African civil society organizations, climate actors, and experts convened at the African Union Summit to present a comprehensive set of demands to Presidents and Heads of Government.
These demands encompass crucial interventions aimed at resolving armed conflicts, increasing development finance, and bolstering food sovereignty across the continent.
Meeting as the Movement Building Space, this coalition of more than 40 African civil society organizations, scholars, energy experts, activists, and communicators, collectively known as the Movement of Movements (MoM), advocates for climate justice and amplifies Africa’s climate voices.
In a unified statement, the African civil society coalition emphasizes that addressing Africa’s structural challenges is imperative for achieving climate justice and alleviating the suffering of millions affected by climate change.
Mohamed Adow, founder and director of Power Shift Africa, highlights the confluence of climate change, energy poverty, and underdevelopment, exacerbated by ongoing violence and governance issues plaguing the continent.
The African Civil Society coalition urges African leaders to prioritize:
- Development Finance to drive socioeconomic transformation.
- Food Sovereignty as a means to ensure food security.
- Energy Poverty affects 600 million Africans.
- Gender Justice & Inclusion for Empowerment.
- Democracy and Rule of Law to enhance accountability.
- Freedom of Movement to foster cohesion and trade.
- Adaptation to bolster community resilience.
- Education equality to promote access and equality.
- Public Services: Health, Infrastructure.
- Economic Justice, reparations, fiscal justice, and trade justice.
- Peace & Security for Economic Stability.
Furthermore, the African civil society coalition stresses the necessity of collective action, emphasizing that no single African nation can overcome these challenges in isolation.
Addressing security concerns, Donald Deya, CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), underscores the urgent need for collective action to address conflicts in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia.
He advocates for a non-alignment strategy, collective condemnation of actions inciting conflict, and coordinated efforts to promote peace and stability through regional dialogue and partnerships.
