Legal Empowerment – A Way Out Of Poverty. Anthology. Volume 2

Foreword by Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway

Now, more than a decade since the end of the Cold War, we still have a long way to go before we can declare the end of the war against poverty. Social and economic disparities are increasing rather than diminishing. We must raise awareness of the responsibility of all countries to fight unjust systems, and we must attack poverty bottom-up. People should be their own entrepreneurs and enjoy the protection afforded by the rule of law.

Most of the world’s poor are outside the formal economy. Unless they find ways of inclusion and formalised participation in their own country’s economy, billions of people will still be excluded from participating in global economic growth.

This is why Norway, together with other partner countries, set up the independent Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor in 2005. Since then, we have been working actively to shape its mandate and have given input both to consultations processes and to the possible outcome itself.

Norway shares the vision of the Commission:

• to build on lessons learned from development and foreign policy
• to advance this work by focusing its efforts on the poor in the informal economy
• to enable more people to move out of poverty by giving them access to secure property rights, enforceable labour rights and an equitable justice system.

I am also concerned about the links between health and sustainable global development. Informality is a danger in itself, and adds to the obstacles poor people have to overcome in their pursuit of better lives. Access to legal services is also an important part of this agenda.

We are also facing the one of the biggest challenges in the history of mankind: global climate change. Sustainable development must be at the top of our foreign policy agenda. The formalisation agenda will address people’s ability to protect the environment in their own economic performance. Thus, it links up to some of our most central foreign policy aims.

In this volume of the anthology series that will be published during the course of the Commission’s mandate, you will find an article on nation-building by Co-chair Madeleine Albright and one on why globalisation creates new opportunities for poor people, given the right conditions, by Michael Moore. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN Habitat, explores the issue of the urban poor and formalisation. The volume touches upon the complicated reality of indigenous people as to an integrated approach to property rights, as well as women’s access to property rights. Finally, there is an article on simple arbitration mechanisms that can be set up to assist poor people in extending their property rights, with examples from former Soviet republics. The importance of networking and seamless interaction with civil society in order to create real results is also explored.

My aim is to set in motion a process and encourage reflection and action by providing inputs both to the Commission itself and to the broader international community.

Foreign policy is entering into new areas – those areas I have now mentioned. We need to take a fresh look at how we shape foreign policy. The scope, the content of foreign policy is evolving, and we must find ways to respond more resolutely than ever before on how to fight poverty.