International Development Law Organization

IDLO is the only intergovernmental organization with an exclusive mandate to promote the rule of law. Governments, multilateral organizations, private foundations and the private sector support our work. We are headquartered in Rome, where we were first founded, and where we continue to enjoy strong support from the Italian government. We are present in The Hague, a city whose hospitality connects us with an unrivalled legal tradition. And we are represented at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, where we help shape the debate about human rights and development. Our vision is one where law, broadly defined, creates the premises for development. We enable countries to design, reform and strengthen those laws and institutions most apt to deliver justice, dignity and economic opportunity. We do not champion law for law’s sake: if we promote well-functioning courts, we also strive to make them accessible. For us, helping draft a national Constitution means giving a voice to the rural widow. The same emphasis on the end-user informs IDLO’s record on commercial law, intellectual property law, environmental law, and every other area of law, national or international.