Maryama Farah: I am a Programme Manager for Affirming Rights in the East Africa hub. My current work focuses on ensuring the indigenous people and local communities have access to the rights protecting their Land, Resources, Knowledge and Benefits as the primary defenders of our biodiversity
I hold an MSc in Public Policy from Queen Mary University of London, and an LLB Law and Islamic Sharia from Zanzibar University. I’m a Chevening Scholar and have been working for over 10 years, in some capacity, in the realm of community justice and advocacy.
From the grassroots legal empowerment level to decision making policy development spaces, I’ve been dedicated to the creation and implementation of better systems and advocating for people to effectively take part in their governance. Environmental justice, and the advocacy that follows it, is an essential undertaking; it’s a continuous struggle to maintain a way of life that has become threatened by projects that are not intentionally thought through.