Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements

Adrian Di Giovanni is the Team Leader for Democratic and Inclusive Governance at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), where has worked since 2011. In his prior role at IDRC, he spearheaded a stream of research on law and development, focusing on public law, human rights and legal empowerment. Past roles have included Counsel for the Department of Justice Canada’s Human Rights Law Section, and the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency. Adrian holds an LLM in international law from New York University and a JD from the University of Toronto. He occasionally teaches at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and has worked previously in Uganda and Tanzania. A proud dad of two boys who, on occasion, liked to sit on his lap at the computer well past their bedtimes, while he worked away on contributions to this volume. Luciana Bercovich is a human rights lawyer and activist from Argentina; she has been working on access to justice and social rights for more than twenty years. Currently, she is leading the agenda of the Grassroots Justice Network (convened by Namati) in Latin America. Previously, she was Co-Director of ACIJ – Civil Association for Equality and Justice in Argentina. She has a Law degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master's degree in Urban and Regional Development from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), and a MS `in International Affairs and Development from the New School. She has authored books, papers, and op-eds about social rights, housing, and access to justice.

1. Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements: Grassroots Experiences in the Global South 2. Legal empowerment approaches to gender equality in informal settlements 3. Active citizenship and access to justice: Embedding citizenship indicators within access-to-justice strategies in Rio’s favelas 4. Empowering informal settlement communities for recognition and inclusion in the urban development discourse: Lessons from Accra, Ghana 5. Innovating participation to expand water and sanitation access under a special planning area in Mukuru informal settlements, Nairobi 6. Staking a claim: A case study of women’s ongoing campaign to ensure inclusive and safe housing in Delhi 7. The right to the city and people’s planning in the Philippines: Policies and prospects 8. Past resistance, present challenges: The law’s contribution to the urban integration of Villa 31, Buenos Aires 9. Here to stay: Using legal strategies to claim rights in informal settlements in South Africa 10. And our voice opened up the pathway: Four women’s fight to provide water to their community in Mexico 11. Winning the battle, losing the war: Land displacement and the limits of legal empowerment in urban Pakistan 12. Building coalitions and cases: Towards climate and housing justice in Bangladesh’s informal settlements