protecting human rights, and
maintaining a healthy democracy.
Like
health or education, legal
services can be thought of as an
essential public
good.
Vivek Maru, right, and paralegal My
experience is in parts of
Joseph Sawyer in Sierra Leone. where there
is a legal dualism
www.timapforjustice.org between the formal legal
systems inherited from the former
colonial powers and the “customary” legal regimes
derived from traditional approaches
to justice. Substantially, customary law sometimes conflicts with human
rights.
A young girl betrothed without her consent before she reaches puberty.
Women
are generally disallowed from inheriting family property. Customary law
is
supposed to comply with the national constitution, but oftentimes it
does not.
Moreover, customary law is at times applied unfairly. There is a lack
of
independent review. So what happens when a man is cheated by a corrupt
local
official or a woman is accused of being a witch? Where should law
reform being
in this situation? How do you serve the people?”
Maleye Diop
Working Group on Property Rights
“'Legal
Empowerment' is about changing
perceptions and putting people in the driver’s
seat
so that they own the development process. The
most important element that
can be created is this
idea of ownership – a condition when people feel this
belongs to me, I can access it, I can develop my house, I can use it to get a
loan to get my son to go to university. “
Liz Alden Wily
Working Group on Property Rights
“As most of my own experience is Africa-based
I have a lot to learn about Asian and Latin American
realities. The level of commonality still
always
surprises me, but does make it easier to move
more
quickly onto the important question: so,
what needs to be done and how?"
Lalanath de Silva
Working Group on Implementation
“When you look at the Commission’s mandate, you do not see
a clear reference to the environment. But
when you dig down, you begin to see
that most of the world’s poor are dependant on their surroundings. Rural poor
are closely attached to their forests, fisheries, the resources that come free
from nature. These are the wealth of the rural poor.”
Check back soon for more full length interviews and quotes from Working Group participants.
