Environmental Rights Africa (ERA), a Pan-African coalition of over 55 civil society organisations across the continent, has endorsed its newly elected Steering Committee (SC) leadership, cementing a governance structure to advance a continent-wide environmental rights agreement and protect defenders at the front lines of environmental crisis.
The endorsement took place at ERA’s General Membership Meeting on August 26, 2025, following the inaugural SC meeting on August 21, where Ahmad Abdallah of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms was elected Chairperson. Saran Touré of Guinea’s Plaidoyer Recherche et Renforcement de Capacités des ONG was chosen as Co-Chairperson, ensuring gender, youth and linguistic balance in the coalition’s leadership.
The Steering Committee reflects ERA’s regional and thematic diversity. 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 & 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 & Global Partnerships, WRI) and Philip Jakpor (Communications – Renevlyn Development Initiative, Nigeria). Francis Colee (Green Advocates, Liberia) serves as SC Secretary, while Alfred Brownell (USA/Liberia) is the Lead Campaigner of the ERA movement.
In his acceptance remarks, Chairman Ahmad Abdallah pledged to place communities and defenders at the heart of ERA’s mission:
“I am deeply honoured 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 centre 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 from two international observers – Joseph Burke and Elizabeth Moses from ALLIED, the Steering Committee will provide strategic direction, oversee ERA’s five-year plan, mobilise resources, and ensure good governance. It will also spearhead ERA’s push for a legally binding African agreement recognising the right to a healthy environment.