The commission will systematise lessons learned and develop tools for the effective formalisation of poor people’s user and property rights. Poor people’s lack of formal rights to their homes, businesses and land is a major obstacle to development. In many developing countries the informal sector accounts for 80-90 per cent of the economy.
The critique against the commission is at two levels:
- No representatives from the organisations of the poor (farmers, fisherfolks, indigenous, assemblies of the poor et or NGOs working with the poor) has been part of the process to form a commission. This has no legitimacy among CSOs and NGOs; and
- De Soto’s ideas of asset reforms/formalization of property rights regime are the basis of this “poor peoples” commission.
A commission with de Soto as one of the chairs – and with his policies as the starting point of the commission, is not an acceptable commission.
Please respond on the draft and send your comments/proposals or support/sign on 2005 to: mbmanahan@focusweb.org
Sign on letter
Demands from civil society in supporting a new High-level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor.
A new High-level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor will be launched on 13 September in connection with the High- level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly. Civil society organisations representing the poor and organisations working with the poor strongly oppose the preparatory process for the establishing of this commission. There has been no consultation or inclusive process with major civil society organisations representing the poor. It is a top down process “on behalf of the poor” where the poor are excluded. The rich and powerful shall “empower the poor” !
We also oppose that the policies and ideology of Hernando de Soto form the base for commission, and that de Soto is one of the co-chairs. De Soto is very strongly criticized for pushing a neoliberal agenda with privatization as a key element.
The situation for poor people and the systems of property rights are very diverse, and this diversity has to be taken very seriously in all kind of processes for formalisations of rights. Legalisation of private property rights can be very progressive and important in some areas, but the same process might cement unjust ownership and damage social movements of the poor in other areas. The rights of indigenous peoples, women, and communities with common ownership are very often the losers in formalisation processes. The commission which will be established in September can do a lot of harm for the poor. With drastic changes in the working methods, political platform and members in the commission it can, however, be a helpful tool for the poor to come out of poverty.
We, civil society organisations representing the poor and organisations working with the poor, demand the following as conditions for supporting a new “High-level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor:
1. At least half the numbers of members in the commission and in the working groups have to be representatives of the organisations of the poor, chosen by these organisations.
2. Hernando de Soto has to be replaced as a co-chair by a representative of the poor, chosen by the organisations of the poor.
3. The mandate, working methods, policies etc will be decided by the commission without any conditions set by the governments which took the initiative to establish the commission, or any others.
4. Economic resources have to be made available for the organisations of the poor so participatory processes with the poor and their organisations can be a key element of the work of the commission and the working groups.
Signed by organisations.
Background information
A HIGH LEVEL COMMISSION ON LEGAL EMPOWERMENT OF THE POOR. PROSPECT.
The international community has agreed that poverty is a key strategic challenge for the world today. Through the Millennium Declaration of 2000 and the associated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) all members of the United Nations have agreed to cut extreme poverty worldwide by half by the year 2015. This is a noble and necessary commitment as well as a tremendous challenge.
Poverty manifests itself in multiple ways. One of the staggering facts about poverty, which is not addressed explicitly among the MDGs, is that the vast majority of the world’s poor live their daily lives outside the rule of law in what is often referred to as the informal or extralegal sector, excluded from the political, economic and social benefits of a legal order. The poor generally lack effective legal protection and recognition of their economic assets and transactions, in the form of secure and functioning property or user rights. This has severe consequences, for individuals and families, for communities and indeed for countries as a whole. Informality means exclusion and missed opportunities for growth and poverty reduction. Competing claims over land and other resources often spill over in violence and conflict. Formalization of economic assets into secure legal rights with a focus on the poor and marginalized can play an important role in economic and social development and can contribute to enhanced human security.
The process of formalization is, however, a complex one. It requires strong political commitment and must be planned and executed in a systematic and transparent manner. And, not least, it requires the active involvement of the people concerned-the potential beneficiaries of the process. Moreover, existing systems for property and user rights have evolved through centuries and often feature confusing and mutually inconsistent rules and requirements usually defended by various vested interests. Successful reform of such systems therefore also requires detailed understanding of the circumstances in each and every country. There are no one-size- fits-all solutions.
Over the last 3-4 years, extending the rule of law to the informal economy as a means to poverty reduction and development has emerged on the international agenda. This is not least a result of the pathbreaking work by Dr. Hernando de Soto, which has generated interest and demand for assistance in a large number of developing and former communist countries.
The Nordic countries, UK, Canada, Tanzania, Guatamala, Egypt, South Africa ? have welcomed this trend as a positive, new opportunity to complement and strengthen global efforts at combatting poverty, building on a strong belief in empowerment and inclusion as key to success. This perspective is fully consistent with a rights-based approach to development. These countries believe that the time is now right to for the international community to develop a results-oriented agenda for legal empowerment of the poor. They are therefore ready to launch, together with other interested parties, a High Level International Commission for this purpose. Such a Commission would need support from UN members in general and broad participation from countries in the developing world. The initiative to launch a commission was presented to the UN Secretary General on March 4th. The UN Secretary General wellcomed the initiative and considered it to be an important element in the joint effort reach the MDG goals.
Together with other stakeholders, we will ensure that such a Commission adds value to other initiatives on the international arena. Among these are the “World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation” and the “Commission on Private Sector Development”. First and foremost, the new Commission will be charged with developing an action-oriented agenda, including key principles and a tool kit with policy and strategy options, with the means that governments and organizations can utilize to move forward.
The tool-kit will draw upon the best experiences of countries and institutions providing a broad range of options for moving forward at the country level. Rather than offering a “standard approach”, governments will be empowered to design their own strategies reflecting their respective historic and cultural environments. All efforts will be made from the outset to completion to ensure that outputs be action-oriented and practical.
The Commission should be made up of people with relevant experience in policymaking, reform and poverty reduction. All regions of the world will be represented. In light of Hernando de Soto’s intellectual contributions and leadership on the issues he should play a central role.
The Commission should be set up with an independent structure and secretariat. Due to the strong involvement of UNECE in preparing the initiative and their considerable technical expertise in the area of formalization, it is proposed that the UNECE could host an interim
secretariate untill the High Level Commission makes the final decision on where to place its secretariate. UN agencies and IFIs will be invited to support and contribute to the effort throughout the existence of the Commission and beyond, including through a special
Advisory Body of senior officials.
The Commission will be supported by working groups, to be identified by the Commission, that will provide key inputs into the work of the Commission. The working groups could cover the following topics, among others:
- Mapping the policy, legal and institutional building blocks for an inclusive system of effective asset security, including property and user rights for both women and men
- Examining conceptual gaps in linking the formalisation agenda closer to the wider issues of enhancing the rule of law for poor women and men and poor communities
- Examining the links between informal and formal employment and labour market functions
- Examining how strengthened asset security could contribute to improved protection of human rights, gender equality, prevention of armed conflict and advancement of human security, including the rights and security of particularly vulnerable groups (e.g., the customary rights of indigenous people, safeguarding and restoring the asset security of people displaced by conflict, etc.)
- Examining the ways and means to link provision of financial services to reforms intended to advance asset security
- Reviewing potential risk factors to be managed in formalisation processes, including gender aspects of poverty and development, environmental sustainability, vulnerable communities, the potential for conflict over access to scarce resources, etc.
- Developing standards and capacity building approaches to improve land and property-related services and raise the ability of citizens, both women and men, to defend their assets and interests The time-frame of the Commission should not exceed two and a half years.
The Commission will meet about 4 times in total between 2005 and 2007. Both the commission itself and the working groups will hold a number of their meetings in developing countries. There will be various mechanisms to ensure close consultation with relevant stakeholder groups, including movements representing the informal sector.
The Commission will be financed by the Nordic countries and other launching governments behind this initiative. Voluntary contributions will be welcomed. We invite you to endorse this initiative, thus enabling the establishment of a broadly based, action-oriented global agenda for expanding the rule of law for the benefit of the poor and marginalized..
Background notes:
A high level “Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor” will be established in New York September 13th in connection with the High-level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly. Hernando de Soto and Madeline Albright (former US state secretary) will be the
co-chairs of the commission. Other members of the commission are: Benjamin Nkapa (president in Tanzania), Lindiwe Sisulu (South Africa), Mary Robinson (former UN human rights, Ireland), Shirin Ebadi (Iran, got the Nobel Peace price two years ago), Fernando Cardoso (former president of Brazil), Soledad Alvear (former minister of foreign affairs, Chile), Ajun Sengupta (chair of a similar commission in India). About 10 more members will be appointed. The high level commission will organize several working committees where they might invite representatives from NGO’s CSOs as well. It is the Norwegian government which is pushing for establishing the commission.
The whole concept is based on the philosophy and theory of Hernando de Soto (articles of him can be found at CATO.
His main point is that the most important is to get private legal property rights for the poor – for land, houses, water – His policy is very controversial and very much criticized for pushing privatisation of common property, cementing unjust ownership and for “one size fits all”.
There has not been any consultations with representatives for any major CSOs or NGOs as far as we know.
The critique against the commission is at two levels: No representatives from the organisations of the poor (farmers, fisherfolks, indigenous, assemblies of the poor et or NGOs working with the poor) has been part of the process to form a commission. This has no legitimacy among CSOs and NGOs.
A commission with de Soto as one of the chairs – and with his policies as the starting point of the commission, is not an acceptable commission.
There is a lot of critique against the plan to establish the commission and against de Soto at one of the chairs from professionals in international agencies (like IFAD and Habitat), the Norwegioan ministry of foreign affairs, Norad, universities etc.
Press release from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs No.: 85/05 Date: 16.06.2005
New commission to strengthen property rights of the poor Former American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Professor Hernando de Soto, the Peruvian economist, will chair the new High-level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor.
The announcement was made by State Secretary Leiv Lunde at an information meeting today. Together with the other Nordic countries, Norway took the initiative for the establishment of the commission, which will aim to put legal protection of the economic assets of the poor high on the international agenda.
The commission will systematise lessons learned and develop tools for the effective formalisation of poor people’s user and property rights. The 25 members of the commission include Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania), Lindiwe Sisulu (South Africa), Mary Robinson (Ireland), Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Fernando Cardoso (Brazil), Soledad Alvear (Chile) and Arjun Sengupta (India). Poor people’s lack of formal rights to their homes, businesses and land is a major obstacle to development. In many developing countries the informal sector accounts for 80-90 per cent of the economy.
“We have reason to believe that this dormant capital is greater than the sum of all the aid and investments that have ever been transferred to the developing countries. The formalisation of rights will increase people’s economic security, promote economic growth and increase tax revenues. This will give developing countries more money to invest in education, health and measures to reduce poverty,” said State Secretary Lunde.
The international launch of the commission will be on 13 September in connection with the High-level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly. Press contact: Wera Helstrøm, tel. (+47) 22 24 39 44 or mob.(+47) 99 40 93 23
