The Legal Assistance Centre

With all the excitement of settling in to a new place, I’ve realized I’m way overdue to write about the real reason I’m here: my work.

I have a 10-week internship with the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), a public interest law firm in Windhoek, Namibia. The LAC has four departments: the Human Rights and Constitutional Unit, the Gender Research & Advocacy Project, the AIDS Law Unit, and the Land, Environment and Development Project (LEAD). You can read more about the LAC and the wonderful work they do on their web site.

I’m working in LEAD and our main project for the next few months is the legal portion of a strategic environmental assessment. The assessment is focused on uranium mining industry in the Erongo region of Namibia, where a uranium “rush” is taking place. Multinational companies were literally rushing to Namibia to obtain mining exploration licenses, due in part to the renewed global interest in nuclear power, and also due to the government’s hope to promote foreign investment in Namibia, increase domestic employment, and stimulate economic growth. (Admittedly, the unemployment situation is pretty terrible here – I’ve heard figures from 40% to as high as 70% unemployment rates.) The government granted numerous exploration licenses and realized its infrastructure in the region, especially the water resources (the Erongo region is a desert), could not support a massive mining boom, nor would it be an environmentally sound situation for the country. This is a very important issue for Namibia – the issues of economic growth and environmental protection are really in tension here as the government tries to promote sustainable development. Even more problematic, the bulk of Namibia’s uranium reserves are located in the Namib Desert – a coastal desert running the full length of Namibia’s coastline, much of it protected as proclaimed national park area.

In light of all this, the government put moratorium on new licenses and initiated this environmental assessment. The assessment, when completed, will review existing policies and regulations relevant to uranium mining in the Erongo region and make recommendations for reform, where we can.

Cool, right?