Nairobi, 31
March 2022 – The African CSOs
Biodiversity Alliance (ACBA) initiated the development of the “We Are Here
Campaign” which was launched on International Women's Day in March 2022 under
the theme of #BreakTheBias. The Campaign aimed to highlight and normalize
successful African women in climate-focused industries, so they overcome the
negative bias associated with women in male-dominated spaces. It also gave a
platform to foster gender positivity and empower younger women to take up space
in climate-focused industries. Lastly it informed and educate the general
public on the important role African women have played and continue to play in
conservation and fighting climate change across industries.
The campaign
was inspired by Esther Githinji's novel research recommendations on
highlighting more successful African women in male dominated, climate-related
industries to reduce gender biases and improve outcomes regarding access to
financial resources for such women. Esther Githingi is a graduating
international business and trade (Hon) student and conservation scholar from
the African Leadership University and was team leader for the campaign.
The open call for
nominations ran between December 2021 and February 2022, and the campaign
itself began from 07 March up until 18th March 2022. Featured women came from
various walks of life, representing categories like, Governance and Leadership,
Environmental and Climate Justice, Advocacy and Activism, IPLCs, Youth Action,
Wildlife Conservation, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Design, Education
and Empowerment and STEM. This initiative was complemented by a social media
campaign format made up of inspiring narrative videos, posters and quotes that
showcase the amazing journeys of the women available across all of ACBA's
social pages.
The profiled
women were Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, the CEO of Conservation Through Public
Health, Lucy Waruingi, the Executive Director of African Conservation Centre,
Winnie Sengwer, Advocacy Officer, Defenders Coalition - Kenya, Elizabeth
Gitari, the Managing Partner – Lead Natural Resources and Sustainability
Law,OGO-LAW Advocates, Monica Rodrigues, Co-founder-and-Policy-Advisor,
Eco-Feminism Movement , Miyoba Buumba, Africa Indigenous Landscape Officer, The
Nature Conservancy, Pauline Owiti, Youth
Policy Advisory Council as African Representative, Sustainable Ocean Alliance,
Dr Moreangels Mbizah, Executive Director and Founder, Wildlife Conservation
Action, Agnes Mukami, Co-founder, Blue Economy Youth International, Pricilla
Achakpa, Founder and Global President ,Women Environmental Program (WEP),
Maureen Some, CEO and Founder, Wild Now Foundatio and Elizabeth Tolu Babalola,
the Director of Talent Acquisition ALU University.
This campaign
was organized by an all-female team, comprised of Simangele Msweli, the Senior
Manager of the Youth Leadership Program at AWF, Sharize Odongo, the Youth
Program Assistant at AWF, Oliviah Tawarar, the Communications Lead at ACBA,
Rerani Ramaano, the Communications Assistant at ACBA and Esther Githinji. All
these ladies, hope that while listening to stories of featured women, young
girls will learn from those who walked before them and be inspired to lead.
The video is
also available for the French speaking audiences here. For more information
about the campaign, visit our social media pages twitter @CsosAfrican Facebook @African CSOs Biodiversity
Alliance, Youtube @African CSOs
Biodiversity Alliance the posts are also on Instagram @csosafrica and on
linkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/african-csos-biodiversity-alliance