Starting a Conversation with Laila Kasuri: Increasing Indigenous People’s Participation in Global Water Governance

Laila Kasuri is a Postgraduate Researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. Ms. Kasuri looks to increase the meaningful participation of Indigenous peoples in global water governance processes and informing the global water discourse through recognition of plural value systems. This work especially considers growing calls for enhanced participation of Indigenous peoples in global governance. Her research deals with issues of water justice, equity, water rights and ontological pluralism especially as it pertains to Indigenous peoples

Ms. Kasuri has been working for the last twelve years on global water issues. Prior to joining Imperial, she worked with organizations such as the Global Green Growth Institute, in multiple countries including Canada, the United States, Pakistan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Jordan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and the four countries of the Lake Chad (Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria). In her most recent role, she worked with the Assembly of First Nations in Canada. As Senior Advisor, she focused on issues like Indigenous water stewardship, federal regulations and policies related to climate and biodiversity, environmental regulations (CEPA), federal safe drinking water and freshwater issues, and the linkages of these issues with UN human rights declarations.

She graduated with a Bachelors (Hons.) in environmental sciences and engineering (ESE) from Harvard University with a minor in East Asian Studies, and a Master’s Degree from University of California, Davis in Environmental Engineering.

Join us in person in ARTS 368, or for the Zoom link, please email: icer.ok@ubc.ca