Justice is delivered to the Mapeleng community of Lesotho
After 17 years of deprivation, clean water now flows freely from the top of the Maluti Mountains into the Mapeleng village. This is no small feat for a community that once lived comfortably in the Malibamat’so River valley, now lost under the Katse Dam. Bolstered by the efforts of the ‘Seinoli Project’ lawyers and their transformative legal empowerment initiatives, the Mapeleng community was able to go to the High Court of Lesotho to request that their access to water to be restored. This momentous occasion will be marked by a celebration on Thursday, 4th April 2013, to coincide with annual World Water Day.
Protimos
Protimos is a network of qualified lawyers that works with communities in developing countries where local people’s rights to their original lands and traditional knowledge have been usurped.
In partnership with local organisations, we spend two to three years in-country training young lawyers from marginalised communities to negotiate for local people’s legal rights and to take cases to court. We work exclusively in countries where the competition over natural resources is intense and poverty-stricken communities often have no-one to advocate for their rights.
We pass on our legal skills and knowledge so that poor communities can protect their own legal rights once Protimos has moved on.
Protimos proposes to establish three Atticus Fellowships for three local African lawyers at work on our projects. The sponsors for these Fellowships will be selected by competition and they will commit, either individually or as a group, to the support of an Atticus Fellow for three consecutive years. In addition, they will be offered opportunities to mentor, assist, visit and engage generally with our projects.