Driving the global conversation on ecocide law.
Stop Ecocide Africa is leading the movement across Africa to make ecocide an international crime. Our core work is activating and developing Pan-African cross-sector support for this initiative.
We collaborate with diplomats, politicians, lawyers, corporate leaders, NGOs, indigenous and faith groups, academic experts and grassroots campaigns to this end.
ECOCIDE is broadly understood to mean mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term. Committed repeatedly over decades, ecocide is a root cause of the climate and ecological emergency that we now face across Africa.
We are developing a group that will consist of senior African personalities of high repute within diplomatic circles. Their role will be to champion the efforts to criminalize Ecocide at the diplomatic level by opening doors and catching the attention of senior African Union diplomats, Heads of State and government.
This group, coordinated by our Africa High Level Coordinator will conduct diplomacy across the continent and at key AU Summits, Africa Climate Week and similar diplomatic events to advocate for Africa state support for the adoption of Ecocide as the fifth crime under the Rome Statute.
Hannah Forster is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) based in Banjul. She has decades of experience engaged with the African Union Commission as well as Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa.
Hannah Forster: Gambian
Thuli Brilliance Makama is an Attorney and the Executive Director of Yonge Nawe/ Friends of the Earth Swaziland, an environmental organization focusing on environmental justice.
Thuli Makama: Swaziland
Nnimmo Bassey is director of the ecological think-tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF). He was a co-recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” In 2012 he received the Rafto Human Rights Award.
Nnimmo Bassey: Nigeria
Appolinaire OUSSOU LIO is a founding member of the African Earth Jurisprudence collective and president of GRABE-BENIN. Appolinaire founded GRABE with the aim of reviving the local values of protecting forests and sacred sites, African spirituality and bringing young people closer to nature and their culture. In 2012, he helped to pass the first law on sacred forests in Africa.
Appolinaire Oussou Lio: Bénin
Mamadou Diobé Gueye: Senegal
Lawyer and legal adviser to the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change and chairman of the legal sub-committee of the Senegalese National Committee on Climate Change.
Stop Ecocide Africa convenes African civil society organizations working on climate matters to advocate the adoption of Ecocide as the fifth crime under the Rome Statute which establishes the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Pan African Climate Justice Alliance - regional AU
Network of African Human Rights Organisations (NANHRI)
International Commission of Jurists, Kenya
Pan African Lawyers Union
Friends World Commission for Consultation (FWCC) - Africa Section
Salama Hub
Surge Africa
Keenly aware of the consequences of climate change for themselves, their communities and future generations, young people across Africa are stepping up and speaking out. As well as influencing policy, young people have also been mobilizing at the ground level to educate their communities, shift attitudes and change practices. Recognizing their contribution, many countries are taking steps to enable them as agents of change.
Stop Ecocide Africa convenes youth groups under Africa Y4EL and deploy them strategically towards advocacy for the criminalization of ecocide.
Sustainability leader at United People Global, co-lead at Youth for Ecocide Law and tree planter.
Debbie Buyaki: Kenya
Co-Founder of Debt For Climate Uganda.
Eriga Reagan Elijah: Uganda
Thato Angelina Gabaitse: Botswana
Founder and CEO of Lemon & Vinegar PTY LTD, Team Coordinator and Partner Outreach for We, The World & The WE Campaign.
We also convene African journalists and raise their awareness on the crime of ecocide which will in turn enable them to report on efforts to criminalize ecocide and other forms of environmental harm.
Diana is a Conservation Educator at Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre - Entebbe Zoo. Her major work there is communicating Conservation Education through photography, videos ,recorded audios. and writing story pieces.
Diana Kibuuka: Uganda
Lenah Bosibori is a regional investigative journalist, her main areas of interest are health, environment and agriculture. She contributes to various newspapers including Talk Africa and Khuluma Africa.
Lenah Bosibori - Kenya
We have teams and associates all across Africa:
Botswana
Burkina Faso
DRC
Ghana
Kenya
Liberia
Malawi
Mali
Nigeria
South Africa
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
If you would like to get involved, please contact us
Africa Director, Stop Ecocide International
"The recognition of Ecocide as a crime against humanity at the 75th Ordinary session of the African Commission provides a guard rail for vulnerable groups including indigenous communities in Africa an additional avenue for protection of their environment and natural resources through the criminalization of wanton, deliberate and widespread damage to ecosystems."
Francophone Africa Coordinator
International award winning photographer born and raised in DRC. She supports non-profits and NGOs focusing on women and child development, social inclusion, and more. Her storytelling involves a participative process, giving voice to those she photographs.