Lucy MULENKEI

Lucy Mulenkei is a Masaai from Kenya: a gender specialist and a human rights activist. Ms. Mulenkei has many years of experience in Environmental issues and community development work, focusing on environmental-related issues. She recognizes that the development process is very crucial to be linked together, especially at the community and National levels. She is active in Human rights actions, ensuring that a human rights approach is key in development and that it is critical to emphasize on Women's and Girls' rights, which include Reproductive health rights, education, and development that impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their local communities. Her advocacy work, is at the local, national, regional, and international levels, where she brings the international discussions to the local levels and vice versa. As the Executive Director, Indigenous Information Network, she has advocated for the recognition and respect of the voice and rights of remote Indigenous Peoples, Local communities, women, and girls. Ms Mulenkei carries many roles, She is a Member of several Boards both at the National, Regional and international, Co-founder of several Indigenous Peoples Networks, among them the African Indigenous Women’s Organization, the International Indigenous Women’s forum, Indigenous Women Biodiversity Network, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity where she is one of the Co-chair, and has been working with other Indigenous Peoples with the Global Environment Facility as a Chair of the Advisory Group (IPAG). And in her work, she pushed for the recognition of the small grants program that has always empowered IPLCs in their work at the community levels. She has been one of the Members of the High-Level Commission (“HLC”) on the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 Follow-up, for an initial period of three years. To add to the list, she was appointed as a Member and a Co-Chair of the UNEP/ FAO  UN Advisory group on Ecosystem Restoration. She is doing her second term as a member. Ms Mulenkei has remained an adviser to many organizations and coalitions on Indigenous Peoples and traditional knowledge, people's rights, among other topics.