KELIN’s Litigation and Legal Services Officer Ms. Belice Odamna participated as a panelist at the recently concluded Gender Forum titled: Towards the Realization of Land Rights for Women in Kenya, organized by Heinrich Boll Stiftung. Ms. Odamna was representing KELIN as an expert on litigation, dispute resolution and policy advocacy in the deliberations on ensuring access to justice for women in Kenya in relation to land & property rights. The Forum was held on 30th January 2013, at the Nairobi Safari Club. Key participants included national and international advocates working on the issue of women and property rights, the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Law, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and government representatives.
The Heinrich Boll Stiftung Director, Katrin Seidel opened the forum, after which Mr. Odenda Lumumba of the Kenya Land Alliance, made a keynote address. The panel dialogue involved Prof. Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Dr. Fibian Lukalo the Director Research and Advocacy of the National Land Commission, Prof. Ambreena Manji of British Institute in Eastern Africa, Ms. Belice Odamna of KELIN Kenya and Ms. Carol Mburugu of Kituo Cha Sheria. The discussion was moderated by Mrs. Teresa Omondi-Adeitan the Deputy Executive Director at FIDA Kenya. The panelists drew from expertise in academia, research, policy advocacy, litigation and dispute resolution.
Ms. Odamna focused on the KELIN Cultural Structures Project (CSP) that continues to be implemented in Kisumu and Homa Bay counties in Kenya since 2009. The CSP generated a lot of debate around its functions and reliability. Ms. Odamna laid emphasis on the project working towards building the capacity of local elders to mediate upon cases where widows had been denied their right to access, use and inherit family land after the death of their husbands, largely occasioned by HIV related complications.
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