Kenya at 50: Unrealized Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

Kenya at 50: Unrealized Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
Author: Korir Sing'Oei Abraham
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2012-03-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 190791921X

To mark Kenya’s 50th anniversary of self-rule, this report reviews the current status of minority and indigenous groups in Kenya. Focusing on Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, this report pays particular attention to how legal and policy changes over the last five years have addressed the social, economic and political challenges confronting minorities. The present state of minority and indigenous groups within Kenya’s dynamic context has been shaped by conflicting forces of regression and progress responding to the 2007 post-electoral violence, the new Constitution and the forthcoming 2012 elections. This report demonstrates both the opportunities to be seized and constraints to be overcome by minority groups if they are to realize the dream of inclusion. Although Kenya’s new Constitution contains numerous positive provisions for minorities and other vulnerable groups generally, this report shows that the prevailing experience of minorities in Kenya is increased vulnerability. There is a danger that constitutional recognition may not translate into positive developments for minority groups in reality. This report describes the ongoing challenges facing minority and indigenous groups: lack of political participation, discrimination and weak protection of their right to development. Directed at non-governmental organizations, policy actors and the media, this report warns that failure to ensure inclusion of minorities and address the anxieties of majorities, particularly in the context of county governments in the run-up to the 2012 elections and beyond, will lead to untold conflict, driving the reform agenda several years back.

Human rights and democratic governance in Kenya: A post-2007 appraisal

Human rights and democratic governance in Kenya: A post-2007 appraisal
Author: John Osogo Ambani
Publisher: PULP
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2015-08-21
Genre: Corruption
ISBN: 1920538380

This publication is a collection of essays on human rights and democratic governance in Kenya in the period after the 2007 post-elections violence. After surviving the trauma of electoral violence, the country soon embarked on a journey towards reconstruction by engaging in, among other things, intense re-evaluation of the then existing system of laws and institutions. In the process, the daunting task has been to reverse the flawed systems that have been in existence for many decades and in their place entrench systems that would promote and respect democratic governance and human rights. This publication, therefore, documents the extent of the country’s reconstruction since 2007, and makes recommendations for the way forward for the recovery of the state.

Ethnicity, Democracy and Citizenship in Africa

Ethnicity, Democracy and Citizenship in Africa
Author: Samantha Balaton-Chrimes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 131714080X

As an ethnic minority the Nubians of Kenya are struggling for equal citizenship by asserting themselves as indigenous and autochthonous to Kibera, one of Nairobi’s most notorious slums. Having settled there after being brought by the British colonial authorities from Sudan as soldiers, this appears a peculiar claim to make. It is a claim that illuminates the hierarchical nature of Kenya’s ethnicised citizenship regime and the multi-faceted nature of citizenship itself. This book explores two kinds of citizenship deficits; those experienced by the Nubians in Kenya and, more centrally, those which represent the limits of citizenship theories. The author argues for an understanding of citizenship as made up of multiple component parts: status, rights and membership, which are often disaggregated through time, across geographic spaces and amongst different people. This departure from a unitary language of citizenship allows a novel analysis of the central role of ethnicity in the recognition of political membership and distribution of political goods in Kenya. Such an analysis generates important insights into the risks and possibilities of a relationship between ethnicity and democracy that is of broad, global relevance.

Inclusion Matters

Inclusion Matters
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1464800111

Social inclusion is on the agenda of governments, policymakers, and nonstate actors around the world. Underpinning this concern is the realization that despite progress on poverty reduction, some people continue to feel left out. This report aims to unpack the concept of social inclusion and understand better how policies can be designed to further inclusion. First, the report offers a definition of social inclusion as the "process of improving the terms for individuals and groups to take part in society." It unpacks different domains of society that excluded groups and individuals are at particular risk of being left out of -- markets, services, and spaces. Second, the report discusses the most important global mega-trends such as migration, climate chnage, and aging of societies, which will impact challenges and opportunities for inclusion. Finally, it argues that despite these challenges, change towards inclusion is possible and offers examples of inclusionary policies.

The Right to Development: Obligations of States and the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

The Right to Development: Obligations of States and the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
Author: Margot E. Salomon
Publisher: Minority Rights Group
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2003-02-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1897693990

The United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Right to Development in 1986. The Declaration recognizes that development is an inalienable human right, and describes development as a comprehensive process leading to the well-being of all people. All states are called upon to cooperate internationally and work nationally to ensure that this comprehensive process in which all human rights can be realized is undertaken without discrimination, and that all people may participate fully and equally in this process. This paper provides an elaboration of the content of the right to development by drawing on international law. It addresses the obligations of states, particularly with regard to international cooperation, and considers the application of obligations of conduct, as well as those of result, in giving this right meaning. This paper also details the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and how they relate to the right to development. The creation of conditions that enable a state to develop will not necessarily lead to the realization of the right to development by the individuals within that state. Traditionally marginalized groups – notably, minorities and indigenous peoples – may not benefit from this development or may be harmed by it. Even where the right to development is being realized by the majority, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples could be violated if the process undertaken does not take account of their rights. The authors discuss the need to have in place the standards to ensure that the protection and promotion of minority and indigenous rights are fully integrated into policies designed to fulfil the right to development. Written in cooperation with the UN Independent Expert on the right to development, this work builds on his contribution to the mandated objectives of the inter-state UN Working Group on the Right to Development. It provides an important contribution to the scope of rights and obligations in this area, and the implications that stem from them, particularly for minorities and indigenous peoples.

Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America

Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America
Author: George Psacharopoulos
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Indigenous people constitute a large portion of Latin America's population and suffer from severe and widespread poverty. They are more likely than any other groups of a country's population to be poor. This study documents their socioeconomic situation and shows how it can be improved through changes in policy-influenced variables such as education. The authors review the literature of indigenous people around the world and provide a statistical overview of those in Latin America. Case studies profile the indigenous populations in Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, examining their distribution, education, income, labour force participation and differences in gender roles. A final chapter presents recommendations for conducting future research.

Freedom in the World 2004

Freedom in the World 2004
Author: Aili Piano
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 756
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780742536456

Freedom in the World contains both comparative ratings and written narratives and is now the standard reference work for measuring the progress and decline in political rights and civil liberties on a global basis.

The Indigenous World 2016

The Indigenous World 2016
Author: Caecilie Mikkelsen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Indigenous peoples
ISBN: 9788792786692

In over sixty articles and country reports, The Indigenous World 2016 provides a comprehensive update on the current situation of indigenous peoples' causes, their human rights, and reports on the most important developments in international processes of relevance to indigenous peoples during 2015. It is an indispensable guide to issues and developments that have impacted indigenous peoples worldwide. Indigenous and non-indigenous scholars and activists write the articles contained in The Indigenous World. It is edited and produced by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.