3rd Asian Partnership Forum on Legal Empowerment

On August 27th in Hanoi, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, in collaboration with the Vietnam Lawyers Association, organized the 3rd annual meeting of the “Asian Partnership Forum on Legal Empowerment,” with the participation of practitioners in the field of legal empowerment, government representatives, and civil society organizations from 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The poor struggle to make a living.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Bakhodir Burkhanov, Acting Country Director of UNDP in Vietnam, stated that UNDP has identified four pillars: access to justice and the rule of law, labor rights, property rights, and business rights – crucial factors influencing the livelihoods of the poor and needing to be recognized for the human development of the poor and vulnerable. The program to empower the poor legally can break the vicious cycle by using the law as a shield to protect their livelihoods and businesses.

Mr. Bakhodir Burkhanov emphasized that in order to effectively implement the above work and recommendations, the Committee for Legal Empowerment of the Poor has put forward regional initiatives for the development of legal empowerment programs. Specifically, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, adopted in December 2008, also stressed the importance of sharing best practices from different countries.

At the conference, delegates focused on discussing issues related to legal empowerment and methods for implementing economic and political rights, building on achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals; achievements in legal empowerment, challenges in the context of Vietnam, expanding the inter-regional forum on challenges and achievements supporting legal empowerment activities in other Asian countries, and exchanging best practices and initiatives in legal empowerment.

Discussing land issues and legal empowerment and experiences in Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Cham from the Institute of Cultural Studies and Mr. Huynh Xuan Phong, Director of the Legal Consulting Center of Lam Dong province, argued that access to land is fundamental to the exercise of a range of human freedoms and capabilities, and that much of the lives of people in Asia depend on it. In some cases, economic development can push the poor into greater hardship. Cases of land expropriation, land transfers, and environmental pollution can lead to displacement or harm if there are no adequate resettlement and compensation measures.

Discussing raising awareness of the legal empowerment approach, Mr. Nicholas Booth, Policy Advisor on the Rule of Law and Access to Justice at UNDP Vietnam, emphasized that, in essence, legal empowerment for the poor is a practical concept that uses power to integrate individual legal status into a comprehensive legal system for the benefit of all. Therefore, the 3rd conference also showcased the efforts of civil society organizations working with state agencies to support the poor in protecting their rights, property, and livelihoods, while sharing national initiatives to support the work of the government and civil society in the field of legal empowerment.

On this occasion, UNDP released the publication “Ways and Measures,” which introduces concepts and recommends specific measures for consolidating achievements related to economic and social rights as outlined in the Millennium Development Goals.

According to (vietnamplus)-TN