Environment

While gender equality is enshrined in the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and in legislation in most countries, women’s conditions of participation in markets and their rewards from that participation, still remain woefully unequal to men’s.  

One of the intended uses of the WJP Rule of Law Index is as an action planning tool for global civil society. The Rule of Law Index truly comes alive when citizens are given the opportunity to analyze information and shape implementation with their own aspirations and situational context.

With many people in low income countries denied the right to be heard, access to justice and equality under the law - fundamental and constitutional rights - it is not surprising to see individuals from affected communities taking matters into their own hands. In my country, Malawi, weak, unaccountable, and unresponsive legal institutions have led to groups of people standing up to protect what belongs to them.

The Justice Rising Blog aims to highlight grassroots organizations who are stiving to advance the rule of law. If you would like to highlight your organization, send us an email at [email protected]!  Name of Organization : Community Empowerment and Development Team (CEDT) Title of Project: Participatory Technical Community Mapping and Action Planning: A Grassroots Approach towards Securing Tenure in Poor Communities in Cambodia.

Economic growth is a recent historical phenomenon. In 1776 when Adam Smith published “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” 75% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day and the average per capita income was about US$ $550 – an income level that was stagnant for 2,000 years.

For those of us in the direct line of Hurricane Sandy, it seems appropriate to highlight recent developments in international disaster law.

I would like to explore a new rule of law with you. A funny one. One that could confront you in the future (but you won’t know that until that future is there).

Last summer I addressed the World Justice Forum on the importance of effective environmental governance; this was part of a robust conversation about the rule of law and its role in governance.  This conversation has been steadily gaining momentum over the last year and has led to an explicit recognition of the core elements of effective environmental governance, as well as growing momentum for initiatives to enhance cooperation to strengthen environmental governance in countries around the world.

PILnet has been working to build public interest law in China for almost ten years. It’s been a fascinating period of our history, one that has taught us much about the virtues of patience and unhurried determination. As we’ve learned, things can move slowly in China, and public interest work in China can move very slowly indeed.

On 17-20 June 2012, the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability took place in Brazil. The Congress was organized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) under the guidance of its Executive Director, Mr. Achim Steiner, and Mr. Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, with the support of local co-hosts. A High Level International Advisory Committee and an Executive Steering Committee were also part of the governance structure.

The importance of the (inter)national rule of law for peace, fairness, and economic growth is generally acknowledged inside and outside the United Nations. However, there is mounting scepticism regarding the success of rule of law promotion by the UN and other international organizations and donors at the national and international levels during the past two decades.