Statement by the Director-General, Ms Jan Beagle
Distinguished co-chairs,
It is a pleasure to participate in this Dialogue on behalf of the International Development Law Organization.
We face fundamental choices as individuals, as societies, and collectively as one human family, about the kind of future we want to build.
IDLO welcomes the recognition in the Declaration on Future Generations that respect for human rights and upholding the rule of law is the most effective way to safeguard the needs and interests of future generations.
Our experience confirms that if we are to maintain peace and security, achieve gender equality, eliminate the intergenerational transmission of poverty, hunger, and inequality, and tackle climate change, and technological challenges, the rule of law must be at the heart of our efforts.
We must close the global justice gap.
Let me briefly share four concrete examples why this is essential.
First, the rule of law enables development, while making it more inclusive and sustainable.
Strengthening governance, promoting transparency, combatting corruption and ensuring inclusive decision-making, can attract investment, generate economic opportunity, and lift people out of poverty.
Legal empowerment can help to mobilize the leadership, creativity, and capacity of young people and engage them as equal partners.
Second, the rule of law can be a powerful driver of gender equality.
Closing the justice gap for women and girls, including by eliminating gender discriminatory laws, produces high returns in human development, economic growth, and peace, and should be a major area of investment for both current and future generations.
Third, the rule of law can help combat climate change by empowering people and communities to claim their rights and participate in climate decision-making.
Effective laws and institutions promote the trust and accountability needed to mobilise climate finance, and deal with issues of loss and damage equitably.
Fourth and finally, the rule of law can help promote the responsible use of game changing new technologies which have the potential to be great equalizers.
Effective legal and regulatory frameworks can ensure that their implementation is equitable and inclusive and does not give rise to new forms of discrimination.
It is time for leaders to demonstrate the political will to translate words into action and to allocate the financing needed, at international and national levels.
IDLO is committed to working with all partners to find rule of law solutions for a more peaceful, green, and sustainable world for both current and future generations.