U OF W President Appointed To International Commission On Poverty

from The Manitobian

Axworthy appointed to International High Commission for the Poor
JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF

At a news conference held at the University of Winnipeg on July 14, Naresh Singh, the executive director of the High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (HLCLEP) announced Lloyd Axworthy’s appointment to the commission.

Axworthy is the president and vicechancellor of the University of Winnipeg and was Canada’s foreign affairs minister from 1996 to 2000. He is the sole Canadian appointed to serve on the commission.

Axworthy added, “I do believe in the power of ideas. I think it’s what moves mountains.”

HLCLEP is a new, independent global initiative that according to their mission statement “aims to make legal protection and economic opportunity not the privilege of the few but the right of all.” The commission was formed in 2005 by a group of countries that included Canada, Denmark, Egypt, India, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.

The commission is working towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which includes the UN pledge to cut extreme poverty worldwide in half by 2015.

“Our focus is specifically between wealth, property and the rule of law,” said Singh at the news conference. Singh, who is based in New York, pointed to what he sees as the contradictions of “empowering” people.

“Never in the history of human civ ilization has anyone with power ever willingly given power to those without power. The powerless have to take power either through violent means, civil rights movements, or passive resistance,” he said. “So if the word ‘empowerment’ means ‘to give power to’ then it is a nonsense word. It never happens.”

The commission functions through various smaller working groups in areas such as property rights, labour rights and entrepreneurship. In recognition of the distinction of his work, Axworthy will be chairing the group “access to justice and rule of law.” The main objective of this group is to consider the “top-down” and “bottomup” processes necessary for generating effective reforms and practical recommendations, as well as examining legal tools that will be accessible to all people.

In terms of the group “access to justice and rule of law,” Singh said, “The question will be how to make the legal system more friendly to the poor. How will the poor gain confidence and trust in the legal system?”

Axworthy’s group will be aiding indigenous peoples, women, displaced populations, informal sector associations and labour unions.

In a U of W press release announcing Axworthy’s appointment to the commission, Axworthy stated, “I hope that my long-standing commitment to the issue of poverty and my work with community leaders both here in Winnipeg and throughout Canada and around the world will benefit the commission in its work.”

“It’s not something we do just for other people, it’s something we do for ourselves as well,” he said during the news conference.

According to its website, the HLCLEP recognizes the relationship between poverty and lack of law enforcement. The website states, “Pervasive poverty and the absence of the rule of law are inextricably linked. The vast majority of the world’s three billion poor live their daily lives outside the rule of law.”

The HLCLEP relies heavily on various non-governmental organizations, as well as UN and multilateral agencies. The commission itself is comprised of well-known policy-makers and practitioners from all around the globe. The commission expects to complete this mandate in the year 2008.

Other prominent commission members include Fernando Cardoso (former president of Brazil), Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland and former high commissioner of human rights), and Ernesto Zedillo (former president of Mexico). Madeleine Albright (former U.S. secretary of state), who was awarded an honorary degree at the U of W in October 2005 amid protests, is also a member of the commission.