OPDP #OurLandOurRight Kenya

General

Following an eight-year legal battle, the Court#s judgment finally provides a long awaited unique opportunity for enforcing the respect of the human rights of the Ogiek as well as other minority and indigenous peoples (MIPs) in Kenya, by securing their access to productive resources (land <(>&<)> water mainly), as well as by fostering space for their political participation. The first ever indigenous community rights decision of 26 May 2017, the Court formally recognised the importance of respecting indigenous communities# land rights in Africa by ruling that the Ogiek's right to their ancestral lands, and linked cultural and religious rights among others, had been violated by the Government of Kenya as a result of decades of evictions in the name of conservation. As such, the ruling provides a unique opportunity for the Ogiek to secure the recognition of their rights violated until now and in partnership withother indigenous communities in Kenya and Africa to pursue changes in the law, policy and practice governing the rights of indigenous peoples and natural resources, especially when linked to conservation building upon this historical precedent. In these favourable circumstances and within the first 12 months following the ruling, the project will ensure the rapid and effective implementation of such an exceptional decision by collectively engaging and mobilising all key identified stakeholders, to (i) facilitate and prepare the ground for the Court's forthcoming reparations order and (ii) to initiate the enforcement of the ruling, to monitor the firststeps of its implementation and pave the way for it to benefit other Minority and Indigenous communities (MIPs) in Kenya and acrossAfrica facing similar issues.