TANZANIA's profile has been ranked high, as its own son; Dr Elifuraha Laltaika has won a world's environmental rights award.
Dr Laltaika, a senior Lecturer of Human Rights Law and Policy at Tumaini University Makumira in Arusha has set a record of being the first African scholar to win the award.
So far there have been only seven recipients since its inception in 2012. A statement from the award organizers shows that Dr Laltaika has been acknowledged for his extraordinary impact in law, while working to support local communities.
Called the 'Svitlana Kravchenko environmental rights award', it is normally presented to a scholar from anywhere in the world with exquisite qualities of both head and heart, mixing academic rigor with spirited activism, and speaking truth to power, while exhibiting kindness towards all.
It is named after a Ukrainian law professor who became a citizen of America and the entire world, and it aims at recognizing distinguished individuals who exemplify the ideals and work of Professor Kravchenko who passed away in 2012.
The award recipient is selected by the co-directors of Land, Air and Water after nomination by and in consultation with the staff or the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), and Professor John Bonine, the professional partner and husband to Professor Kravchenko.
The University of Oregon Environmental and Natural Resources Program's students normally give the prize during the annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) considered the largest gathering in the world.
This year, the conference is in its 40th annual session and it will be held virtually due to the Covid19 Pandemic.
According to a conference program posted on the official website, this year's awardee is Dr Laltaika. The award goes to a person who "makes broad impacts in the law, while working to support local communities."
Dr Laltaika who is a Maasai would receive an environmental rights award during the 40th annual public interest environmental law conference beginning March 3-6, 2022 in Oregon, USA.
Fulbright grantee and a former Harvard law school-visiting researcher, Dr. Laltaika joins the ranks of such illustrious recipients as Professor Oliver Houck (USA), Patrick McGinley (USA), Antonio Oposa (Philippines), William Rogers (USA), Raquel Najera (Mexico) and Svitlana Kravchenko (Ukraine/USA).
"It's a profound honor for me to join highly distinguished past recipients who have made tremendous contributions to protecting the environment and community rights. More importantly, I feel humbled to be associated with Professor Kravchenko's work. Her academic contribution to the intersection of human rights and the environment is still so insightful," remarked Dr Laltaika.
The significance of the award is to inspire young adults to reach for the stars, while keeping their feet firmly planted in the earth they want to protect, as Svitlana did.
It aims to emphasize that environmental conservation should go hand in hand with respect for human rights.
It also stresses that local communities and indigenous peoples have the rights to access and use their natural resources, hence rewards exemplary individuals worldwide who typifies that balance in their work.
Apart from being a senior lecturer, Dr Laltaika is the director of research and consultancy at Tumaini University Makumira.
He teaches Natural Resources Law, Human Rights Law, International Law and Jurisprudence/Philosophy of Law.
The low profile Dr Laltaika previously served as a Harvard Law School visiting researcher to examine community rights in extractive resources under international law.
Dr Laltaika has consistently combined activism with academic work. In 2016, the president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations appointed him to serve as a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Prior to that, he worked as a senior fellow at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
At the local level, Dr Laltaika has been at the forefront as a defender of local community's rural livelihoods. The public interest lawyer has trained High Court judges, and practicing lawyers on local community's natural resources rights and serves in boards of several non-for-profit organizations.
While working with PINGOs Forum, he spent several months among the few resilient indigenous Barbaig, the Akie and the Hadza communities to understand the unique vulnerabilities.
Recently the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa engaged Dr Laltaika to propose innovative legal solutions for protecting hunter-gatherer communal land rights in Africa.
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