Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements

This book investigates grassroots, community-led justice strategies - legal empowerment - being used to promote the human rights of people living in informal settlements. The book will interest researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, working in social and economic rights, access to justice, urban poverty and development.

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.