Advice

IELRC brings together a unique combination of leading academics in the field of sustainable development. IELRC offers an unrivalled concentration of expertise on international law and policy issues spanning three continents as well as the benefit from local expertise in India and East Africa.

Since 1995, IELRC members have advised a variety of international organisations, governments, non-governmental organisations and individuals. The following is a selected list of some the work that IELRC members have undertaken:

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation

Activity: Prof. Cullet was a Member of the Committee to Draft National Water Framework Law, a Member of the Committee to Re-draft the Draft Model Bill for Conservation Protection and Regulation of Ground Water, 2011 and a Member of the Committee to Draft the River Basin Management Bill.

Outcomes: Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016 and Model Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Act, 2016.

Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Geneva

Activity: Design and implementation of research on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. This involves understanding the rationale and approaches of the existing legal, policy and institutional frameworks for the realization of the right to sanitation at the regional, national and local levels, and to identify best practices as well as implementation challenges and gaps. Examining these issues through fieldwork in three states of India, Kerala, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The analysis also includes an examination of the right to sanitation in the context of its link with other human rights such as the right to water, the right to education and the right to health as well as the potential of using the ongoing programmes and schemes introduced by the Central and state governments, such as programmes for ensuring rural employment and housing for the realization of the right to sanitation. In order to contribute to the mutual learning process, the project also assesses the national legal and policy frameworks for the realization of the right to sanitation in Kenya and South Africa (2013-2015).

Outcomes: Written outputs and learning events in the three states, a national workshop as well as regional and international fora. Overall, the objective is to contribute to the development of the knowledge base on the right to sanitation in India for academics, researchers and activists, in India and abroad.

International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada

Activity: Conflicts Around Water Use in Rainfed Agriculture: Addressing the Cross-Sectoral Dimension. This involves examining contested water rights, specifically between water for irrigation and drinking water, and the capacity of the legal framework as it stands for dispute resolution, in the context of a case study of the Rajsamand Lake in the State of Rajasthan, India (2013).

Outcome: Based on fieldwork for collection of information from various stakeholders and analysis of secondary material, a report was prepared covering both the theoretical and case-study dimensions of the study.

Planning Commission of India, Delhi

Activity: Professor Cullet convened the Sub-group on “Legal Issues related to Ground Water Management and Regulation including the Strengthening of the Ground Water Regulatory Authorities at the Centre and States” of the Working Group on “Water Governance” for the XII Five Year Plan (2011).

Outcomes: Draft Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater, 2011 [read more] and Background and rationale to the Draft Model Bill [read more]

Government of India, Planning Commission of India: Professor Cullet was a Member of the Sub-group on National Water Framework Law of the Working Group on Water Governance for the XII Five Year Plan (2011).

Outcome: Draft National Water Framework Act, 2011.  

Government of Ghana, Accra

Activity: Consultancy to develop a Traditional Knowledge Policy (2006)

IELRC Contribution: International consultants

Outcome: Draft Traditional Knowledge Policy

International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Research Programme, Nairobi

Activity: Review of IFRI work in East Africa (2006)

IELRC Contribution: External review

Outcome: Assessment of the impacts of IFRI work on theory and knowledge of local forest governance, capacity-building of researchers and practitioners to generate new knowledge and policy changes at the national and international levels

FORD fOUNDATION, Nairobi

Activity: Review of Nairobi + 20 (2005-2006)

IELRC Contribution: Resource person

Outcome: Report reviewing the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the Beijing Platform for Action and Country-based reviews for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda focusing on the links between the environment, gender and sustainable livelihoods

Government of Kenya - Ministry of Lands and housing, Nairobi

Activity: National Land Policy formulation process (2005)

IELRC Contribution: Resource person and drafting

Outcome: Draft national land policy

United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi

Activity: Phase II of the Project on a Partnership for the Development of Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa (PADELIA) (2005-2006)

IELRC Contribution: External evaluation

Outcome: Recommendations on future of the project

New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Johannesburg

Activity: Background paper guiding the establishment of an African working group on intellectual property submitted to NEPAD's Steering Committee for Science and Technology (2004-2005).

IELRC Contribution: International and national expertise in intellectual property laws and policies

Outcome: Report with recommendations and proposed terms of reference for the working group [read more]

International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Rome

Activity: Part of a three-member review team for the Centre-Commissioned External Review (CCER) of IPGRI's work on policy and legal aspects of genetic resources (2004).

IELRC Contribution: Expertise on legal issues in the field of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and on intellectual property rights.

Outcome: Report to the IPGRI Board with 18 recommendations for action.

Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscapes (SAEFL), Berne

Activity: Organisation of two side-events on liability at the first Meeting of the Parties of the member states to the Biosafety Protocol (2004)

IELRC Contribution: Organisation and legal expertise on liability issues in the field of the environment at the international level as well as in India and Kenya.

Outcome:

• Two side-events organised in Kuala Lumpur,
• a dedicated website [read more]
• and significant media coverage of the side events.

Netherlands Development Cooperation Organisation (SNV), Nairobi

Activity: Exploring the Impact of Traditional/Religious Institutions on Gender Relations and Gender Discriminative Practices and Identifying the Scope for Changing the Negative Trends among the Maasai, Samburu, Rendille, Borana & Gabra communities in Marsabit, Samburu & Laikipa districts, Kenya (2004).

IELRC Contribution: Legal expertise in women’s rights issues and engendering SNV development work

Output: Report

Impact: Establishing networks with marginalised and locally-based groups

UNEP – Department of Early Warning and Assessment (UNEP-DEWA), Nairobi

Activity:

• Supporting the UNEP-DEWA initiative on environment and conflict prevention in the Great Lakes Region

• Mapping the environment and conflict linkages in the Great Lakes Region for UNEP-DEWA

• Taking Stock of Institutions and Individuals working on environment and conflict linkages in the Great Lakes Region for UNEP-DEWA (2004)

IELRC Contribution: Expertise in environmental law and policy and facilitation of Stakeholders’ Meeting on Environmental Issues in the Great Lakes Region Conference Themes, UNEP, Nairobi 8-9 September 2004

Output: Reports

Impact: Establishing networks with environment and conflict actors in the Great Lakes Region and linking up with UNEP work

Department for International Development (DFID), Nairobi

Activity: Identifying opportunities for increasing access to justice in environmental matters in Kenya for DFID (2004)

IELRC Contribution: Expertise on environmental law issues

Output: Report

Impact: Focused look at the supply and demand side access to justice needs in Kenya

Department for International Development (DFID), Nairobi

Activity: Review of the Lesotho Justice Sector Development Programme (2004)

IELRC Contribution: Law and social development issues expertise

Output: Report

Impact: Understanding the nuances and issues in the justice sector in a small African country

Heinrich BOell Foundation, Nairobi

Activity: Review of the Programme of the Foundation in Nairobi (2004)

IELRC Contribution: Broad understanding of the issues of gender, environment and conflict and the linkages

Output: Report

Impact: Understanding work of civil society actors in the gender, environment, peace and trade in Kenya and identifying potential partners