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A just society requires a just education system. However, the right to education is not guaranteed in practice. As Vivek Maru, Founder and CEO of Namati, explained, “Legal empowerment—the cycle of knowing, using, and shaping the law—can improve educational environments and access for marginalized communities. Severe injustices keep learners out of school, but community paralegals can help learners know and use the law to demand fulfillment of their rights to education.”

Abigail Moy, Director of the Grassroots Justice Network, coauthored Education and Justice: Learning to Build Just Societies. Download the report, explore the webpage, or watch the global launch webinar below to learn more about the report’s methodology and findings.

The post Education and Justice: Learning to Build Just Societies appeared first on Namati.

Listen on YouTube below or on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.

The post Listen: Know Law, Use Law, Shape Law | Vivek Maru on Conversations with Young Justice Leaders Podcast appeared first on Namati.

For immediate distribution

Contact: Amanda Padilla, Acting Director, Strategic Engagement, Namati amandapadilla@namati.org

Namati announces a leadership transition that will see Laura Goodwin assume the role of Chief Operating Officer, partnering with Namati CEO Vivek Maru, and succeeding Indira Sarma, effective today.  Laura will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Having joined Namati in 2014, Indira guided the organization as COO through more than a decade of transformative growth and evolution. “Indira is in Namati’s DNA,” said Vivek. “The truth is, she wrote our DNA. Namati will carry forward the values she exemplifies: commitment to excellence, strategic discipline, and profound love for our team and the communities we serve.”

Laura steps into the COO role with unparalleled institutional knowledge and experience. Since joining Namati in 2012 and co-authoring a legal empowerment evidence review with Vivek, she has gone on to hold a range of leadership roles across the organization, walking alongside communities in pursuit of justice while cultivating operational mastery across domains from finance to human resources. In 2013, she opened and led Namati’s Myanmar office, launching the land rights program there. At the same time, she established Namati’s citizenship rights program in partnership with organizations in Bangladesh and Kenya, serving as Director and then co-Director of the Citizenship program through 2025.

Back in 2015, Vivek, Indira, and Laura meet with justice seekers supported by Namati’s program in Myanmar at the time.

In 2016, Laura relocated to Nairobi to open and lead Namati’s Kenya office as Head of Office, guiding the organization’s second global hub through a period of significant growth. She has also served for many years on Namati’s Senior Trust, the organization’s senior leadership team.

“In nearly 25 years working with international rights-based organizations, Laura is one of the top people I’ve ever encountered,” says Indira. “She has seen Namati from more angles than anyone. Her strategic vision, operational excellence, humility, and deep commitment to both legal empowerment and to Namati’s core values make her the ideal person to lead our organization into the future. I could not be more excited for Namati’s next chapter with Vivek and Laura at the helm.”

Laura earned her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School, where her studies focused on human rights law and human security. She holds a BA from American University’s School of International Service.

To add capacity to the executive team during this pivotal moment of growth and transition, Namati is establishing a Chief of Staff role to partner with the COO and CEO. This position will be filled by Deyla Bradley, another long-tenured team member who brings a decade of experience spanning operational and programmatic roles.

A comprehensive transition plan has been underway for several months, with the new team members beginning their roles today. Indira will continue to support Namati in an advisory role through May 2026.

The post Namati Announces COO Leadership Transition appeared first on Namati.

Communities that earn a living by selling carbon credits have been briefed on the ongoing review of carbon standards by Verra, the world’s leading carbon crediting programme.

To read the full article by Mary Wambui of The Eastleigh Voice click here.

The post Kenyan communities speak out as Verra moves to reform controversial carbon credit system appeared first on Namati.

– Vivek Maru, CEO, Namati

The post Watch: To Hope is to Act | Namati CEO Vivek Maru at the World Justice Forum appeared first on Namati.

Namati is a Sanskrit word that means “to shape something into a curve.” Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” We call ourselves Namati because we’re dedicated to bending that curve.

This video was generously produced by Skoll.org, a long-time partner of ours.

The post Bending the Arc Toward Social & Environmental Justice appeared first on Namati.

The Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts will, among other things:

• Grant all local communities the right to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) over all industrial projects on their lands;
• Ban industrial development, including mining, timber, and agribusiness, in old-growth forests and other ecologically sensitive areas;
• Incorporate public environmental license conditions into binding legal agreements between communities and companies; and
• Establish local land use committees to make decisions about how community lands are managed, and mandate that those committees are at least 30% women.

“To our knowledge, there is not a legal regime anywhere, in either hemisphere, that grants such robust rights to communities facing environmental harm,” said Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone and co-drafter of the bills.[1][2]

Vivek Maru, Namati’s CEO, said that countries worldwide need to follow the West African nation’s lead.

“Whether it is in Sierra Leone, Brazil, or the United States, the causes and consequences of climate change and environmental destruction are concentrated in communities with less wealth and less power and that face discrimination. To tackle the climate crisis and open a pathway to sustainable development, countries must grant communities facing harm the right to determine what happens in the places they live. Sierra Leone has done so with this historic legislation. Other countries should follow.”

At least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is currently leased to foreign businesses for mining, large-scale agriculture, and other development ventures.[3] “Negotiations between investors and the communities whose land they seek are fraught with deep power imbalances and undermined by weak regulations,” said Conteh. “The results can be devastating — for people and for the planet.”

Momoh Bango, a farmer and resident of Subuya community in Sierra Leone’s Southern Province, explained:

“When an American and Philippine company wanted our land for a pineapple plantation, they negotiated only with our Paramount Chief. We didn’t even see the lease. They took our land and cleared part of our forest. They promised us scholarships, schools, and jobs, but it has been five years and those promises still have not been met.

“I’m so happy that our rights as landowning families have been fully respected under these laws. The power to manage and make decisions relating to our land has been given to us through their passage.”

Over the past decade, Namati Sierra Leone has worked with communities from across the country whose land has been taken or destroyed without their consent, typically by mines and mono-cropped plantations. “Not one of those communities opposes development per se,” said Conteh. “They have merely asked for development on terms that are fair.”

“After using existing — and often imperfect — legislation to protect their environment and enforce their land rights, these rural communities helped shape new laws that would work for them. Hundreds of people showed up to consultations to input on the bills’ provisions. And when the legislative progress stalled, they organized to push them through.”

Notes to Editors

• [1] In the handful of places that codify the right to Free Prior Informed Consent, for example, the right is typically limited to Indigenous peoples, and even then it’s often watered down to ‘Free Prior Informed Consultation and typically excludes mining projects.
• [2] Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone, and Eleanor Thompson, Deputy Director of Namati Sierra Leone, drafted the two bills in their private capacity as lawyers.
• [3] Action for Large-Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT) reported that between 2009 and the end of 2012, foreign agribusiness investors had secured 50-year leases with possible extensions to 21.4 percent of the country’s total arable land. This does not include leases for mining operations, forestry, or other ventures.
• The Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission bills were introduced to Parliament on October 21st, 2021 by Dr. Turad Senesie, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning. They were passed by unanimous votes in parliament on August 8th, 2022.
• To learn more about land and environmental injustices in Sierra Leone, and how communities are remedying them with the support of Namati paralegals, watch this 11-minute documentary or review the stories and blogs on Namati’s website.

Contact Information
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
McKinley Charles, Director of Communications, Namati
mckinleycharles@namati.org | Mobile / WhatsApp: +254 794 677 868

The post Sierra Leone enacts unprecedented laws related to land, climate, and sustainable development appeared first on Namati.

Passed by unanimous votes, the Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts will, among other things:

• Grant all local communities the right to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) over all industrial projects on their lands.
• Ban industrial development, including mining, timber, and agribusiness, in old-growth forests and other ecologically sensitive areas.
• Incorporate public environmental license conditions into binding legal agreements between communities and companies.
• Establish local land use committees to make decisions about how community lands are managed, and mandate that those committees are at least 30% women.

“To our knowledge, there is not a legal regime anywhere, in either hemisphere, that grants such robust rights to communities facing environmental harm,” said Sonkita Conteh, Director of Namati Sierra Leone. [1]

At least 20% of Sierra Leone’s arable land is currently leased to foreign businesses for mining, large-scale agriculture, and other development ventures. [2] “Negotiations between investors and the communities whose land they seek are fraught with deep power imbalances and are undermined by weak regulations,” said Conteh. “The results can be devastating — for the people and the planet.”

Momoh Bango, a farmer and resident of the Subuya community in Sierra Leone’s Southern Province, explained:

“When an American and Philippine company wanted our land for a pineapple plantation, they negotiated only with our Paramount Chief. We didn’t even see the lease. They took our land and cleared part of our forest. They promised us scholarships, schools, and jobs, but it has been five years and those promises still have not been met.

I’m so happy that our rights as landowning families have been fully respected without any discrimination under these laws. The power to manage and make decisions relating to our land has been given to us through their passage.”

Two members of Namati Sierra Leone’s team drafted the bills in their personal capacity but their progressive content and passage can largely be accredited to communities like Subuya, said Conteh.

“After using existing — and often imperfect — laws to protect their environment and enforce their land rights, these rural communities helped to shape new laws that would work for them. Hundreds of people from across the country showed up to consultations to input on the bills’ provisions. And when the legislative progress stalled, they organized to push them through.” 

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the U.N.’s damning report on climate change, Namati’s CEO, Vivek Maru, said that countries worldwide need to follow Sierra Leone’s lead.

“Whether it is in Sierra Leone, Brazil, or the United States, the causes and consequences of climate change and environmental destruction are concentrated in communities with less wealth and less power, and in communities that face discrimination. To tackle the climate crisis, we need to confront this injustice. That means giving communities facing harm the power to protect themselves and play a leadership role in building a sustainable economy.”

Notes: 

• [1] In the handful of places that codify the right to Free Prior Informed Consent, for example, the right is typically limited to Indigenous Peoples, and even then it’s often watered down to ‘Free Prior Informed Consultation.’  
• [2] In 2013, Action for Large-Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT) reported that between 2009 and the end of 2012, foreign agribusiness investors had secured 50-year leases with possible extensions to 21.4 percent of the country’s total arable land. This does not include leases for mining operations, forestry, or other ventures. In Sierra Leone, once a bill is passed by Parliament, the president will officially sign it into law. President Bio is expected to assent to both bills in the coming days.
• The bills were introduced to Parliament on October 21st, 2021 by Dr. Turad Senesie, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
  

Media Enquiries:
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

• McKinley Charles
  Director of Communications, Namati
  Email: mckinleycharles@namati.org
  Mobile / WhatsApp: +254 794 677 868

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From January to December, Namati and our partners supported 25,000+ people in 6 countries to address injustices involving land, environment, healthcare, and citizenship. Together, we achieved remedies that directly improved the lives of 300,000+ people, and systemic changes that affected millions more.

We invite you to explore the stories behind these facts and figures in our annual impact report. 

In these pages, you’ll also discover how the Legal Empowerment Network drove our movement for justice forward by fostering deep learning among members across borders and by co-launching a global fund with the goal of investing $100 million in grassroots justice efforts worldwide.

The post 2021 Impact Report – Now Available appeared first on Namati.