The government of Norway, along with other       Nordic countries, played a key role in defining      the need for Legal Empowerment.                        Erik Solheim is the Norwegian Minister of            International Development.  

   
Why is the Commission deemed important and how does it fit in with Norway's overall goal of fighting poverty and supporting international peace? 

ES: The Norwegian government found that time had come for taking an initiative on how to work with informality as a hindrance and obstacle to sustainable development. As a major donor country, Norway had seen informality in developing countries as something that was often talked of, but seldom attacked. At the same time, it is a general thesis in our own Nordic countries that formal rights and access to justice is a premise for development and economic growth, both historically and at present.

 Can formality give peace? That is a more tricky question to me. But the link between security to tenure, safe legal frameworks and easy access to justice is of utmost importance in preventing conflicts, and in post-conflict situations.

 The initiative fits well into the general concept in our development policy that donor activities shall be demand-driven and based on local initiatives. We saw that the demand for formalisations programmes were constantly increasing, but without ability to meet all demands given that both theory, base-line approach and the need to tailor-make programs to local conditions were a kind of un-ploughed ground. A global initiative could change this situation.  Therefore, Norway put itself in the lead of creating a global initiative, in close cooperation with international entities as the UNECE, UNDP and the World Bank, and the result was the creation of a global, independent commission co-chaired by M. Albright, with all her international prestige and visionary thinking, and H. de Soto, the known Peruvian economist whose theories in many ways form the basis of the initiative. 

 One Norwegian concern as to private property rights and their extension is that women’s access to property rights, collective and users’ rights and indigenous peoples traditional ways of dealing with property and tenure, must at all stages be taken into consideration. We have contributed to ensure that these concerns are taken into consideration in the Commission’s work through its mandate and its present work as well as inclusive consultations in the regions.

The Commission's work and Norway's own development priorities are in keeping with the Millennium Development Goals. Why are the Millennium Development Goals important?

ES: First of all, the Millennium Development Goals have contributed greatly to securing a more prominent place for development issues on the international agenda. In recent years, development issues are being discussed to an ever increasing extent whenever world leaders meet, for instance by the G-8. The links between development and security are clearly recognized. I think that having such a set of clear and concise goals that are in fact agreed upon by everyone, rich countries and developing countries alike, has been a prerequisite for achieving this level of attention.

 Secondly, the goals ensure that we - the donor community - can be held accountable for our actual efforts. Progress, or lack of progress as is sadly sometimes the case, is clear for everyone to see.

 Surely it can be argued that the field of development is too complex, too dependent on a whole range of non-measurable factors to be "squeezed" into a given set of goals and indicators. I can sympathize with such views, but that should not prevent us from measuring results and keeping track of progress where we can. And in many areas we can. Do more girls receive primary education? Are we on track in terms of providing clean water and sanitary facilities? In the end, achieving results is what our work is all about.

 
Norway is working with many UN and UNDP organizations and the World Bank. What is Norway's philosophy on development co-operation?

ES: Traditionally our link to international institutions and IFIs is essential in making development initiatives work. We tend to divide our programmes between multilateral approaches, multi-bi programmes and bilateral cooperation programmes. All these channels and the combination between them are important to ensure sustainable development programmes. My government is very keen to strengthen the UN system as a major stakeholder in development. We are very happy that all the institutions mentioned put an active interest in the work of the Commission.

Foreign Policy Magazine calls Norway a successful state. Norway is 
spending a great deal of capital - human capital and aid - to help the international community. What is Norway doing that other countries are not? How is Norway a role model for the developing world and for the developed world? 

ES: I wouldn't necessarily claim that Norway is doing something that other countries are not. Yes, it is important for us to contribute to the international community, not least in the area of aid and development cooperation. There is broad political consensus in Norway about this. For a number of years we have exceeded UN's recommended level of aid (0.7% of BNI). Our 2007 budget plans for a 0.97% share, and our goal remains to increase our ODA/ BNI-share to 1%.  This is obviously not something we do out of pity or charity. Being a rich country, blessed with natural resources, it is our moral obligation to do whatever we can to help those less fortunate, to help alleviate poverty. Living in extreme poverty means that an individual's basic human rights are violated.  This is a totally unacceptable situation.

 Let me also underline that the Norwegian general public holds a very positive attitude towards development cooperation. There are many reasons for this, but I think a very important role is being played by our large and active NGO community. Through their members, through their communication activities and not least through their very professional work in being an important channel for Norwegian development aid, they have contributed largely to raising awareness about development issues. People actually believe that they can make a difference. 

 I think this is the area where Norway could perhaps serve as a role model: a diverse, active and critical civil society is indeed a prerequisite for any modern democracy. Politicians and governments need organisations and individuals who hold them accountable, who make sure that people's voices are being heard and that there is a fair distribution of wealth and resources. This has laid the foundation for our development from being a relatively poor country not too many decades ago.