6 ways to adapt legal frameworks for effective natural resources management

As some 40 percent of conflicts that threaten democracy in developing resource-rich countries are directly attributed to inequitable mineral resource exploitation and revenue distribution, experts at the recent Annual Democracy Forum 2014 in Gaborone, Botswana called for strong enforcement of legal frameworks to ensure fairness and socio-economic development for all in managing those resources.

“The success of these depend on government’s willingness not only to sign a treaty but to pass legislation on it and enforce it. But unfortunately not all countries give effect to what they signed, or else legislation is passed but enforcement is weak,” Huguette Labelle, former chair of the board at Transparency International, told Devex on the sidelines of the conference co-organized by International IDEA and the government of Botswana.

Referring to legal instruments including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the African Governance Architecture Convention, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, Labelle explained that though overall these are important, some frameworks have more traction than others.