To ensure that the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor is well-balanced, informed and effective in its endeavors, Commission members and other stakeholders rely on a broad-based, global network of institutional and grass roots support.

To inform the work of Legal Empowerment, a Board of Advisors to the Commission has been set up with terms of reference to provide independent counsel, institutional capacity, and advocacy. Members represent multilateral agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. It is expected that there will be additional members joining the Board throughout 2006 in order to achieve both balanced diversity and additional global capacity for the Commission’s agenda.

To date, those who have accepted an invitation to join the Board of Advisors:

BIO Robert Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance, Citigroup
BIO Diego Hidalgo, Founder, Club of Madrid
BIO Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank Group
BIO Jean Lemierre, President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
BIO Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid 
BIO Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank
BIO Kumi Naidoo, CEO, CIVICUS
BIO Sheela Patel, Founder, Society for the Promotion of Area Resources (SPARC)
BIO Jan Peterson, Chair, Huairou Commission
BIO Juan Somavia, Director, International Labor Organization
BIO Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN HABITAT
BIO Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
BIO John Watson, President, CARE Canada
BIO Francisco Garza Zambrano, President, Cemex North America

BIO Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank*

* Represented by Ana Palacio.