Rights and Governance

Community demonstration against grabbing of public utilities

ILEPA is involved in a myriad of different programs that all aim to improve the recognition of indigenous peoples’ human rights. The programs that specifically focus on human rights and governance are motivated by the fact that the (human) rights of indigenous peoples are still largely ignored, both on a national and international level.

Public participation in development planning is at the heart of the Kenyan Constitution. ILEPA regularly takes part in citizen consultative processes, representing indigenous peoples’ interests at gatherings such as the Narok County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) Conference. The CIDP is a framework for county-level development meant to be a useful and efficient platform to exchange ideas and coordinate development efforts between the different stakeholders and levels of government. The purpose of this conference is to take stock of the previous CIDP’s achievements, and to discuss the future development opportunities offered by this plan. The conference thus allows participants to engage with the CIDP and voice their opinions over whether it was indeed realizing its vision and mission while respecting its core values. All participants agreed moving forward, requiring a significant increase in monitoring and evaluation to ensure effective tracking of programme implementation and progress. Another consensus was that there need to be better structures in place for public participation. Indeed, there are many noble intentions in terms of Citizen Engagement in CIDP processes; and it is crucial as it helps to determine priorities and promotes accountability. Yet, broad-based consultation among diverse stakeholders is a difficult reality to manifest, especially for more remote communities.

As part of its efforts to make SDGs work for indigenous peoples, ILEPA is part of the SDG Kenya Forum, the main convening platform that provides space for a structured and coordinated CSOs engagement with (national and county) governments, private sector, media and academia in Kenya. With citizens at the centre, the SDGs Kenya Forum engages all these stakeholders to implement, monitor and report on SDGs and the Agenda 2030.