Deadline: 19 September 2022
Applications open for the Natural Justice Environmental justice Legal Fellowship Programme 2022. Natural Justice is a pan-African non-profit organization specializing in environmental justice. It uses the law to support communities participating in decisions that affect their land, culture and environment. They are a close-knit and nurturing collective that places emphasis on facilitating opportunities for the professional and personal growth of its members.
Natural Justice has been working with communities, NGOs and government agencies across Africa. Together with their partners, they conduct comprehensive research on environmental and human rights law, use community legal empowerment approaches, including community paralegals, to support communities protect their access to lands, resources and traditional knowledge. More so, provide legal advice and training to project partners, comment on environmental impact assessments, and make submissions on law and policy.
 Their projects are carried out in Kenya under three programmatic streams: affirming community rights, defending community rights, and, standing with communities. The Natural Justice Environmental justice Legal Fellowship Programme 2022 offers:
- The EJ Legal Fellowship offers an exciting opportunity to two young, up-and-coming professionals who are passionate about supporting communities in securing rights to their lands, resources and knowledge.
- The legal fellows will be introduced to a broad spectrum of issues within environmental and human rights law and provided hands-on experience and training in research, legal empowerment, data collection and analysis, public interest litigation, analysis of laws and regulations, and advocacy.
- Over the duration of the Fellowship, the fellows will have the opportunity to spend time and work directly with communities, community-based organizations and community paralegals.
- At the completion of the Fellowship, each fellow will submit a research report on a topic of interest within the environmental justice area.
Benefits
The Fellowship will provide the successful applicants with a stronger understanding of/in:
- The principles of climate change justice, environmental justice, human rights law and citizenry participation in environmental decision-making
- The realities of communities facing climate and environmental injustices
- Community-centered legal empowerment methodologies
- The environmental and climate change decision-making processes of key institutions and bodies,
- Analysing and evaluating environmental, climate and human rights laws, regulations and policies
- Analysing and commenting on environmental impact assessments (EIA), climate impact assessments (CIA), environmental and community audits and strategic impact assessments (SEA)
- Environmental and climate change justice litigation
- Evidence-based environmental justice advocacy and research
- The Fellowship will be for a period of around 12 months full-time. A modest salary offered. Successful applicants will be required to begin immediately.
Eligibility
- A Bachelor of Laws degree
- Fluency in English for the locations in South Africa and Kenya, and Fluency in French for the location in Senegal
- Ability to engage in research, draft reports and legal documents
- Excellent writing skills with the ability to critically analyze relevant environmental laws and policy issues
- A passion for learning and a commitment to environmental justice
- Ability to work productively and to deadlines
- Reliability and attention to detail
- Ability to work both independently and as a team member
- A willingness to travel on a regular basis on short notice and sometimes for extended periods
- An awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations
- Committed to continuous learning and to self-development with a focus on professionally promoting organizational interests, objectives and values
 Application
Applications should be submitted via email to nj.hr@naturaljustice.org with ‘EJ Legal Fellowship’ as the subject line
Applications must include:
- A cover letter that indicates: a) why you believe environmental and climate justice is important in Africa, and b) why you’re interested in the EJ Legal Fellowship c) which location you are applying for;
- A detailed CV with three references.
- One sample of your written work (for example, articles or research reports written by you (not jointly written or edited by other people)
Location of Position:
- 1 position in the East African Hub in Kenya (Nairobi)
- 1 position in the Western African Hub in Senegal (Dakar)
- 1 position in the Southern African Hub in South Africa (Cape Town)
- 1 position in the Core Team of Natural Justice either in Nairobi, Cape Town or Johannesburg
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