ID: 1998
Presenting Author: TEDDY KAMAU
Session: 758 - Reframing Impact Assessment Narratives in Africa: Combating Misinformation, Power Asymmetries, and Distrust in Development
Status: pending
Reframing impact assessment through a business and human rights lens enhances accountability, combats misinformation, and empowers communities to engage meaningfully in decision making.
Impact assessment in Africa have often been shaped by external narratives that prioritise economic growth over social justice, perpetuating misinformation, unequal power dynamics, and community distrust. This presentation draws on experiences from Kenya's extractive sector, particularly work by Community Action for Nature Conservation (CANCO) under the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, to explore how human rights principles can be embedded in impact assessment practices to restore credibility and inclusion. Through the NAP process, CANCO has facilitated community dialogues empowering indigenous groups to understand and assert their rights within the context of community land registration, environmental governance and extractive investments. This approach reframes impact assessment as a rights-based accountability mechanism rather than a technical compliance tool, emphasising Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), transparency, and participatory monitoring. By grounding assessments in local realities and addressing asymmetries between corporations, state institutions, and communities, the work demonstrates that integrating human rights safeguards enhances both legitimacy and sustainability of development outcomes. The presentation will share key lessons from Kenya's ongoing efforts to align national laws and practices with international business and human rights standards, highlighting pathways to strengthen Africa's impact assessment discourse against misinformation and power imbalance.
Teddy Muturi Kamau is an environmental governance expert advancing community rights, impact assessment, and business and human rights initiatives within Kenya's extractive and energy sectors
Coauthor 1: Bernard Ochieng