Who We Are

Natural Justice (NJ) is an organization rooted in the struggles of communities in Africa. As a team of pioneering lawyers and legal experts, we specialize in human rights  and environmental  law in  pursuit of  social and environmental justice.

Natural Justice strives to enhance the collective rights of people and protect the sacred relationships that indigenous peoples and local communities have with nature. Our work is informed by the values, knowledge and self-determination of the communities with whom we stand in solidarity. 

Through legal empowerment, research, policy influencing and litigation, and as part of coalitions and campaigns, we support communities to know the law, use the law and shape the law. Natural Justice has three main streams: Affirming and Securing Rights to Lands, Resources and Knowledge; Defending Rights against Environmental and Social Impacts; and Standing with Communities.

To learn more about the work of Natural Justice please refer to www.naturaljustice.org. 

NJ, under the Affirming Rights Stream seeks to work with the Aweer community to develop a Bio-Cultural Protocol (BCP) that seeks to document the traditional knowledge of the Aweer with key purpose of promoting their bio-cultural rights. The Aweer community is an indigenous, marginalized, minority, nomadic hunter-gather/ forest-dwelling community in Boni Lungi and Panda Nguo areas of Lamu County who face adverse threats to their bio-cultural rights, livelihoods, and their existence. 

This assignment directly relates to the stream’s primary objective which is to:

Increase and secure control by Indigenous peoples and local communities over their lands, ecosystems and traditional knowledge, leading to increased community agency and resilience, and providing alternatives, solutions and adaptation to the planetary crisis. 

Natural Justice over the years has used BCPs to support Indigenous people and local communities to regulate access and exploitation of their traditional knowledge and genetic resources by external actors. 

Scope of the work

The consultant will work closely with Natural Justice (Program Manager for the Affirming Rights Stream, East African Hub), and the Aweer Community to collect data, analyze the data and develop a draft BCP that recognizes and integrates the community’s traditional knowledge, practices, governance systems and rights in key frameworks, conservations strategies and development plans. 

The project will seek to solve the following key problems: 

1. Awareness gaps of the Aweer community regarding their bio-cultural rights under national and international laws. 
2. Lack of comprehensive documentation of traditional knowledge, community-determined cultural laws, and decision-making processes to ensure that outside actors legitimately get FPIC or negotiate MAT, solving potential risks and injustices because of appropriation of resources of their land and resources. 
3. Issues that were not covered in the Lamu BCP that are affecting/that are likely to affect the Aweer.

The consultant will be expected to: 

1. Interview community members from the Aweer community. 
2. Work closely with Natural Justice Research Officer and Program Manager for the Affirming Rights Stream – East African Hub.
3. Prepare a draft BCP of the Aweer (with the above mentioned). 
4. Compile a report highlighting the legal issues affecting implementation of BCPs in Kenya.

Who we are looking for.

The successful candidate(s) will develop a detailed workplan, conduct data collection of the highest quality, and develop outputs in line with the specific purpose set out above. The ideal consultant(s) will therefore have a demonstrable track record of conducting similar work.

They will also have:

• A minimum of a master’s degree in environmental law, human rights, sustainable development, or any other related field.
• Good knowledge of bio-cultural protocols, traditional knowledge, as well as the legal dynamics around it.
• Have at least 10 years of professional experience in the environmental sector. We shall also consider economists, and anthropologists who have worked with communities in developing Biocultural Protocols.
• Networks in the county where the data will be collected.
• Excellent writing and organizational skills
• Thorough knowledge of the policies and laws governing environmental law, bio-cultural rights, traditional knowledge, Indigenous People and Local Communities, and/or conservancies in Kenya; comparative knowledge from other African countries would be an advantage.
• Proficiency in data collection, qualitative analysis and report writing.

Timelines for submission of the report

We want the study to commence immediately, and time is of the essence. Proposals including a timeline, the expected number of days required (maximum 30 days – data collection, analysis and report writing, work to be completed by 1st April 2024) and applicable daily rate, and a portfolio of work and/or CV should be submitted to admin.nbo@naturaljustice.org no later than close of business on16^th February 2023.

The offer must include the following elements:

1. A technical proposal containing: Explanatory note on understanding the ToRs, a brief presentation of the methodological approach and a detailed work plan, and a detailed CV with 3 contactable references who have direct knowledge of and experience with the consultant.
2. A financial proposal. The financial proposal must be submitted, indicating the proposed number of days, daily rate and denominated in Kenya Shillings (KSh).

Based on this initial submission, we will brief the chosen consultant and develop binding terms of reference with them. The expected output is a “A draft Biocultural Protocol of the Aweer Community” written with the Aweer and Natural Justice.