In Kenya’s Turkana county, home to 1.2 million people, increased temperatures and changing rainfall are threatening the grazing lands that are the foundation of the region’s pastoral lifestyle and livelihoods. At the same time, large scale development in Ethiopia’s lower Omo river valley is likely to reduce water flowing into Lake Turkana—the world’s largest desert lake—dramatically, further limiting Turkana’s access to this vital resource. These disruptive developments threaten the basic human rights of the people of Turkana, including the rights to water, food and health. They also raise the spectre of increasing resource conflicts between the area’s diverse groups and their neighbours across international borders.

On 15 October 2015, the Rift Valley Forum and Human Rights Watch hosted a panel discussion to launch Human Rights Watch’s report “There is No Time Left”: Climate Change, Environmental Threats, and Human Rights in Turkana County, Kenya. There was also a screening to launch Human Rights Watch’s film Turkana: Climate Change, Environmental Threats, and Human Rights.
 

Moderators

Felix Horne
Human Rights Watch

Katharina Rall 
Human Rights Watch
 

Panellists

Ikal Angelei 
Friends of Lake Turkana

Cecilia Kibe
Kenya Climate Change Working Group and Kenya Climate Justice Women Champions 

Psamson Nzioki 
Transparency International

Fredrick Njau
Heinrich Boell Foundation