At the national and global levels, there are laws that seek to protect intellectual property rights. In a rapidly globalizing world, poor people's knowledge, whether of plants or traditional healing or building practices, needs protection so that they too can be the beneficiaries of their ideas and practices. Their property rights need to be registered. There are banks, trusts, and venture capital to support rich people's ideas and entrepreneurship but not poor people's ideas and entrepreneurship. Financial services, venture capital funds, and micro insurance programs are needed to capitalize the ideas and initiatives of poor people, who work primarily in the informal sector.
Poor people know that their very survival depends on the resources controlled by others.
With few options, they remain silent witnesses to exploitation and wrongdoing even when invited to speak out. Examples of corruption and poor governance pervade poor people's lives. Change requires investment in reforms to make governments effective, participatory, transparent, and accountable to citizens. Strong networks of poor people's organizations and a strong civil society are required for effective governance at the local, national, and global levels. Deepa Narayan is Lead Social Development Specialist in the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network.