Friday, November 14, 2014

Communities and Governance of Natural Resources: Natural Justice Works in Turkana

Turkana County, Kenya has been considered amongst the poorest in the country. However, recent oil and water discoveries as well as planned infrastructural developments have brought hope to the citizens of a better life but have also raised a number of critical social, economic and environmental concerns. These were discussed during a Friends of Lake Turkana hosted conference titled 'Towards a Governance Agenda: Harnessing Natural Resources, Communities and Development, which was held in Lodwar, Turkana from the 21-24th of October 2014.

The conference sought to strengthen multi stakeholder participation and engagement in order to ensure local participation in natural resource and infrastructural development. Participants at the meeting included representatives of county and national governments, oil companies, civil society and community representatives. Further information on the conference can be found on the Friends of Lake Turkana website.

Natural Justice is partnering with Friends of Lake Turkana to ensure that legislation and policy positively represent the needs of the citizens of Turkana, in particular its pastoralist communities, so that they are involved in decisions related to their lands, resource and knowledge.

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