By Edu Abade
A Pan-African coalition of over 55 civil society organizations across the continent, Environmental Rights Africa (ERA), has endorsed the leadership of its newly elected Steering Committee (SC), thereby cementing a governance structure to advance a continent-wide environmental rights agreement and protect defenders at the frontlines of environmental crisis.
The endorsement took place at ERA’s General Membership Meeting (GMM) on August 26, 2025, following the inaugural SC meeting on August 21, 2025 where Ahmad Abdallah of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) was elected Chairman, while Saran Touré of Guinea’s Plaidoyer Recherche et Renforcement de Capacités des ONG emerged Co-Chairperson, to ensure gender, youth and linguistic balance in its leadership.
To adequately reflect ERA’s regional and thematic diversity, its regional focal points include Saran Touré (Guinea-West Africa), Walda Keza Shaka (Uganda-East Africa), Olivier Ndoole (DRC-Central Africa), Thuli Makama (Eswatini-Southern Africa) and Abdallah (Egypt-North Africa).
Working Group leaders are Paul Mulindwa (Outreach and Advocacy-CIVICUS), Emily Kinama (Case Studies-Katiba Institute, Kenya), Lucien Limacher (Defenders Emergency-Natural Justice, South Africa), Fiona Iliff (Technical Drafting-ABA, Zimbabwe), Wanjira Mathai, MD, Africa and Global Partnerships, WRI and Philip Jakpor (Communications-Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) Nigeria). Francis Colee (Green Advocates, Liberia) serves as SC Secretary, while Alfred Brownell (USA/Liberia) is Lead Campaigner of the ERA movement.
In his acceptance speech, Abdallah pledged to place communities and defenders at the heart of ERA’s mission, saying: “I am deeply honored and humbled to serve as Chair of ERA, not just with gratitude, but with a profound sense of duty to our continent and our communities. Our struggle is not abstract-it is the struggle of farmers losing their lives to droughts, of coastal communities watching the sea rise, of indigenous people defending their sacred lands.
“It is the struggle of courageous defenders who face violence, intimidation and death for speaking truth to power. Our mission is to ensure these voices are not silenced, but amplified-placed at the very center of Africa’s climate agenda and environmental rights. Together, we will work for a binding African agreement to empower defenders and to write a new chapter where environmental rights are not just aspirations, but realities.”
His words captured the essence of ERA’s vision-a movement rooted not in abstract ideals, but in people, communities and lives at stake. With support of two international observers, Joseph Burke and Elizabeth Moses from ALLIED, the Steering Committee will provide strategic direction, oversee ERA’s five-year plan, mobilize resources and ensure good governance. It will also spearhead ERA’s push for a legally binding African agreement that will recognize the right to a healthy environment.
The ERA Secretariat headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, with a core team led by Peter Quaqua (MRU CSO Platform) as Head of Secretariat, will be supported by a former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Assembly, Clement Voule as Strategic Advisor, Dr. Tresor Makunya (University of Goma) as Legal and Policy Advisor, while Radiatu Kahnplaye (Green Advocates) will serve as Finance Officer. All the Working Groups will function closely with the Secretariat.
In its five-year strategy, ERA revealed that over the next five years, it will pursue a strategy built on interlinked pillars including coalition building and advocacy, expanding alliances, strengthening governance and building political momentum through workshops, side events and targeted outreaches.
ERA explained that it had engaged in research and policy development by conducting over 54 national case studies to document the lived realities of defenders and vulnerable communities, as well as producing evidence-based continental reports to inform a regional treaty.
On government engagement and negotiation, the group stressed that moving from advocacy to action by initiating formal negotiations for a binding regional treaty was supported by technical expertise and public campaigns.
Looking ahead, ERA Lead Campaigner, Alfred Brownell, while acknowledging a recent $600,000 four-year grant from the Open Society Foundations, commended members who sustained the movement through its formative years, adding: “As we mark this important transition in ERA’s journey, I want to remind us of the path we’ve walked over the last four years.
“What sustained ERA was not resources but the enthusiasm, commitment and voluntarism of our members, who persevered despite daunting challenges. That energy has carried us here-and it will continue to drive us forward as we enter this new phase of the struggle for environmental rights and justice in Africa.”
ERA is preparing for high-level advocacy at the African Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the UN Humanitarian Conference (September 29–30, 2025 in Geneva) and the Global Peer Learning Conference scheduled for December in Kenya, alongside ongoing engagements with the African Union (AU), African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, UN Economic Commission for Africa and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
With the renewed leadership and momentum, ERA is poised to strengthen its visibility, deepen advocacy and unite Africa’s defenders under one powerful movement for justice, accountability and environmental rights for the continent.
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