A foremost social justice activist and Commissioner in Cameroon Human Rights Commission, Ms. Hawe Hamman Bouba has joined the pan-African Advisory Board of NatureNews, Africa’s leading environment newspaper.
A statement signed by Publisher/CEO of NatureNews, Aliu Akoshile, said Ms. Bouba brings to the board her decades of cognate experience in civil rights and women empowerment advocacy as the Executive President of the African Indigenous Women’s Organisation – Central Africa Network (AIWO-CAN).
The statement said Ms. Hawe Hamman Bouba, who was a consultant on Gender and Human Rights under the German Cooperation (GIZ) Rural Development Support Project (PADER), also assisted the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in organising several Dialogues in Cameroon between 2006 and 2018.
He described her as international expert who has participated in numerous training sessions organised by INADES-Formation Cameroon (Rural Self Help Development) and the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED) and its technical partners.
Mr. Akoshile said she was a member of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (WGIP/ACHPR) and had participated as an expert in the United Nations sessions on indigenous peoples’ issues held in New York and Geneva.
He said Ms. Bouba was part of several global campaigns including the one for Reduction of Emissions due to Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism; the AIWO Africa and SWED-BIO seminar on Indigenous Women and Biodiversity organized by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on Peace building; and Conflict Resolution for Minorities and Indigenous Peoples held in Cartiny, Geneva.
A polyglot, Ms. Bouba who obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC), is the author of the Cameroon’s Article on the situation of Indigenous Peoples for The Indigenous World since 2009 to date as well as author of a chapter, “Peuple Peul Mbororo”, in the book “PAROLES DES PEUPLES RACINES”, PLAODOYER POUR LA TERRE de Sabah RAHMANI.
The advisory Board which was inaugurated on Tuesday has the King (Emir) of Dutse in the north western Nigeria and Chancellor of Sokoto State University, Alhaji (Dr.) Nuhu Muhammad Sanusi, as chairman, with the Kenyan environmental activist and founder, Friends of Lake Turkana, a UNESCO heritage site in the East African Rift Valley, Ms. Ikal Angelei, as member.
Other members, according to the statement, includes the Chairman of Stanbic Bank of Tanzania and three-time Minister and member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) International Resource Panel, Professor Mark Mwandosya; and the consummate conservationist and Environmental Hero awardee of DW German TV network who is also President of Lekki Urban Forest & Animal Sanctuary Initiative (LUFASI), Mr. Desmond Majekodunmi.
Akoshile said the board also has distinguished Professor Abdoulaye Bathily, a three-time Minister in Senegal, former Presidential candidate and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General/Head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa; as well as the Harvard trained women empowerment advocate and corporate chieftain, Dr. Namane Magau who served on the executive team of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and was Executive Vice President of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Other board members, according to NatureNews publisher, are Professor Salah Arafa, a foremost advocate of environmental protection who is widely acknowledged in Egypt and throughout the Arab world for his pioneering work with the utilization of renewable energies for rural community development and sustainable living; and the renowned environmental activist and laureate of the prestigious Thoroft Rafto Memorial prize, Architect Nnimmo Bassey who is Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation.
While inaugurating the Advisory Board, Aliu Akoshile said the choice of the members was to underscore the publisher’s vision of making NatureNews the authentic African voice on climate change and sustainable environment.
He thanked the members for accepting to lend their weights to the cause of development journalism which the newspaper, www.naturenews.africa, symbolises.
Akoshile said the board has the historic duty to help Africa overcome the challenges of climate change and create a sustainable living environment for 1.367 billion people in the continent.
