Legal Training for San Youth

cc !Khwa ttu

On 4th of June, Natural Justice held a one day legal training with San youth at !Khwa ttu, the San Education and Cultural Centre. The legal training was held with fifteen San youth from southern Africa and focused on the rights of indigenous peoples, intellectual property rights and environmental law. The legal training course will be held on two further occasions in 2014.

The students taking part in the legal training course are part of an 8-month accredited Nature and Cultural Site Guide Skills Programme run through !Khwa ttu's Training Department. During the course, San youth learn about their roots, culture, history and traditional knowledge.

Natural Justice provides legal support and training to San and Khoi communities in southern Africa through partnership with Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. For more information on the work of Natural Justice with the San and Khoi please refer to our website and the Heroes Project.

Article on Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Think Africa Press

Via thinkafricapress.com

The body of law and policy around the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities is changing and expanding rapidly. To offer a brief overview of notable international instruments and cases relevant to the African context, Dinah Shelton of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission has prepared an article on relevant law entitled "The Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples" for a Think Africa Press online course on ‘International Law and Africa.’ 

The article briefly explains and considers the implications of developments in three areas: the international sphere; African cases; and Inter-American cases. At the international level, ILO Convention No. 107, ILO Convention No. 169, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are considered. For African cases, the Endorois case at the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is covered. On Inter-American cases, the growing jurisprudence around land rights and the right to property, as well as the Awas Tingni judgment of the Inter-American Court, are detailed. 

The article can be accessed here. More information on the Think Africa Press course, which is offered free of charge, can be found here.

Apply for Global Environments Summer Academy - 2013

Via www.global-diversity.org

The third Global Environments Summer Academy (GESA) on Socio-ecological Interactions in a Dynamic World will be held from 27 July – 18 August, 2013 at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Bern. This year's academy will focus on the human dimensions of global environmental change, ranging from adaptive community management to planetary processes. The academy has been organised by the Global Diversity Foundation, in partnership with the Rachel Carson Center, since 2011. 

Organisers are seeking applications from students in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences – as well as from professionals already working in advocacy, law, media or policy – who focus on the relationship between environment and society. 

According to GESA’s description, “every year the course focuses on different themes within the broad concern of human dimensions of global environmental change. The course spans local to global scales and diverse ecosystems, exploring the most critical contemporary environmental issues from multiple perspectives including biocultural diversity, environmental history, political ecology, sustainability studies and personal activism.” 

More details about course content, financial information and registration can be found here. Applications to GESA should be submitted here before 15 January, 2013.