The equitable access to property rights for everyone is a goal of the Swiss policy of human rights promotion and protection and also of our cooperation and development policy. Access to property and protection for all (the human security concept) is an approach in the fight against poverty which deserves to be taken very seriously. This film “Property Rights are Human Rights” by Kamal Musale illustrates the importance of property rights as a Human Right and the key role of human rights as inter- dependent and universal rights.
In 2006, Switzerland launched a series entitled the Swiss Human Rights Book (swisshumanrightsbook.com/index.html?frameleft.html&2).The first volume, edited by Hernando de Soto and Francis Cheneval (Realizing Property Rights), dealt with the implementation of property rights as a human right. This book generated reflection on these rights and their recognition for the most disadvantaged, in particular in the process of legal empowerment of the poor.