Legal Empowerment of the Poor features prominently at First Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development that took place 26 March - 2 April in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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| Executive Director Naresh Singh at the meeting in Addis Ababa |
10
April 2008 - The importance of
Legal Empowerment of the Poor was recognized by the Conference of
Ministers in
its resolution on the Millennium Development Goals. Ministers declared
that
they look forward to the reports finalization and submission to the
African
Union Assembly.
- The
legal empowerment
of the poor should necessarily be incorporated into the MDGs,
aid-for-trade and
EPA negotiations;
- ECA
should conduct
Africa-specific research on socially excluded and other vulnerable
groups, to
provide a solid knowledge base for policy and programme formulation;
- The
AU Summit could
be used as an occasion for launching the report of the CLEP; and
- AU
should take that
agenda through G77 and China to the General Assembly for appropriate
resolutions to encourage the multilateral and bilateral systems in
support of
developing country efforts on LEP.
Speaking before the Conference, former President of the Republic of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa focused on “Empowering the Poor”. - Read the full statement here – “We will make little or no substantive development progress if we don’t engage and empower the poor in our countries. This is the cornerstone challenge.” The former President added, “Legal empowerment is a goal, a process and a means to fight against poverty. Given the chance, poor people will work to get out of poverty.” President Mkapa emphasised that in order to drive this agenda, political commitment and leadership at the highest level are required.
For
more information, please visit
www.undp.org/legalempowerment or contact:
Mr Shom
Shamapande, Communications Officer
+1
212 906-6127
shom.shamapande@undp.org
UNDP's Legal Empowerment of the Poor to Hold National Consultation in Jordan
Thursday, 6 September 2007 - Under the patronage of Her Royal Highness
Princess Sumaya Bint El
Hassan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the
Commission of
Legal Empowerment of the Poor in
Legal empowerment of the poor is essential to
poverty reduction. It
protects those who live their lives
outside the rule of law, without the basic legal protection that
recognizes
their homes, assets and hard work.
Without property rights, they live in fear of forced
eviction. Without
access to a justice system, they are
victims of corruption and violence.
Without enforceable labor laws, they suffer unsafe
and abusive work
conditions. If they
own an informal
business, they cannot access the legal business protections that
entrepreneurs
in the developed world take for granted – they are locked out of
economic
opportunity in their own countries and in the global marketplace. Outside the law, the
ability of the poor to
create wealth is frustrated; without access to justice, their dignity
is
violated.
This national consultation for
As a follow-up and with funding provided by the
Commission and UNDP’s
Sub-Regional Facility for Arab States (SURF-AS), four thematic papers
in the
above mentioned Commission’s areas of focus were produced by national
authors
and will be presented by them in the meeting of today.
Attended by more than 80 stakeholders from
government, academia and the
research community, relevant unions, civil society, media and
representatives
of the informal sector, the meeting of today will discuss the four
themes. Participants
are expected to generate
findings and recommendations that aim to improve the capacity of the
poor to
enable them to have greater control over their own lives and
livelihoods. The
national final report will be included in
the Commission’s global report eventually.
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Legal Empowerment is hosted by the United Nations
Development Programme
(UNDP), and supported by the UN Secretary General for its contribution
to the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The
Commision is co-chaired by Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of
State,
and Hernando
Or
Dr. Iyad Abu Moghl, Senior Policy
Advisor, UNDP Sub-Regional
Resource Facility for
Or
Amal Tartir, UNDP Media
Legal Empowerment, Gobind Sadan to open Russo-Indian Poverty Conference
A national Legal Empowerment conference is planned for March of 2007. Legal Empowerment is hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and aims to make legal protection and economic opportunity not the privilege of the poor but the right of all. Legal Empowerment is hosting national consultations around the world to engage grassroots organizations, NGOs and policymakers on the issues of access to justice , property and labor rights. Co-chaired by Madeleine Albright (fmr. US Secretary of State) and Hernando de Soto (founder of the Insitute for Liberty and Democracy), Legal Empowerment is backed by the personal commitment of more than 20 world leaders, including Mary Robinson (fmr. High Commissioner of Human Rights), F.H. Abed (BRAC founder) and Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer).
Gobind
Sadan operates under the guidance of His
Holiness Baba Virsa Singh Ji
(Babaji), recognized for his spiritual and healing capabilities.
For
more
information, please contact:
In
Ralph Singh
+91
9818255713
ralph@gobindsadan.org
Gobind Sadan/Spokesperson
Paulina Kubiak
+1 212 2975783
Legal Empowerment/Communications Officer
______________________________________________
Secretary
Albright Calls on Political Leadership to Secure Land Rights and
Further Opportunity for the Poor
“
The visit to
the Toi Market coincides with the ten year anniversary of the Kenyan
National
Slum Dwellers Federation, which runs savings and housing programs and
advocates
for secure land tenure. Millions of poor and marginalized Kenyans live
without
secure rights to their homes and businesses and live in fear of
eviction. The
traders of Toi Market and slum dwellers around
Joseph
Muturi, head of the Toi Market savings scheme said: “We
are hard working and we want to the market
to be secure so that we can grow our businesses. We want to have the
right to
live and work here so that we can improve our lives”.
In
“The land policy provides a key opportunity for
Albright
co-chairs the
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor with Peruvian economist
Hernando
The Kenya Conference (Nov 27-28, Safari Park Hotel), was co-hosted by the Commission on Legal Empowerment of Poor, UNDP and UN Habitat, is one of a series of national consultations being held around the world to feed into the work of the Commission on land and law in the informal economy.
The majority of the world's three billion poor lives and work in the informal economy without basic legal protection or economic opportunity. While most of the world's poor possess assets of some kind they lack a formal way to document these through legally recognized tools such as deeds, contracts and permits.
For more information in Nairobi, please contact:
Nasser Ega-Musa Samantha Bolton
Deputy Director Senior Communications Advisor
United Nations Information Centre Commission for Legal Empowerment of the Poor Tel: 0736 205 125 Tel: 624560
Email: nasser.ega-musa@unon.org samanthabolton@gmail.com
__________________________________________________________
Legal Empowerment Awarded 2006 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment Certificate for Pledge to Expand Opportunities for Small Business Owners
Co-Chair
Hernando de Soto Accepts Certificate from Sandy
Berger
New York,
Former U.S.
National Security Adviser Sandy
Berger announced the commitment and awarded Hernando
The goal will be to generate recommendations on how to empower small business owners trapped in the informal economy – and unlock their potential to profit from capitalism.
For
further information, contact Paulina Kubiak at
Global Policy Makers Endorse First Ever Platform To Address The Legal Empowerment of The Poor
New York, NY - June 7, 2006
Today, global leaders and policy makers met in New York to endorse an ambitious plan to shine light on a problem which is trapping billions of people around the world in poverty. The ground-breaking plan was adopted at the second meeting of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, co-chaired by Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, and Peruvian Economist Hernando de Soto. For the first time ever a global initiative will tackle one of the most important and difficult public policy challenges of our time: the link between poverty and legal and economic exclusion.“This critical initiative is about extending legal protection of the poor by blending ‘ownership society’ with ‘power to the people,’” said Albright. ”To make it work we need to work simultaneously at a local and global level so that people can obtain credit and really own their property,” she added.
Billions of people around the world are excluded from economic opportunity because they live in the informal, or shadow, economy, without enforceable rights over their property and assets and other legal protections. In some countries up to 90% of property is owned outside of the law. People are at risk from exploitation, violence and theft and cannot use their assets to get credit, to invest or to start saving.
“Around four out of six billion people in the world do not have full legal property rights, or legal forms of business organization to participate productively in their own national economic system or in the global economy” said De Soto. “The Commission will study and propose solutions to these issues based on experience and serious expectations,” he added.
Commission member and former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso kicked off the first in a series of global conferences on legal empowerment in Sao Paulo in April. Looking forward, in 2006 and 2007 Commission members will spearhead meetings in Indonesia, India, Mexico and in a number of African countries. Commissioners are committed to hosting national dialogues in developing countries with the participation of policymakers, grass roots representatives of the poor, and the private sector. Partner organizations collaborating in the meetings include Slum Dwellers International and the Indigenous People’s International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba Foundation). The Commission is hosted by the United Nations Development Programme.
Multilateral organizations are also supporting the Commission’s work. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz sits on the Board of Advisors, as do the heads of UN Habitat, the ILO and the African and Inter-American Development Banks. Commission Members including Gordon Brown, Mary Robinson, and the former Presidents of Tanzania, New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico will act as Global advocates among their peers.
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor is a new independent initiative that aims to make legal protection and economic opportunity not the privilege of the few but the right of all citizens. Legal Empowerment is made up of global policymakers who will pursue reforms that ensure secure tenure and enforceable property rights for the world’s poor.
For further information, visit http://legalempowerment.undp.org
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor to Hold First Meeting in New York
Global Policy Leaders Begin Mission to Extend Legal Rights to the PoorJanuary 16th, 2006
New York, NY - The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a new, independent, global initiative, will hold its first meeting this Friday and Saturday, January 20th and 21st, 2006, at the United Nations in New York.
Over these two days, some of the world's leading policy makers and thinkers will set a working agenda to explore how nations can reduce poverty through reforms that expand access to legal protection and economic opportunities for all.
Legal Empowerment is co-chaired by former U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Peruvian economist Hernando
de Soto, and includes an array of international leaders with a
diversity of views from the worlds of politics, economics, law, and
social policy.
They include Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, former
presidents Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Fernando Cardoso of Brazil,
Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Mary Robinson of Ireland, U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin
Ebadi of Iran.
Legal Empowerment’s work will focus on the billions of poor who live in the 'informal economy', with no legal rights or protection for their homes or property. Legal Empowerment will advocate for reforms that give all citizens a stake in their nation's economy.
"Most of the world's poor possess assets of some kind, but they are unable to benefit from the economic system because they lack legal means to protect and leverage their assets," says Dr. de Soto. "We need to replicate successful practices that allow individuals to participate in legitimate economic systems and to improve their lives."
"This is a wholly different approach to the poverty debate," says Secretary Albright. "Expanding legal protections to all citizens is a key part of poverty eradication equation."
Other members attending this week's meeting include Lahkdar Brahimi, former head of the United Nations Mission to Iraq; Ashraf Ghani, former Minister of Finance for Afghanistan; Hilde Frafjord Johnson, Minister of Development Corporation, Norway; and Michael Moore, former Director General of the World Trade Organization.
For further information, visit http://legalempowerment.undp.org
Global Poverty Linked to Scarce Rule of Law
New Group To Promote Access to Legal Protections for the World’s PoorSeptember 13th, 2005
New York, NY - The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a new independent global initiative, today announced it will fight global poverty by focusing on the connection between poverty and the lack of legal protections.
Legal Empowerment, which is co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, this month will begin its unique mission to extend the rule of law to the world’s poor.
Legal Empowerment members include an array of international leaders with a diversity of views from the worlds of politics, economics, law, and social policy. They include Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, former Presidents Fernando Cardoso of Brazil and Mary Robinson of Ireland, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi of Iran, all of whom were in New York for Legal Empowerment’s launch today.
“This is a wholly different approach to the poverty debate,” said co-chair Madeleine Albright. “While many worthy initiatives are underway to fight global poverty, our Commission will focus on a unique and overlooked aspect of the problem: the inextricable link between pervasive poverty and the absence of legal protections for the poor.”
“Our ultimate goal is to give the world’s three billion poor the tools they need to create capital and economic growth for themselves,” said Hernando de Soto. “We need to replicate successful practices that allow individuals to participate in legitimate economic systems and to improve their lives.”
Legal Empowerment’s work is based on the conviction that broadening the rule of law and ensuring users’ and property rights for the poor and marginalized populations leads to economic and social empowerment. As poor populations gain benefits that go beyond property and ownership, they will become participants in a system of laws and commerce that can leverage capital, create investment, and generate such rewards as clean water, medical care, schools and economic growth.
“Global poverty can be eradicated only if governments give the poor a legitimate stake in the economy by extending property rights and other safeguards to all citizens,” said Secretary Albright.
“Most of the world’s poor possess assets of some kind, but they are unable to benefit from the economic system because they lack legal means to protect and leverage their assets,” said Dr. de Soto. “In many poorer countries, overly burdensome and unworkable bureaucracies compound the problem.”
Legal Empowerment will operate as an independent entity with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its capacity as chair of the UN Development Group. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will also play an important role in light of its support for countries that are transitioning towards a market economy.
Legal Empowerment will be funded by voluntary contributions from the private and public sectors, and is endorsed by the governments of Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Guatemala, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.
This two-and-one-half year effort is intended to contribute significantly to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the global and country levels, including the pledge by all UN members to cut extreme poverty worldwide by half by 2015.
In addition to drawing on the experience of Legal Empowerment members, advice and expertise will be solicited from a variety of non-governmental organizations, multilateral agencies, and target populations, such as indigenous people, women, labor unions, and displaced individuals.
Other Legal Empowerment members attending the launch activities included Lahkdar Brahimi, head of the United Nations Mission to Iraq; Ashraf Ghani, dean of Kabul University and former Minister of Finance for Afghanistan; Muhammad Medhat Hassanein, former Minister of Finance for Egypt; Hilde Frafjord Johnson, Minister of Development Corporation, Norway; Mike Moore, former Director General of the World Trade Organization; Syed Tanwir H. Naqvi, former chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau of Pakistan; Arjun Sengupta, chairman of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Informal Sector of India; Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu, Minister of Housing for South Africa; and Pansak Vinyaratn, Chief Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Thailand.
More information is available about the Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor at http://legalempowerment.undp.org
