Background
The emerging extractive industry in Kenya has significant potential to lift people out of poverty and contribute to the country’s sustainable development. At the same time, the sector has been associated with extensive social, economic and environmental impacts on local communities, workers and even nationally.
This has prompted a demand for greater stakeholder engagement to discuss, share information and concerns, plan together and implement strategies to promote sustainable investments in the sector while minimizing adverse impacts on the people and environment.
In response to this demand, Institute for Law and Environmental Governance (ILEG) and its partners have created the Extractive Sector Forum (ESF), a uniquely tailored quarterly multi-stakeholder convening of companies, communities, national and county governments, civil society and academia that are actively involved in the extractive sector in Kenya. The forum provides a safe space for the different players to discuss critical legal and policy concerns and challenges for the sector.