(NEW YORK, 8 February 2008)—Religious leaders of different faiths forged a partnership to help legally empower the poor so they may help raise up themselves from poverty. The religious leaders were convened by Religions for Peace, the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, in collaboration with Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, an international, independent body co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Madeline Albright and renowned economist Dr. Hernando de Soto.

The religious leaders—representing Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, and Indigenous faith traditions—called on the world’s governments to grant legal identity to 70 percent of the world’s population who are currently excluded from access to legal systems and formal economies. “We find it unacceptable that seventy percent of the world’s population—four billion people—are currently unable to improve their livelihoods no matter how hard they work due to multiple forms of exclusion,” the statement said. “This exclusion is a grave injustice and a violation of the sacred dignity of every human being. Indigenous communities face even greater challenges as they are often deprived of political voice and rights; poor women face a triple threat of exclusion: poverty, gender, and de facto barriers from owning property.”

“Our religious traditions compel us to act to protect the value, dignity and recognition of all people by treating their challenges as our own,” said Dr. William F. Vendley, Secretary General of Religions for Peace. “In particular, we are called to protect and advocate for the realization of rights for the most vulnerable, excluded, and marginalized among us so they can participate fully and be treated as equal citizens before the law.”

A delegate to the high level consultation, Ms. Sofia Painiqueo, Education and Culture Director, Mapuche Artisans Association Folilche Aflaiai in Chile, noted that legal empowerment is not an abstract concept but addresses the most basic and fundamental right of all: the ability to participate on an equal footing and conduct economic activities within the law. “Poor and marginalized people demand to be recognized so they can take advantage of the benefits of the formal economy and fulfill their responsibilities to society as equal citizens,” she said.

Sheikh Shaban Mubaje, Mufti of Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and a consultation delegate, noted that the religious leaders identified the following principles as critical points for the Commission to address:

• Advancing legal identity must be based on inviolable human dignity.
  Human dignity demands equality before the law.
• Advancing social justice must be based on a principle of reciprocity.
• Advancing economic opportunities must protect the value and dignity of work.
• Advancing the poor’s right to property must also safeguard the common good.
  

Faith communities are particularly well placed to translate the moral imperatives of legal empowerment into concrete actions, said H.H. Samdech Tep Vong, Supreme Patriarch, Cambodia, a consultation participant. “Faith communities embrace all, including the poor, and are present everywhere,” he said.

The Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor aims to make legal protection and economic opportunity the right of all. Hosted by the United Nations Development Programme, the Commission was launched in 2005 by a group of developing and industrialized countries. Its formal study will be released in March 2008.

To read the entire statement, please click here.