Download the file - United Nations Rule of Law

plans, poverty reduction strategies (PRSs), UNDevelopment Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs),etc. Another important dimension of national levelwork will involve working closely with professionalassociations (lawyers, surveyors, planners, localauthorities, micro-finance institutions, Chambers ofCommerce, labour unions, farmers’ organisations,etc.) to create a new generation of professionals inthe spirit of the ‘barefoot engineers’ that have beenpioneered in South Asia. 9Activities at the Local LevelWithout support from the base organisations of thepoor, there is little chance of realising the LegalEmpowerment of the Poor agenda. Involving thesegroups in the design of interventions of any kind(advocacy, knowledge management, pilot initiatives,and capacity development) is crucial. Informationdissemination will be a central strategy atthe local level. In some countries with particularlyweak or oppressive national governments, communityempowerment activities may be the onlyfeasible ones. Where social mobilisation is strong,however, the legal empowerment agenda can bebuilt, bottom-up, by supporting existing initiativesof the urban poor, such as the pioneering urbanpoor funds in Cambodia, India and elsewhere.4. Country LevelApproaches, Toolkits andIndicesThe pathways to Legal Empowerment of the Poorare multi-tiered with many possible intersections,roundabouts, dead-ends, detours, and shortcuts.Given the options, carrying out Legal Empowermentof the Poor takes a variety of different country-levelapproaches, tools or specific techniquesfor manipulating the ‘how’ of policy. For countriespromoting the legal empowerment agenda, identifyingthe appropriate process, picking the righttools and establishing the appropriate benchmarksfor success are critical.Countries Piloting LegalEmpowerment ReformThere has been a tremendous positive responsearound the world to the idea of pro-poor legalempowerment. As the Commission moves from theglobal to the country level, a process must be developedto enable, where appropriate, the matchingof the demand for reform with the appropriatesupply of information, expertise and experience.Different countries will wish to take different pathsto legal empowerment. Some of the critical issuesthat countries and their development partners willhave to address are:Historical and social context: The objectives oflegal empowerment aim at achieving systemicchange in the relations between the poor, the stateand the market. The historic context will greatlyaffect the possibility to achieve change of thismagnitude and the timing should be carefully considered.Is the country ready to undertake the legalempowerment challenge? Comparing data regardingeconomic growth, inequality and social exclusion,and poverty will be important in assessing the325