Legal Empowerment of the Poor Knowledge Bank

In this CGD report, the Commission on International Migration Data for Development Research and Policy presents their five recommendations to remedy the lack of good data on migration and its effects on development.

Includes definitions and general questions, and examines the implications of a human rights based approach to development.

This paper argues that the degree to which migrants are able to affect structural change is real but limited and concludes that  it would be naïve to think that despite their often considerable benefits for individuals and communities, migration and remittances alone can remove more structural
development constraints.

This paper analyses a newly available dataset of migration policy decisions reported by governments to
the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs between 1976 and 2007 and finds evidence indicating that most governments have policies aimed at either maintaining the status quo or at lowering the level of migration.

This case study reviews benefits and obstacles to migration reform in South Africa

Aims to provide a briefing to dialogue participants by outlining the key issues around legal empowerment. Provides participants with an overview of the key themes within a legal empowerment framework and outlines potential regional concerns.

This report presents the Timor Leste Survey of Living Standards extension survey's findings related to land and property. It begins by presenting a context for land and property in Timor-Leste, goes on to discuss East Timorese perspectives on land ownership and access, and concludes with a discussion on land disputes and their resolution.

This paper provides guiding principles and advice on how Business Economy Reform programs might contribute to the needs of the poor by reducing informality and encouraging informal business to start operating formally. Of particular concern is avoiding policies that increase formalization but concomitantly are likely to increase poverty.

While efforts to develop RoL are essential and must continue, law cannot carry the hopes of economic development or the progressive package. Functional alternatives to law should be supported or created when state legal institutions persistently fail.

From the World Conference of Religions for Peace, this paper looks at Islam's perspective on legal empowerment of the poor through Qur'anic verses and Hadith.

This book is a guide to creating and maintaining paralegal programs that help people who are poor or otherwise lack access to legal services. The book, created by the Open Society Institute, distills lessons learned from Sierra Leone and other community-based paralegal programs. It is intended to provide practical advice and hands-on tools for use in the field, but also be of interest to anyone who cares about justice and the legal empowerment of the poor.

UNIFEM examines the rights violation risks women face throughout the migration cycle

A description of the barriers to justice and mechanisms of exclusion, analysis of how these work and strategies to improve A2J. Stresses the need for an innovative approach to the delivery of justice.

Legal Empowerment and Assistance for the Disadvantaged (LEAD)- Fact Sheet on Indonesia's National Strategy on Access to Justice

This study characterises street vending in Thailand, Mongolia and Cambodia and highlights the role of policies especially concerning the legal status of vendors, their social security, and allocation of urban space.

This book focuses on practical reform.  Addresses gender justice; delays; A2J by marginalised groups; judicial integrity & accountability; judicial education & skills development.  Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu

United
 Nations 
Department 
of 
Economic
 and
 Social
 Affairs

(UN‐DESA) 
and
 the 
United
 Nations 
Development
 Programme
 (UNDP)
 organized
 a 
Special 
Event 
on
 “Legal 
Empowerment 
of 
the 
Poor 
and 
Eradication 
of 
Poverty”.  

The 
special 
event 
– 
held 
on 
16
 October 
2009
 at 
the 
Second 
Committee  
of 
the 
64th 
session 
of 
the 
General
 Assembly
– 
was 
aimed
 at
 generating 
greater
 awareness
 and
 understanding 
on 
legal 
empowerment 
of 
the
 poor
 among
 the
 member
 states
 of
 the
 United
 Nations.


This Statement of Common Understanding specifically refers to a human rights based approach to the development cooperation and development programming by UN agencies.

UNDP Country Director, Stefan Priesner's Presentation 'Access to Justice as an Enabling Framework for Legal Empowerment'

ILO Better Factories Cambodia Chief Technical Advisor, Tuomo Poutiainen - Industry and Labour Rights in Cambodia

This presentation examines cases from the Philippines and Nepal.

Professor Kannan reviews the effects of plural orders and infomality

Poverty Reduction in Thailand

Director of Law and Human Rights at BAPPENAS outlines the Indonesian National Strategy on Access to Justice

Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Manager, Sultan Tiwana, 'Empowering SMEs by Facilitating Access to Legal Services'

Former Commissioner writes of the importance of governments to work with civil society as important as civil society working with government

Dan Banik reviews the relationship between legal empowerment and povery reduction and suggests that while LEP can be a tool to support poverty reduction, it does not address all causes of poverty.

A joint research team from the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme and the International Finance Corporation took a close look at how a mobile money system might take hold in Papua New Guinea.  Despite all of the challenges in providing financial services, there is a great opportunity for mobile phone based financial services to increase people's financial and physical security in PNG.

This report notes that not only are basic social protections a human right, they also generate growth, reduce levels of poverty faster and promotes peace, stability and social cohesion through social justice. Warning that the costs of excluding people will get higher and higher, the report advocates for increased spending in effective social protection.

This paper advocates for a greater understanding of the complexities in 're-empowering' communities to regain control over Common Property Resources (CPR)

Steve Golub reviews 4 papers on the Commission's work and offers'steps forward' for the international community, including, investments in civil society, creating incentives for government to support LEP, and making LEP a focus for a development goal.

Green jobs are often heralded as the solution to the twin challenges of lowering our greenhouse gas emissions and bringing down unemployment. However, very little has been said about what new green jobs might look like – who will be doing them, how much might they pay and where will they be located?

This draft paper examines legal plural orders and donor/international engagement with them. It provides an extensive literature review and offers recommendations for programme implementation.

Based on the ILOs 'Decent Work' agenda, the project sought to eliminate the negative forms of informality and examine the gradual integration of the informal economy into formal systems of protection and support. This report includes the main results, a description of the national development frameworks, summary of work done and brief fact sheets. 

Based on the results of qualitative and quantitative research  this report focuses on identifying the key justice-related issues affecting citizens at the village level and the steps taken to resolve them.  Addresses formal and informal justice systems.

Addresses: what is legal empowerment; how legal empowerment is relevant to the development community; and
how the development community can incorporate legal empowerment initiatives into their development programs.

The United Nations Secretary General's report to the 64th General Assembly: 'Legal Empowerment of the Poor and Eradication of Poverty'.

The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor Report, Vol 1

In this report commissioned by the BBC World Service, the Migration Policy Institute seeks to explore the myriad impacts of this crisis on migration flows, remittances, and on migrants
themselves as they adjust to the sweeping economic changes set in motion by the deepest global financial downturn since the Great Depression.

This volume of Sharing Innovative Experiences presents 18 case studies from 15 developing countries on their efforts to develop and implement a social protection floor.

While succeeding in raising the profile of legal empowerment,  the Commission's failure to properly tackle the political economy of reform and to justify its policy agenda with empirical data will limit its effectiveness.

Vietnamese language translation of the report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor - Volume 1

The recent turmoil in financial markets worldwide has emphasized the need for adequate consumer protection and financial literacy for long-term stability of the financial sector. This Working Paper aims to summarize key lessons from reviews of consumer protection and financial literacy in nine middle-income countries -Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, the Russian Federation and Slovakia.