(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[rights] Last week, Norwegian media once again devoted a lot of space to the so-called caricature fight. The same media, on the other hand, have completely ignored the fact that a number of religious leaders met at a large-scale conference in New York at the same time and jointly drafted an ambitious initiative. The sale is about how the rights of the poor can be strengthened, and how to reduce the risk of instability, sudden mass migration, conflict and, ultimately, war and terror.
The conference was organized by Religions for Peace, the world's largest multi-religious association, representing all the major world religions. They thus join the UN Commission on "Legal Empowerment of the Poor", headed by former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright and economist Hernando de Soto.
So what exactly is "Legal Empowerment"? Many believe this will be the new major topic in the development debate, but there is currently no good Norwegian translation.
- Legal empowerment is about strengthening the rights of the poor in all sectors, but also about the fact that the law may be relevant in areas where it has previously been weak or not present. It is largely about different variants of, and problems related to the informal sector, but in its entirety ie far more than property rights to land, says Maren Aase, PhD candidate at the Center for Development and Environment at UiO to Ny Tid.
"It is unacceptable that 70 percent of the world's population, four billion people, today have no opportunity to improve their living conditions, no matter how hard they try," said Sheikh Shaban Mubaje, of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council.
Today, most of the world's poor live in an informal economy, many live on occupied land, work in small, informal businesses and rely on friends and acquaintances to get a loan.
They are therefore particularly vulnerable to insecurity, corruption and violence that are not uncommon in the informal economy, according to the UNDP. The goal of "Legal Empowerment" is for more people to have the opportunity to take part in the benefits that the globalized economy produces.
In March, the UN will launch a major study on this theme. The report will attempt to answer how existing practices can be a starting point for reform, what non-intentional consequences formalization can lead to, and what it takes to move the activity over to the formal sector.
- People need something to lose, summed up Mike More, former WTO chief from New Zealand. Other prominent participants at the conference were Elizabeth Twissa from the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations from Tanzania, Din Syamsuddin from Muhammadiyah, Indonesia, Ven. Yifa from the Buddhist Light International Association and Aruna Oswal from the World Jain Federation, India. ■
