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The United Nations Development Programme works to make real improvements in people’s lives and in the choices and opportunities open to them. Legal empowerment of the poor is an agenda of inclusive development that complements other development strategies but pursues a unique focus on key livelihood rights - property, labour, entrepreneurial rights and access to justice – to promote inclusion and foster economic growth, poverty reduction and human development. In seeking to make the law work for everyone, it supports a bottom-up approach to development to create enabling conditions for entrepreneurship and economic opportunities.Property Rights & Tenure Security |
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Lack or insecurity of property rights is a central cause of poverty. Access to land defines the existence of many poor people. Lack of access to land and other natural resources is often a source of disenfranchisement, particularly for women and other vulnerable groups. |
Rights to Livelihood & Entrepreneurship |
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Over 600 million working poor who earn less than $1.25 a day toil away in the informal economy, unable to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. It is not the informality but the nature of their activity that is often the cause of their poverty. |
Labour Rights |
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Their ability to work is the greatest asset of the poor. Legal empowerment of the poor seeks to make international and national systems of labour standards and labour rights more inclusive and promote more productive and decent work for poverty eradication. |
Rule of Law & Access to Justice |
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Laws can play an important role in supporting poverty eradication by giving poor people access to the appropriate mix of rights and remedies. But laws that discriminate against, or ignore, the rights and livelihoods of the poor can pose serious obstacles to the eradication of poverty. |