Former UNP minister Milinda Moragoda has been invited by the Prime Minister of Norway to join a high level commission to develop an action-oriented agenda to secure the legal empowerment of the poor.

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik wrote to Moragoda a few days ago asking him to join this global commission co-chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Peruvian President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy Hernando de Soto.

Some very big names including former New Zealand Prime Minister Michael Moore, former Irish President Mary Robinson, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former Brazilian Fernando Cardoso will be members of this commission drawn from all continents of the world.

Moragoda said yesterday that he had accepted the invitation and will be leaving for Switzerland tomorrow to attend a steering committee meeting that Ms. Albright will chair.

The first meeting of the commission is expected to be held in New York in September when the UN General Assembly is in session and its Secretariat is most likely to be located in New York and run by a UN agency, possibly UNDP.

"The formalisation of the user and property rights with a focus on the poor and the marginalised is an important means of promoting economic and social development. The process of formalisation is, however, a complex one. It requires strong political commitment and must be planned and executed in a systematic and transparent manner," Bondevik said in his letter to Moragoda.

"First and foremost, the new commission will be charged with developing an action-oriented agenda that includes key principles and a tool kit of policy and strategy options thus providing governments and organisations with the means to move forward."

The duration of the commission’s mandate will be for two-and-half-years and it is to be set up with an independent structure and secretariat.

The UN Secretary General has recommended Oslo’s initiative as a substantial contribution to reaching the millennium development goals.

Bondevik has told Moragoda that as a member of the new commissions he will be asked to attend meetings twice a year for the duration of the commission’s mandate. The first meeting is scheduled before the end of this year and the commission will act on recommendations submitted by its advisory board and working groups.

Moragoda has also been told that he will be expected to give one or more speeches and/or publish articles for the international-public on the legal empowerment of the poor and to suggest and if possible follow up on pilot projects in the South Asian region.

The following are the members of the commission:

From Sub-Saharan Africa

Benjamin Mkapa, President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Lindiwe Noncoba Sisulu, Minister of Housing of South Africa.

From Middle East/ North Africa

Lahktar Brahim, Under Secretary General of the UN, Algeria.

Medhat Hassonein, Former Minister of Finance of Egypt.

From East Asia/Pacific

Pansak Vinyaratn, Chief Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Thailand. Michael Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Zhu Ronghy, former Prime Minister of China.

From South/Central Asia

Milinda Moragoda, former Minister for Economic Reform, Science and Technology of Sri Lanka.

Syed Tanwir H. Naqvi, Chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau of Pakistan.

Arjun Sengupta, Chairman of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector of India.

Ashraf Gahni, former Minister of Finance of Afghanistan.

From Latin America

Emesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico.

Fernando Cardoso, former President of Brazil.

Soledad Allvear, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile.

From North America

Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice US Supreme Court of Justice.

From Europe

Gordon Brown, Minister of Finance of the UK.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland.

Leszek Balcerowick, President of the Polish National Bank.

Allan Larsson, former Minister of Finance of Sweden.

Moragoda was earlier selected to be one of 100 young global leaders and will be attending a meeting in that connection in Switzerland later this week.