Kenya
2021
OPDP (Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program)
26,728
OPDP supported the compilation and submission of eight HLI claims, seven of which were for Ogiek communities and one was for an Endorois community, totaling 130,000 ha and affecting approximately 79,000 people. The communities were successfully trained on HLI processes, committees collected evidence by consulting communities, and the cases were consolidated. The HLI drafters were predominantly women and youth who also used oral and archival evidence to complement the technical legal expertise when submitting their claims. These claims were submitted to the NLC for review, and local news covered the submission.
These claims further link with the 2017 African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to recognize Ogiek’s collective title to their ancestral territory, which lies in the Mau and Mt. Elgon forest complexes in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Media link here.