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Legal and Economic Empowerment Global Network (LEEG-net)
Description/achievement of initiative

LEEG-net (Legal & Economic Empowerment Global Network - https://www.leeg-net.org/) is a multidisciplinary network of professionals and academics who play a catalytic role in advancing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Guided by a human rights based approach, our mission is to foster legal innovation and empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged groups in meeting the “greatest global challenge of eradicating poverty” which is the unifying thread throughout the 17 Goals, their 169 targets and 232 indicators. ​ The focus on legal innovation is an ongoing quest for new strategies and ways of thinking about what the law can do in the development realm. The focus on empowerment is an attempt to make the law work for the poor and disadvantaged groups by enhancing their capacity to resist poverty and get over it. LEEG-net links the two themes by virtue of their shared importance in finding solutions to sustainable development challenges.​ LEEG-net generally addresses all of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a particular focus on advancing the achievement of Goals 1, 5, 8, 10, 16 and 17.

Implementation methodologies

Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer

Coordination mechanisms/governance structure

LEEG-net initiative is governed by Dilum Abeysekera (MBA, Attorney-at-Law), founder and CEO of LexEcon Consulting Group (www.lexecongroup.com), in association with his team lawyers, economists, and business consultants who possess necessary experience and expertise at national and international levels.

Partner(s)

LexEcon Consulting Group (www.lexecongroup.com), Global Trade Guardian (www.globaltradeguardian.net), European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) - https://www.eiuc.org/
Progress reports
Goal 1
Goal 5
Goal 8
Goal 10
Goal 16
Goal 17
03/2018
Submission of a Draft Convention to the UN Secretariat & UNDESA on the (Legal) Empowerment of the Poor, Marginalized and the Excluded Persons including Women. This Draft Convention will be submitted if the proposal for such a Convention referred to in the third deliverable is accepted by the UN Secretariat and/or UNDESA. The rationale for an International Convention on Legal Empowerment of the Poor in giving effect to SDGs: The unifying thread that runs throughout the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets is a commitment to ending poverty. As noted in the 2030 Agenda’s preamble “Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development”. Despite the existence of various covenants, conventions, and instruments of human rights, people who are poor, marginalized or excluded continue to face barriers in their participation as equal members of society and violations of their human rights in all parts of the world. An International Convention on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, if brought into force, could ideally incorporate a legal empowerment perspective in promoting the full gamut of human rights that would encourage the international community and national governments to implement empowerment tools that guarantee fundamental freedoms for the poor, accelerate pro-poor growth and eradication of poverty towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal Nos. 1, 5, 8, 10 and 16.
06/2017
Submission of a proposal to UN Secretariat / UNDESA on the relevance of mainstreaming the mechanisms of legal empowerment of the poor, marginalized and the excluded people in the national action plans of SDG implementation. This proposal will be prepared based on the Legal Empowerment Agenda formulated by UN High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (UN HLCLEP 2005-2008). It will address Goals 1, 5, 8, 10, and 16.
06/2018
Publication of a Manual/ Toolkit on Developing SDGs-Compliant National Legal Frameworks
12/2017
Submission of a proposal to United Nations Secretariat and UNDESA on the urgent need to recognize and codify the right to legal empowerment of the poor, marginalized and the excluded people by way of an international convention or treaty. Legal empowerment is the process through which the poor become protected and are enabled to use the law to advance their rights and their interests, vis-à-vis the state and in the market (Report of the UN High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Vol-i
12/2023
Provision of pro bono consulting services to government institutions of developing countries to undertake law review, revision and reforms aimed at making SDG-compliant effective legal frameworks
Financing (in USD)
5,500,000 USD
Other, please specify
Financing of LEEG-net initiative through donor funding
Staff / Technical expertise
The administrative staff and the team of consultants of LexEcon Consulting Group provide necessary human resource and technical expertise respectively. The Global Network of Consultants affiliated with LexEcon Consulting Group will also provide technical

Basic information
Time-frame: 01/2017 - 12/2023
Website
Partners
LexEcon Consulting Group (www.lexecongroup.com), Global Trade Guardian (www.globaltradeguardian.net), European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) - https://www.eiuc.org/
Countries
Contact information
Dilum Abeysekera, CEO, dilum@lexecongroup.com
United Nations