Learning Exchange: Citizenship and Legal Identity

“The Learning exchange was absolutely amazing. It helped me develop new ways of thinking of my work and challenges. It has connected me to many new people and networks who can benefit my work. I learnt alot about best practices and got new ideas from fellow participants. Thank you! I learnt from the network to enhance and formalise my own networks.”
Liesl Muller (Lawyers For Human Rights, South Africa)

 

“The learning exchange has been useful to me in many ways but mostly:- Widening my understanding of the citizenship issue and learn the dynamics in different jurisdiction. Give me more insight on community paralegal programs and their usefulness plus importance of networks like CONCISE. Give me more skills in advocacy, fundraising, litigation, navigating administrative systems communication and networking especially using the NAMATI community network .”
Janemary Ruhundwa (Dignity Kwanza, Tanzania)

 

“The Vetting process that the Muslim communities are subjected to is the most interesting part for me. I could push for my government to review and modify the existing mechanisms. I learned there are many other means to raise funds. Different approaches and different materials used by other organizations intrigued me and I would try to adopt those new ideas in our work.”
Yadana Than Htaik (Braveheart Foundation, Myanmar)

 

“The exchange was very useful because It has focussed on exactly what we do, We get to learn from different people who come from different parts of the continent, their experiences and we get to share practices on how we can get to improve ourselves and also how we can join our hands together in the coming years (future). We also got to meet different people and interact with them and their work.“
Zena AbdulRahman (Nubian Rights Forum, Kenya)

From October 7 – 19, 2018, the Global Legal Empowerment Network and Namati Kenya’s Citizenship Program hosted a learning exchange on citizenship and legal identity in Kenya.

The exchange, which drew much from the citizenship publication, “A Community-Based Practitioner’s Guide: Documenting Citizenship and Other Forms of Legal Identity,” brought together 19 legal empowerment practitioners from 13 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe to share knowledge and experiences around citizenship rights and legal empowerment. Participants explored comparative methods and strategies in a workshop setting; visited vulnerable and marginalized communities; and held in-depth discussions with local community paralegals towards improving their understanding and capacity to address cases. Some participants were already leading in their citizenship rights efforts and looking to scale, while others were looking to start a program using specific techniques from a legal empowerment approach. Site visits and group dialogue allowed participants to leave with valuable information to incorporate in their future work.

During the two weeks, the participants interacted with each other, different communities, and other stakeholders such as government agencies, partner organizations, and civil society advocacy organizations that work on citizenship issues. For more detailed information about this learning exchange, see this summary post on our online forum: 2018 Citizenship Learning Exchange in Kenya.

For more information about our learning exchanges in general, please contact exchanges@namati.org, or visit the learning exchange page.

Participants of the Kenya Citizenship Learning Exchange in a Breakfast Advocacy meeting at Laico Regency in Nairobi hosted by Kituo Cha Sheria
Participants of the Kenya Citizenship Learning Exchange in a Breakfast Advocacy meeting at Laico Regency in Nairobi hosted by Kituo Cha Sheria
Citizenshihip Learning exchange participants at Kituo Cha Sheria offices in Nairobi during a site visit
Namati Citizenship country program member Mustafa in Kenya making a presentation on Advocacy during an advocacy meeting with CONCISE in Kibra Nairobi
CONCISE member Meera of The Asian Foundation in Kenya making a presentation on Advocacy duriing an advocacy meeting with CONCISE in Kibra Nairobi
CONCISE member Diana of The Kenya Human Rights Commission in Kenya making a presentation on Advocacy during an advocacy meeting with CONCISE in Kibra Nairobi
Learning exchange participant Liesl Muller of Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa making a presentation on Advocacy duriing an advocacy meeting with CONCISE in Kibra Nairobi
Registrars during a mobile birth registration organized by Community Paralegals in Malindi
Community members during a mobile birth registration in Malindi
Community members on a queue during mobile birth registration while Haki Center Paralegals and Learning exchange participants have discussions
Learning exchange participants and Haki Center paralegals during the Mobile birth registration in Malindi
Iryna (Kenya leraning exchange particpant Iryna Aleiksiva from Ukraine) and Khadija (Paralegal with Haki Center) during the Mobile birth registration in Malindi
Haki Center Paralegals with Shaila Tieken (PUSKAPPA) in Indonesia and Lalita Yangwasan (ADRA) Thailand in Kwale
Haki Center paralegals during a visit to a government office in Kwale
Michael Otto (Namati) during a community education forum with Haki Center Paralegals and Learning exchange participants in Kwale
Namati’s Michael Otto during the introductory workshop of the 2018 Kenyan exchange
Yasah Musa (project manager of the Nubian Rights Forum) a host organization during the exchange making a presentation to the rest of the team
Iryna Aleksieiva of Right to Protection in Ukraine making a presentation to the rest of the 2018 Citizenship Learning exchange participants
Learning exchange participant Yadana Than Htaik of The Braveheart foundatiopn in Myanmar making a presentation while Khalid Hussein of the Council of Minorities in Bangladesh looks on
Iryna Aleksieiva of Right to Protection in Ukraine making a presentation to the rest of the 2018 Citizenship Learning exchange participants
  • Participants
  1. @isaac_arinaitwe Isaac Arinaitwe – Platform for Labour Action (Uganda)
  2. @syrus Silas Sheltiely Dillu – Himiza Social Justice (Tanzania)
  3. @LieslHeila Liesl Muller – Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa)
  4. @maaliniramalo Maalini Ramalo – Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (DHRRA)(Malaysia)
  5. @Yadana Than Htaik (Yadana) – Braveheart Foundation (Myanmar)
  6. @lalitaY Lalita Yawangsan – Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Thailand)
  7. @shaila Shaila Tieken – PUSKAPA – Center on Child Protection and Wellbeing (Indonesia)
  8. @urdu Khalid Hussein – Council of Minorities / Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP) (Bangladesh)
  9. @balkrishnamainali Bal Krishna Mainali – Center to Assist and Protect Child Rights of Nepal (CAP-CRON) (Nepal)
  10. @scira Iryna Aleksieieva – Right to Protection (Ukraine)
  11. @Uzoma Chukwuemeka Uzoma Okoye – Norwegian Refugee Council (Nigeria)
  12. @janemaryruhundwa Janemary Ruhundwa – DIGNITY Kwanza – Community Solutions (DK) (Tanzania)
  13. @natashaarnpriester Natasha Arnpriester Open Society Justice Initiative  (United States)
  14. @yasahkym Yasah Musa Nubian Rights Forum (Kenya)
  15. @zena Zena Abdul Nubian Rights Forum (Kenya)
  16. @Maryama Maryama Farah Haki na Sheria Initiative (Kenya)
  17. @kasida_abdul Khasida Abdul Haki na Sheria Initiative (Kenya)
  18. @AndrewOchola Andrew Ochola Haki Centre (Kenya)
  19. @amoory Amos Mwatata Haki Centre (Kenya)