On 25 May, the Peace Palace in The Hague hosted the European launch of the UN Commission of the Legal Empowerment of the Poor report, Making the Law Work for Everyone (see my previous post), organised by the Hague Academic Coalition in partnership with theHague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, Tilburg University, the Institute for Social Studies and the Centre for International Legal Cooperation. Along with various international experts and policy-makers, former US Secretary of State and co-chair of the Commission, Madeleine K. Albright spoke on the need to empower the poor through legal rights.
POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH LEGAL EMPOWERMENT OF THE POOR
The Hague played host to the European launch of the report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, to expound the belief in the crucial importance of legal rights in fighting world poverty.
Two thirds of the world’s population, or around four billion people, have limited or no access to legal rights according to the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a global initiative established to focus on the link between exclusion, poverty and the law. The Commission’s eminent group of experts in foreign policy and development issues argue that access to legal rights for the poor will break new ground in the fight against poverty.
On 25 May 2009, the Peace Palace in The Hague hosted the European launch of the Commission’s report, Making the Law Work for Everyone, organised by the Hague Academic Coalition in partnership with theHague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, Tilburg University, the Institute for Social Studies and the Centre for International Legal Cooperation. Along with various international experts and policy-makers, former US Secretary of State and co-chair of the Commission, Madeleine K. Albright spoke on the need to empower the poor through legal rights.
The authors of the report expressed the hope that through the event both public and political awareness would be raised about the importance of legal infrastructure as an element of human development and good governance. As legal capital of the world, The Hague will also seek to explore what it can offer to the Legal Empowerment agenda.
The Law Can Be An Extremely Powerful Asset […] But It Has Been Chronically Underused
The work of the Commission is based on that of Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto who argues that legal rights, especially property rights, are essential in fighting world poverty. Simply being registered as citizens means that people can function under formal systems, taking part in society with redress to law, voting rights and the ability to engage in commercial activity, though according to former Canadian foreign minister, Lloyd Axworthy, these are low priorities for most governments and aid agencies.
Concerning the pervasiveness of poverty, Madeleine Albright noted,“We have the knowledge and the resources to make rapid progress if the political will is there. Reducing poverty is not only a moral imperative, it is also an economic and security necessity. A more inclusive and broadly prosperous world will also be a more peaceful and secure world and that is a goal well worth pursuing.”
The core idea of the Commission’s report is making the principle of legal empowerment a central theme in the debate on tackling poverty in the future, though the Commission recognised the embryonic nature of the concept and that its evolution into practice will take time.
The Law Can Be An Extremely Powerful Asset In Fighting Poverty”, Madeleine Albright Declared, “But It Has Been Chronically Underused And That Must Change.
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor was launched by a group of developed and developing countries including Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Guatemala, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Tanzania and the United Kingdom, and was hosted by the United Nations Development Programme, the UNDP, in New York. The Report was first released on 3 June, 2008 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
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